I killed it!

I killed my sourdough starter. That’s right, I killed it. I ceremoniously dumped it in my compost bin while reciting the Mourner’s Kaddish, a Jewish prayer, said when a person dies. Like most people at the beginning of the Pandemic, I got into bread making. Since I already knew the basics from years of making French peasant bread, Challah bread, and even a buttermilk quick bread, I decided to challenge myself and learn to make sourdough bread. There was not only a run on toilet paper and hand sanitizer in the beginning, but also yeast. So, I reached out to a friend who frequently makes bread for some yeast. Soon thereafter I was making my starter and when ready making my first loaf of bread. Feed starter, make a loaf of bread, repeat. Then I realized there was a fundamental flaw in my thinking. I have a food sensitivity to gluten and yeast. One slice of the loaf would be it for several days if not the week. With the pandemic, we are not gathering in large groups, if at all, and meeting friends for coffee or a meal is few and far between. The availability to gift a loaf is practically non-existent. This is why I killed my sourdough starter. I am pleased that I learned to make sourdough bread from starter to finish. For the future, I will be sure my new endeavors in the kitchen don’t go against my food sensitivities. I don’t see the point in learning to cook and/or bake something that I can’t eat.