Sourdough Bread for the Apocalypse
Well that went escalated quickly.
I try to be active on this platform at a minimum of once a week(ish), and last week’s post had nary a mention of the words pandemic, social distancing, quarantine, or apocalypse, words, which I feel like I now hear about a million times a day.
In a week, the world changed immensely.
It feels so different now, this world. I have lived half a century, and I have seen a lot of $hit. But this? This is unlike anything I have ever seen. Ever. And I know many of you out there feel the same.
Look–I’ll be honest–I worry. A lot. I worry about my 88-yr-old dad (he’s fine, I talked to him last night), I worry for my friends whose parents are in care homes, and whom they now have to visit through windows. I worry I won’t get to see my son for weeks in the event of a lockdown quarantine. I worry about my job. I worry about my RRSPs. I worry about my mental health if I am isolated for too long. I worry about all the people who are dying, or who are going to die. I worry about my beautiful foodie city, and how many local restaurants will not survive. I occasionally worry about running out of TP.
But here’s what I don’t worry about: bread. It’s a small thing, but boy oh boy do I got this! Yesterday morning early, I tromped down to my local Safeway to get a few things; extra frozen fruit, frozen juices, that kind of thing. Ahead of me in the checkout line, a woman was buying three loaves of bread. And I thought, “nope, I’m good!” Later in the day, one of my friends commented online (oh man spending so much time online right now!) that their local was out of yeast. Again, not something I am even remotely worried about…
So yeah, I’m worried about a lot of things. What I am not worried about is my ability to be resourceful. I had no idea these last 10 years of becoming a food blogger, of breaking things down, learning to make stuff from scratch, of obsessing about recipes, a skill that I considered to be quaint at best, would become a life-saving skill.
Because as long as I have this jar of sourdough starter, flour and electricity, I can make bread. And that’s empowering.
Stay safe, friends. Love to you all, and virtual hugs.
PS. I’ve started doing daily livestreams on my personal FB, cooking. Mostly just to feel people’s company, but I’m also trying to pick recipes that could be good doomsday staples. Tune in tonight to see me make oat milk. Or maybe something green for St Paddy’s?