@Sandra Brenes thank you for your wonderful insight into gluten free starter and bread on today’s Zoom call! Can you please lead me to the information you talked about regarding gluten free baking, tips, etc.? 😊

My win this week is that I finally milled my own flour! So a while ago, like months ago, I purchased a grain mill. It literally has been sitting on my counter and this week I opened it up. I actually documented the process and shared my experience. So if you have some time this weekend, give it a watch! We will be talking more about ingredients and milling our own in the near future. https://youtu.be/3UXmC5fGM50?is=eZHzoW8iK9ZatXtt

In my state of Minnesota (& extreme weather) today we are under a heat advisory. Crazy hot & humid. Two weeks ago, it was starting to warm up. It was still upper 70s so it was what I thought was perfect to mix dough. So I thought. I was prepping for the first farmers market of the season, where I was planning to bring 70 loaves of bread. I had upgraded my fridge so it could hold more dough, and got new containers. However, within 45 minutes, my dough was overflowing out of the containers, I quickly split the dough and put into additional containers. I knew that my dough hadn't fermented completely, it was just aggressively rising. Those containers started to overflow as well! So I split that dough and put them into even more containers. Then put them in fridge to cool down. That helped, but they were still overflowing. I broke all of my rules...and had a mess to show for it. There was one point that when I opened the fridge, the dough had stuck to the door. oof. All the new elements created a layer of unpredictability. Summer kitchens move faster. Doughs rise quicker. Starters wake up before you’ve had coffee. That doesn’t mean you have to quit baking until September. It just means you need a different rhythm. This week inside BBW, we’re talking about how to bake with the heat instead of fighting it: shorter countertop time, more fridge time, and dough schedules that actually work in the heat. If you haven't ever baked in the heat, try it for fun (when there is no pressure) bake one loaf this week using cooler water and at least one cold proof. Notice how long it takes to rise, how the dough feels, and what changes in your crumb. Any summer bake is data. You’re not “messing it up” — you’re learning how your dough behaves when it’s warm. This last week for farmers market, I used cold water, started after the sun started to set and split my dough more evenly through the containers. But it cooled off quite a bit and took FOREVER to rise, but we got there and I didn't have a mess to clean up.

If you’ve got a jar of starter sitting in your fridge and you’re not sure if it’s alive, fed enough, or ready to bake with… you are not the only one. On Tuesday, July 15th, 2026 from 1:00–2:30 pm CT, I’m hosting a 90‑minute live Zoom workshop where we’ll look at your actual starter together. You’ll walk away knowing: - Whether your starter is ready, needs a little rehab, or needs a restart - Exactly how to feed it over the next 3 days - What “normal” looks like (so you stop second‑guessing every bubble) - When it’s a good time to mix dough for your first loaf You just need: - Your sourdough starter (even if it’s been ignored in the fridge) - Some flour and water - 90 minutes where you can be near your kitchen This live workshop is $27 as a beta: a crash course in starter care, maintenance, feeding ratios + more. 👉 Is My Starter Ready? – Live Workshop

Trends come and go. “Never eat carbs again.” “Only eat this one special grain.” Meanwhile, in places where people quietly live a long time, they just… keep eating simple breads made from whole grains and long-fermented doughs, alongside plants and beans. This week, we’re talking less about “quick fixes” and more about the slow, steady habits that add up over years. If you’re here, you’re not chasing a 10‑day challenge. You’re building skills you can still use 10 years from now. Where do you see bread fitting into the kind of life you want long-term?