*WINNER* JENNY OF MAD RANTINGS OF A MIDDLE CLASS MOM!

Jenny – contact me at [email protected] with your information and we’ll get this shipped to you ASAP! Congrats again, and thank you everyone for your entries!

In this installment of the ongoing saga of “Carbs and the Czech Girl” (this would be an Oscar nominated movie, I’m sure!) I wanted to share the joys of sourdough with you.

Sourdough, the one true bread.

Clam chowder just wouldn’t be the same in any other bread bowl, wouldn’t you say?

With the carb kick ongoing, I wanted to share the eternal joy of sourdough with you and with a little help from the fine people of King Arthur Flour, one lucky reader will be able to share in the exhilaration of bread baking on their very own! But more details on that later, promise.

King Arthur Flour was kind enough to send me the set up required to put together the perfect sourdough at home, including a starter with origins dating back to colonial America! 250 years! I’m sorry but if that isn’t the very definition of romance in baking, I don’t know what is!

So with my starter, I began – as you do at 5am. No, beginning at 5am is not a requirement. I just get up for work at an ungodly hour and this was my first chance to put my starter to work.  To prep my little starter, “he” was given the necessary flour and de-chlorinated water to begin his yeasty journey.

Yeast + flour =  bread destiny.

It’s an undisputed fact.

With a dough whisk in hand, the starter was combined, covered, and set aside to meld.

After a full day of brewing and bubbling he came out positively gassy, as he should have been. Perfection, indeed.

Regulating the pH of the starter was the next necessary step and then I began the work of preparing the dough.

With flour here, yeast there, and a glob of stater I was off to the races. Using the dough whisk I kneaded and beat the dough into delicious submission. It was quite the workout. I can only contend that anyone making a a few dozen loaves of bread a week in this fashion would soon end up with the forearms of Angelina Jolie. It’s intense stuff! And it made me value my Kitchen Aid all the more. But dang is it empowering when you realize you can do this on your very own and have a product that is absolutely divine.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred time – this is an empowering process.

With a whisking and a kneading done, it was time for a rest. For me and the bread.

After and couple hour rise, the dough was ready to be split into two loaves, risen again and finally – baked.

With a razor sharp knife and the courage of my convictions, two cross slices were placed in the top of each loaf and they were ready to go. Into the oven and onto a baking stone they went. And 25 minutes later they came out golden brown, sour to the smell and crusty as only a good loaf of artisan bread can be.

And even if it’s not holed out and filled with chowder – a slice toasted and slathered with butter is just fine by me.

Now – for the extra fun bit! The fine people of King Arthur Flour, the beacons of bread baking, have decided to provide a set up for sourdough to one lucky reader! The winner will receive a fresh sourdough starter, a dough whisk, a coupon for a free 5-lb bag of their All Purpose Flour and of course the recipes and how-to’s so you can recreate loaves of sourdough in your very own home for months, nay – YEARS to come!

Share the joy of crusty carbs and bread baking empowerment with your friends from the company that knows bread best!

To Enter: (mandatory entry)

Tell me and King Arthur Flour – What is your favorite type of bread?

For additional entries:

Like King Arthur Flour on Facebook.

Follow King Arthur Flour on Twitter.

Like Wanna Be A Country Cleaver on Facebook.

Follow Wanna Be A Country Cleaver on Twitter.

Follow Wanna Be A Country Cleaver on Pinterest.

Pin this giveaway to Pinterest with the handy “Pin” button at the top of the post!

Tweet about the giveaway with, “Win a Sourdough making kit from @KingArthurFlour and @Countrycleaver! http://homemadehome.com/?p=708”

That’s 8 entries total. Mighty fine odds there folks!

*Now for the fine print* – Leave a comment for each of these entries and you’ll be registered to win. The giveaway will end on Monday, February 6th with the winner being contacted by me via e-mail, announced on the Wanna Be A Country Cleaver Facebook page and tweeted to on Twitter. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me with their information, or a new winner will be chosen. All products were donated by the wonderful people of King Arthur Flour, the leaders in everything carby and delicious. Be sure to show them some much deserved love. 

Over and out! Good luck!