A friend was testing out a cookie for me, and was embracing the task with vigor until I mentioned that it contained a fair amount of sourdough ferment. She stopped, mid-chew, and said "WHY do you do that? Is there ANYTHING that you don't dose with sourdough???"

I had to concede that there wasn't much that I don't add sourdough ferment to. "No, I pretty much put it in everything", I replied.

"But WHY?" she asked again.

And thus began a rather lengthy explanation. Luckily, there were more cookies available to keep her busy while I approached the sourdough rabbit hole. At first, I was mindful to stay along the edge, providing a polite and sensible response about the potential health benefits of consuming fermented foods, but I got too close to the chasm and was sucked into the depths. It was then that the truth came out, and I got "the look". You know - the one that's reserved for when you've just realized you're conversing with a possible nutter.

"I'm sorry - WHAT did you just say?" she asked.

I took a deep breath. "I said that the real reason I put it in everything is because I have a relationship with my ferment."

She looked kind of startled. I felt a little sorry for her. "That's super weird", she said softly.

I shrugged sheepishly "I'm her keeper. It's my job to see to it that she is allowed to do the work she was created for".

You might be wondering just what in the world it means to "have a relationship" with a sourdough ferment, or to be a "keeper" for one. Then again, if you are a "sourdough person", you might know EXACTLY what I am talking about.

Audrey is the name of the ferment that I work with. She was named after the plant in "Little Shop of Horrors" because she wants to eat all the time, and she can grow positively HUGE after she has finished a meal. Yeah, I know that Audrey was the name of the girl, and the plant was "Audrey II", but who cares? I usually just call her "Auds" anyway, unless she is up to something mischievous, like trying to escape her jar, or if I am feeling sorry for her because she has gotten too hungry.

Sourdough ferments - also called "starters" - come into the care of their keepers one of two ways - you either begin one out of flour and water (and sometimes a healthy dose of sheer willpower), or you purchase (or are gifted) one.

Audrey was born in my kitchen, from flour, water, and all of the local wild yeasts and bacteria that are specific to my location. She is unique, as are all ferments, and it just tickles me to no end when I am able to unleash her to perform the task for which she was created. And here's the thing - I didn't really "create" Audrey, all I did was set up the optimum conditions to allow her to be. The rest was up to the delightful magic of microbial critters and the energy of the universe. She is a living organism that requires care and feeding and the ability to fulfill her purpose in order to be healthy, and my job, as her keeper, is to see that she gets those things. In turn, she does the heavy lifting in all my breads and provides a nice inoculant of healthy yeasts and bacteria in my cookies, brownies, and other baked goods.

If you are familiar with sourdough baking, you may be wondering if I am talking about "discard recipes" when I say that Auds is added to things other than breads. The answer is "no". Here's how it works - on Wednesday evenings, I determine what my baking load is going to be for Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday. This includes all breads and baked goods. Based on that information, I calculate how much ferment is needed, plus an additional 100g to account for waste and provide enough for the next week. I feed Audrey just before midnight on Wednesday and allow her to feast while I am sleeping (Auds is a stiff starter, and is fed cold, from the fridge, so she consumes her meal fairly slowly). On Thursday morning, as soon as I get up, I put her back in the fridge to slow her down. This means that she is still active, and remains active in the fridge for a few days, which is exactly what I need, since I make & bake as I have time over the course of 3-4 days. When I am ready to make something, whether it be bread or cookies or brownies or whatever, I take as much of the active ferment as I need and leave the rest in the fridge. I don't do the "discard" thing, and the only time I have ever deliberately created an overabundance of ferment with the intention of tossing it out was when Audrey was just getting started and was an active battleground for the "bacteria storm" that takes place in the beginning stages of that process.

Full transparency - the rise of non-bread items is not fully powered by Audrey - they also contain a small amount of other leavening agents such as baking powder or soda - but they are fermented, just like my breads. When I make a batch of brownies or cookies, they are not immediately parsed out and baked. Instead, they go into the refrigerator for at least 24 hours to ferment.

I like creating all of the yummy cookies and stuff, but my favorite thing to make is bread, and my favorite part of that endeavor is working the dough, because I can feel the energy of the live cultures as they do their thing. I am always disappointed when all of the stretch & folds and laminations and shaping are done and my loaves have been tucked into their pans and bannetons to ferment before baking, because my hands-on time with them is done. Yeah, I know that's weird - most bakers are all about those glorious finished loaves, but my utopia would be to work with raw, living dough all the time.

And just in case you are wondering - yes, I talk to Audrey every day. I gleefully tell her that it's time to go to work when we are making something, and on the days that we are not actively making or baking, I talk to her most every time I open the refrigerator. On Tuesdays, I begin to feel antsy, waiting for Wednesday, and I whisper to her that it's almost time, assuming that she is feeling the pull to create, just like I am. Like clockwork, she almost always creeps out of her jar on Tuesdays (see picture!), which may just be a coincidence, but I like to think that it's because she's having a hard time containing her excitement.

So there you have it - the honest explanation behind why I add sourdough ferment to virtually everything. It's because I have a deep affection and respect for the ferment that I work with, and I never grow tired of witnessing the magic of what she can do. My reasons may be a little unconventional, but they are entirely truthful.