Summer Projects

Happy summer to all of you, wherever on the planet you may be.

Summer is here.

Less stress. More time.

Summer is fun.

I mean, summer is supposed to be fun.

Interestingly enough, even if many of us have already been in a summer setting for several weeks now, we’re still waiting to feel that “ahhh, summer’s here!” joy. Summer, many feel, is an endless chase after bloodthirsty mosquitos, sunscreenless kids, and piles of smelly bathing suits that belong to no one on the porch.

Summer, it seems, can feel highly overrated for adults. But here’s my simple logic on how we can change that:

We need to do something fun to have fun. If it hasn’t been handed to us, we need to make it to have it.

In Wellspring language, that would mean it’s time we picked up a new health hobby.

To take the time to learn something new, something fun. Work on a new skill while the mental stresses are low, so it can become second nature to us when we’re back in the mundane and harried hamster wheel of life. If we don’t carve out that time for ourselves now, no one will.

Are you ready, are you ready, are you ready, ready, ready?

Let’s create some good, old-fashioned fun for ourselves!

Here goes my megaphone…testing testing.

Announcing…Sample’s summer contest, Operation Summer Skills!

Oh yes, you can!

This contest challenges you to pick up and learn one health-related practice you have never tried before.

You are to learn it, implement it, master it, and mostly… enjoy the outcome!

Here’s what you need to do in order to join.

1. Select one health practice from the six listed in this article that you have either never done before or—if you’ve tried all of them (good for you!)—select one you are not currently doing. If you are currently into all of them, you don’t qualify for entry. You’re just too good, that is :)

2. Take a photo of your results.

3. Send an email to libby@wellspringmagazine.com with your photo and a short description of your new hobby attempt and the results. All entries must be in by August 31, 2023, 12:00 a.m. EST.

4. All participants will be entered into an exciting raffle to win a six-month subscription to Wellspring!

*Two winners will be selected!

Ready to hack a hobby, scale a skill? Here’s the roundup of health hobbies you can master this summer that will land you a spot in the raffle. You’ll notice that the instructions for each are written briefly. If you need more details, refer to back issues of Sample to get the full scoop. Ready? Go!

In Sample 65, I taught you how to build your own starter and eventually bake your own bread. This summer, my talented niece Dini coached me through baking her mother’s recipe of sourdough bread. She was making her own bread simultaneously, which was super useful for reminders when I needed them.

“Hi, Libby! It’s time to stretch and fold!” worked beautifully. Do it with a friend for the max fun factor. The results of my bread were so amazing, even my kids ate it! There are many steps in this recipe, but if you want to take it easy in the summertime, don’t let the steps deter you. There are simpler recipe options for sourdough bread, but this one is allegedly the best. If you want to make your own starter, refer to Sample 65 for stepby-step instructions.

In a non-metal bowl, combine:

1 cup flour

½ cup water

2 Tbsp of sourdough starter

When mixed well, cover the bowl and leave on the counter for six hours. Then, split the dough to two parts (roughly 100 grams). Each part can be used for the recipe below. (Why split? Because you can make two types of sourdough bread at this point. I made multigrain bread with one half and plain sourdough bread with the second half. Dini made pitta-style bread and a pizza crust out of the plain half of her dough.)

Add to each half:

1/3 cup plus ½ Tbsp sourdough starter

3¾ cups flour (I used white spelt)

½ cup whole wheat flour (I used 80% whole spelt)

1½ cups water

Mix well and let dough rest for 40 minutes.

Add 2 teaspoons salt and combine well.

To make multigrain bread, add ¼ cup water, ¼ cup honey, and ¾ cup of seeds (pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, etc.) at this point.

Just for fun, Dini and I both used unsweetened craisins and sunflower seeds and skipped the pumpkin seeds. The results were divine! Allow the dough to rest for one hour. Then, stretch and fold once an hour for the next two hours.

The stretch-and-fold process involves pulling the sides of the dough outward and tucking them under, and causes a more uniform texture, even fermentation, and gluten development.

After two hours, dust the counter with flour and place dough on the counter. Form a ball with the dough and roll it toward yourself while squeezing air pockets and bubbles out of the dough as much as possible to achieve a uniform consistency inside.

Return dough to the bowl and cover it. Refrigerate the dough overnight.

Finally, we’re ready to bake the bread.

Preheat oven to 500°F, with an empty Dutch oven inside. (I don’t own a Dutch oven, but I improvised by using a large ceramic oven-safe bowl and a Pyrex dish.)

Carefully remove the baking dish you’re using from the hot oven and place the dough inside the dish. Using a sharp knife, score the surface of the bread to lend that artisan bread appearance. This also helps the bread expand in a controlled way.

Cover the dish tightly. If using a ceramic dish or Pyrex, cover tightly with heavy duty silver foil. Bake for 20 minutes on 500°F. Then uncover the dish and bake on 400°F for another 20 minutes.

If you’re using a Pyrex, your bread may require an additional few minutes of baking.

And…after all that work, your bread is ready to eat and enjoy.