baking soda, glad this struck a chord for you.

Tanna, I’m very familiar with that scenario with patients also. Those decisions are usually so much heavier than those involved in baking, but the principle is sure the same, isn’t it?

breadchick, very wise advice!

Lori, we fall into that “my way or the highway” mentality all to often, don’t we?

Claire, thanks!

Kim, I’m more sports-challenged than I used to be, and to tell the truth there’s a lot I don’t like about the mindset around professional sports, but I still find some heroes in the sports world.

rainbowbrown, maybe it’s just that I’m getting older but I think that kind of integrity in sports figures is getting harder to come by.

Laura, it’s so good you can accept each others differences with only a little eye-rolling!

Lien, thank you!

Lisa, that’s one of the great points of contention in sourdough baking. I wrote a little bit more on the subject in my Sourdough Stories post.

Melissa, indeed!

Jude, I do need to learn to cut to the chase a little sooner, don’t I?

Jane, I’m curious whether opinions in France vary as much as here.

ct, thanks! “Fussy” is a good word, I think.

Jennifer, thanks for reading and have a great day yourself!

Katy, I can’t say Dennis Rodman was ever one of my crushes. (Neither was Shaq.)

Johanna, I like to read the advice and if I have no idea what I’m doing it’s good to have some guidelines — but you’re so right that all the variables can make things so complicated that sometimes you just need to throw the guidelines out the window.

Elizabeth, funny how that works, isn’t it? WIsh I could get my husband or kids interested in baking…

The remarkable thing is that his methods of mixing the bread are entirely different from mine. I am a measurer. I consider myself a strict measurer (even though I generally measure by volume and don’t actually make sure that a cup measure is always full). My husband, on the other hand, is a “wing it, toss in the ingredients” kind of guy. His sandwich bread is easily as good, if not better, than the sandwich bread I was making by measuring oh so carefully (the sandwich bread I was making was good too…). What gets me is that he uses a kitchen spoon to eyeball how much yeast he should add. And a coffee cup to scoop flour out of the bag. And adds it to “some” water until he likes the consistency…

Have a great day.

Jenn