Decades ago I tried celery soda in a great Jewish deli in NYC. WOW! I had never heard of or tasted it before then, and with my grandfather being a soda maker I thought, damn, why didn't he make this? The roots of celery soda have stood the test of time and reach far back to when we had healthy tonic syrup options of aromatic herbs and fruits added to water, and bubbly waters as they became a thing too. David Sax, author of The Tastemakers, a book on food trends, says, “All these sodas started out as the functional medicines of their day. They were sweetened to make them more palatable."

Sax pointed out another connection between celery and the soda business: it pays with the Jewish folks who worked in the industry. During the 19th century, the majority of New York's Jewish immigrants came from Eastern Europe, and many of them found work in the soda business. "They were involved in the sugar industry in Poland and the Ukraine. Largely, beet sugar," Sax explained. Working with soda was a natural extension, and celery was a flavor they knew well from the old country. Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray soda start in 1868 in NYC and there are stories of “Dr. Brown” making many health promoting, plant based tonics. The NYC deli scene is where it all took off but the tonics with celery as a functional medicine are far older.

I created this one, FINALLY! And jazzed it up a little with agave, lovage, and ginger root, no cane sugar, but you can certainly use a good quality cane sugar, or any sweetener you decide you prefer. Stick to the 1:1 equal parts ratio of water to sweetener and make the aromatics strong so a little goes a long way to get flavor without it being too sweet in your final drink. 

WHO IS LOVAGE?
Lovage (Levisticum officinale) is a perennial herb with leaves that resemble those of celery and flat leaf parsley - sort of. The stems are round, hollow (make great straws) and have less ribbing than celery. This tall herb can reach up to 6-7 feet (2+ meters) in height when flowering and has many culinary applications. The flowers, leaves, roots, seeds, and stalks are used for food and medicine. It’s super easy to grow in an edible or medicinal garden (or like me, maybe you have them all mingled!), and it loves sunny to partial shade positions with more moist to well-drained soil conditions. It can handle more moisture, or “wet feet” as we plant folks say you will find along stream beds if it goes wild, somewhat like where you would find Angelica. 

Lovage is a member of the Apiaceae, or Umbellifer family. It's sometimes called smellage or maggi plant. I'm not sure why but still searching for this. In Italy it’s called sedano di monte, or mountain celery. It’s native to western Asia, parts of Northern Africa, and the Mediterranean region.

Lovage is also a botanical found in gin and has a long journey through the “spirit world” physically as an enhancing alcoholic aromatic flavoring, and as a metaphoric spirit traveler as well. I was quite the gin-lovin' drinker long ago but that Jen has taken a back seat these days. She’s “not allowed to drive" anymore in this life, or off the cliff we go. She remains part of my GPS system these days. 

Let's take a look at the plant ingredients I chose for this recipe. 

LOVAGE: Medicinal Parts: ALL of it! Seed, root, flower, leaf, and stalk. 

See pic with the Lovage on the left next to the cucumber, celery on the right for a little stalk comparison.

Lovage is probably best known as a digestive aid, relieving flatulence and other stomach discomfort, and eases pain and inflammation in joints and acute injuries. Lovage was commonly used to strengthen the heart and as a respiratory aid. It was also a useful, potent diuretic for easing fluid retention, to treat kidney stones, and as a blood purifier by supporting our blood filtering organs. 
This aromatic herb tastes like a combination of strong celery and parsley but is definitely more concentrated in delivery by weight. 

​NOW WANDER THROUGH SOME TRADITIONAL MAGICAL PROPERTIES OF LOVAGE:

- Make a Tea of Lovage leaves, seeds, or root and drink just before bedtime for stimulating and supporting deep dreamwork.
-I drink a tea (or healthy herbal soda) to make the mind alert before business meetings, consulting, or school work.  
- Carry it in a sachet, medicine bundle, or charm to attract love, dates, or well matched partner(s). The roots and seeds of lovage are said to be used for erotic love alchemy.
- Place the grated fresh root or root powder in a mesh bag and hold under hot tap water when running a bath for cleansing, skin nourishing beauty. I would consider floating leaves and flowers in a bath too.
-Add 2 rose buds or a small handful rose petals to the bath with it to enhance the love partner drawing properties. Mixes well with Damiana or Meadowsweet too for cleansing and love attraction.
- Aids lovers through warring to mediation and reconciliation. Traditionally it was considered to be a last-ditch effort before a divorce. So I would drink tea or healthy soda during talks!
- When doing divination about relationship problems, a stalk of lovage can be brushed over the area of the reading before laying stones or cards, or powdered dried lovage sprinkled on the area. 
- Home protection is strong if planted near the entryway of your home. (Check! Two are here right out front and it was done before I learned this one!)
Given the plants medical and magical powers, it's no wonder Lovage was an extremely important herb during the Middle Ages, a garden without this plant was very rare indeed. I'd love to see this come around again. 
​
Plant LOVAGE!

Most of us know this love for food but it's a phenomenal medicine too. Great for fever management, anti-inflammatory, a diuretic, kidney and adrenal support, along with digestive, respiratory, immune and cardiac toning properties. 

When you grow your own celery you learn a thing or two about how pungent and bitter it can get. Commercially grown celery is stalk buried to ease the green coming forward to deliver the true medicine, which is quite pungent and bitter. Grow some and learn. If it's too strong, then a little goes a long way. I love it in turkey meatballs made East Indian style, and with tuna. You can blanch it for 30 seconds in boiling water to ease the pungency if you want too. 

A RARE CELERY STORY: I once had a 97 year woman who was in the hospital with severe hypertension over 200/100 BP. She refused all medicines! She demanded her celery again and again. Most laughed, but I knew the truth too. It would stimulate her kidneys to make her urinate frequently to release the excess water in her system (edema) and this will drop a blood pressure significantly in some conditions. This eases breathing if fluid backs into the lungs which it was for her (congestive heart failure). I spoke to about what she and I both knew and she was thrilled. I sent a volunteer, skeptical-but-curious coworker to the store to get a bunch of celery with lots of really dark leaves. She was so happy! She munched all through the night, with naps of course as 97 year old's do. Diuresis kicked in well and she urinated enough to drop her pressure down so much that she went home in the morning in a safe range. 

​LOVE her still. She is one of my heroes. 

​AND FINALLY... GINGER AS MEDICINE: A favorite for immune, digestive, heart tonic, and blood thinning, circulatory support.

OK, Now the recipe! Tweak it. Make it yours and please give credit where credit is due for the inspirations that come to you. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup agave, rice, organic sugar, or maple syrup
• 1/2 cup of lovage leaves and chopped stalks*
• 1/2 cup celery leaves*
  
• 1-2 tablespoons of slightly ground celery seed
• 1 inch ginger root peeled and grated or sliced paper thin

Serving Items:

• Soda water & fresh lime slices for serving

EQUIPMENT
mortar and pestle, small saucepan, fine strainer, funnel, glass bottle, labels

METHOD
1. In a small saucepan, bring the water and agave to barely a simmer, stirring until the mixture is clear.
2. Add the chopped lovage leaves and stalks plus the celery leaves and slightly ground celery seeds (in the mortar and pestle), and grated fresh ginger root.  Give it a gentle stir.
3. Cover with a pot lid and keep at just below a simmer for 30 min. 
4. Remove from the heat and lay a clean kitchen towel over it to keep the aromatics infusing in the syrup versus filling your home (which is lovely too but…. we want them in the syrup).
5. Leave to infuse for 4 hours or overnight if you prefer a stronger flavor. I will rewarm before straining usually. 
6. Using a fine strainer and a funnel, strain the syrup and funnel into a glass bottle. Label and date. It will keep in the fridge for 4-6 weeks.

TO SERVE: Warm or cold, over ice with lime and celery stalks or a lovage straw is great. 1-2 TB per 8oz. water. Stir and enjoy! 

NO LOVAGE at your fingertips at the moment? Easy. Delete it and add another 1 TB of Celery Seed. It will be equally delicious. 

* NOTE: Due to homegrown lovage and celery having far more intense flavor than most store bought ones, a little goes a long way so you may wish to vary the amount used to make the syrup. Make it strong! We dilute these with soda water or warm water for drinking so we want the flavor to travel through the diluting process.
​
Enjoy! SOOO Good. Much Love, Jen 

My grandfather, we called him Papa, and his two brothers made soda for a living for over 50 years near in Newburgh, New York along the Hudson River. Papa had a “little old Italian man", known for his extraordinary dowsing skills with a Witch Hazel branch, come and find where to put the well. They tapped into and old huge aquifer and never had to buy water for 50 years of business.

Now we all know soda is not a healthy thing in this day and age, but it was birthed from plant and fruit syrups mixed with water. My great grandmother would preserve by canning processes many juices from grapes and others fruits just for this refreshing and healthy drink in off season times. Carbonation was added later.

So with a grandfather in the soda business, all family homes were wove into the delivery system around the valley where we all lived. At any one time in our home, we had 40 cases of free soda from our Papa's company.

Yes, seltzer. Bubbly water.

Mixed with real fruit juices because they were so delicious and less sweet. The evolution to the far too sweet, chemical laden drinks of now is not a proud or pretty journey with what we have done as humans.

As my Papa aged, he and I spent more time in the garden and he basically kicked my grandmother out of the kitchen because he wanted to recreate the food from his Sicilian mother. My grandmother was a good baker and loved her new and less demanding role.

Papa grew up on a small 1/4 acre or less parcel of land in the city of Newburgh with 9 children, his grandparents and parents and various elderly aunts or uncles living with them too. Every square inch of land grew food for all these people. I loved walking along the tiny goat paths and under the trellised beans and tomatoes to the 2 fig trees we buried and unburied every year. They were family members to my family!

Fast forward to his time of thinking about retirement and trying to figure out things around his company. He moved to the garden and kitchen to learn new things and think more too. While in the gardens with him, he was learning new ways of allowing (or not, as he hacked at things because he wanted them to stay a certain size). I used to smile and say, "Papa they want to grow.". I was in college by then and loved hanging with him and I used to reprimand him for not teaching his children his native Italian language as we went about our business. He would share his deep concern for my future because social security was not organized well for my generation. And yes, he sure had that figured with valid concerns for future generations. 

One day back in the 1980s I said, "Hey Papa, I think you should start making flavored seltzers. The soda is too sweet and not so healthy." He waved his hand at me while we were digging to put in thousands of day lilies along the stream that my grandmother loved and muttered something in Italian that was loving but laced with a firm "no." I persisted with all the reasons why and how easy it would be and that it would "catch on Papa, I swear!"

He refused.

And look watch happened too to the seltzer world.

He also refused to bottle in plastic! He would bark, “Glass only. Plastic ruins the taste!” I was always happy about that. And look what's happened with that too.

He went on to liquidate the business and move into a very comfortable retirement in his 50s, which is somewhat rare nowadays as we have morphed into working for money well into the 70s for many. We have to be rebels in a faltering system to figure it out these days. Thankfully he and my grandmother both lived long and well into their 90s.

I miss him. The last time I saw him he held my youngest son Cyrus the day after he was born and we cried and laughed together on and off for hours holding him as we remembered many things and grieved the death of my grandmother 2 years prior. He was getting ready to go and did shortly after this.

Thank you for sharing this time with these memories for me. I decided to share a healthy soda recipe with you! One of many I've conjured in memory of my Papa.

I mix these syrups and shrubs with seltzer and say, "Here's to what you didn't have time for Papa because you did so much for us all."

I like to make small batches for the weekend treats these days and to change things up sometimes. Always remember that you can keep it so very simple with good fruit juices and seltzer. By favorite is organic grape juice, seltzer, a slice of lime and a splash of apple cider vineger, grapefruit juice or 2 squirts of a good bitters. So good!

INGREDIENTS Yield: just shy of 1 quart

• 8 -12 oz. blackberries (any berry works here so go ahead and use what you have)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 grapefruit zested + squeezed juice (add juice at the end) – lemons, limes and oranges all work here too.
• 10 sprig fresh Thyme sprig – or 1 TB dried (mints, rosemary, sage, and all basils are another substitute here too)
• 2-3 thin slices, or more, of fresh ginger (optional but delicious too)
• 1 ½ cup raw honey, sugar, or agave
• 1 ½ cup apple cider vinegar

​

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a medium saucepan bring water, berries and grapefruit zest to just below a simmer where steam is rising.
2. Mash with a potato masher, back of a smooth, or muddler to release the blackberry juice.
3. Add sweetener of choice and vinegar and warm just until dissolved stirring constantly.
4. Add Thyme, stir, turn off the heat and put a lid on. Wait until warm to touch to room temp.
5. Add fresh Grapefruit juice, stir well and strain through a fine sieve.
6. Taste to adjust the sweet tangy flavor with more vinegar or sweetener.
7. Bottle in clean jars. Label with the date. Stores well in the refrigerator up to 2-3 months. (It will never last!)

NOTES:

• Enjoy 1-2 tablespoons mixed with seltzer for a refreshing healthy soda treat or warm water for instant tea.
• Straight off the spoon works too with early onset of feeling any viral or bacterial invasions or with sinus and lung congestion.
• Consider taking 1-2 teaspoons every 3-4 hours wand adding other boosting tinctures to drive the healing deeper.
• Boiling is is too hot for this preparation and kills many of the beneficial properties in the vinegar and honey so stay close to monitor while warming.
• Use organic ingredients as much as possible.
• Shrubs are an old preparation of juicy fruits, aromatic medicinal herbs, a sweetener and vinegar. This concentration gives some shelf life. Always refrigerate.
• Freezing summer fruits gives winter options that remind us of the summer time when it’s cold and they make lovely warm drinks for that time. PLUS the added vinegar supports resisting bugs that bite.

​
Enjoy. Much Love, Jen 

Ah yes, the bread topic again.

We cycle in and out of wheat eating here. Our bread culture genetics are hard to resist. Our peace was made with supporting ecologically conscious farmers and sourcing the VERY BEST WHEAT we can get when the ancestors come call for bread making to commence. 
​
This older article linked below from Mother Earth News is amazing for making sourdough with a few steps removed so it’s super easy to have fresh bread any day of the week - even if you decided at 4pm for a 5pm or so dinner can happen.

This recipe requires NO CONSTANT TENDING of the mother sourdough. 

I know. I know. It seems like a hack that cannot be, but trust me, it works. 

Once your dough is slowly made, it ferments as a dough (versus a mother inoculant) for 2-5 hours on my counter without touching it. Then we use the folding technique (versus kneading) daily which takes literally 2 minutes or less, and it lives in your refrigerator gently covered for up to 2 weeks. It continues to ferment and change flavor over time as a dough ready each day for you to pinch off a grapefruit sized piece and make into flat bread, pizza, rolls, cinnamon buns, or a simple loaf of fresh warm bread to compliment any meal.

We make 1-2 loaves a week during times we are eating wheat and I mix organic bread flour with fresh ground organic Kamut wheat we grind from whole Kamut wheat berries (mixed at a 70:30 ratio for the two flours).

While I’ve been making bread since I was a little girl whose eyes where table top height or perched on a chair watching, practicing, and learning from my Sicilian Great Grand-Nonna Costa and mother kneading away, these super hydration bread techniques are new for me so I’m still getting my legs under me with it but LOVE the bread made from a home oven.
​
Here's the original article that has inspired me for years to give credit where credit definitely due. I have not swayed from it at all as I usually do with many recipes because it is just a solid recipe that is successful every time. ​I'm so grateful!
​

I will repeat the steps I follow here so all is in one place to help you gather the confidence that you CAN do this even if your are brand new or a seasoned home bread maker wanting to learn a different technique.
​

INGREDIENTS:
​

• 3 cups lukewarm water - skin test. it should be tolerated by your skin and not burn it.
• 1-1/2 Tbsp granulated yeast (1-1/2 packets)
• 1-1/2 Tbsp coarse kosher or sea salt
• 6-1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached, ORGANIC bread flour*

*NOTE: we sometimes mix 70% organic bread flour with 30% organic fresh ground or purchased ground Kamut flour. The Kamut flour gives a gentle nutty flavor, reduces the the final gluten amount, and boosts the protein content. But it absolutely requires this high hydration and fermented process to get the rise and the crumb we love.

Yes, you can double this recipe if you're having a large group coming through. I've not gone more than that with this recipe but do experiment. 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mixing and Storing the Dough - Heat the water to just a little warmer than body temperature (about 100 degrees Fahrenheit).

2. Add yeast and salt to the water in a 5-quart bowl or, preferably, in a resealable, lidded container (not airtight — use container with gasket or lift a corner). Don’t worry about getting it all to dissolve.

3. Mix in the flour by gently scooping it up with your measuring cup, then leveling the top of the measuring cup with a knife; don’t pat down. Mix with a wooden spoon (I oil mine lightly), a high-capacity food processor with dough attachment, or a heavy-duty stand mixer with dough hook, until uniformly moist. If hand-mixing becomes too difficult, use very wet hands to press it together. Don’t knead! This step is done in a matter of minutes, and yields a wet dough loose enough to conform to the container.

4. Cover loosely. Do NOT use screw-topped jars, which could explode from trapped gases. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flatten on top), approximately 2-5 hours, depending on temperature. Longer rising times, up to 5 hours are my preference for developing flavor and will not harm the result.

5. You can use a portion of the dough any time after this period. Refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and easier to work with than room-temperature dough. I do recommend refrigerating the dough at least 1-2 hours before shaping a loaf. We get to relax here on all the directions. You don’t need to monitor doubling or tripling of volume as in traditional recipes.

6. At this point your dough lives in your frig as it continues to ferment and you keep it loosely covered so if is expands a lot it will not explode in there. I place a piece of painters tape on it with the date I started it so I can pay attention to the 2 week time stamp of using it up. 

7. Every day or two you use cold watered or olive oiled hands and with two fingers lift and fold the dough over on itself several times from several directions by spinning your bowl. Then put it back to rest in the frig with it's loose lid.  

1. Place a pinched off ball of dough (the size of a grapefruit is about 1lb of dough) onto a floured surface. Let it rest with a floured dish towel over it for about 40 minutes to come up in temp a little but no so much that it's too sticky. Depending on the dough’s age, you may see little rise during this period. It's fine. More rising will occur during baking.

2. Prepare your cookie sheet or pizza pan with a light dusting of cornmeal while your dough rests. You can also see the "Dutch Oven Baking Technique" described below if you have one. 
 
4. There are 2 ways to work your dough just before baking: (1) With lightly floured hands approach your dough with cupped hands around the base so your hands are in contact with your barely floured countertop and pull the loaf diagonal to you focusing your hands at the bottom of the loaf so it slides and rolls the dough into a round loaf shape.

(2) Another way is to flatten dough out to a rectangle with floured finger tips pulling the sides and pressing into the top gently. Then fold in thirds then roll up at one end and pull across the counter to form the shape you want. Work very little and use just enough flour to prevent sticking but allows it to still grab the counter.

5. Let rest 20m while you preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. 

6. Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour, which will allow the slashing knife to pass without sticking. Slash a 1/4-inch-deep cross, scallop or tick-tack-toe pattern into the top. This helps the bread expand during baking by releasing the surface tension before the baking heat causes a rapid rise.

7. Some suggest placing an empty broiler tray for holding 1 cup of boiled water on another shelf underneath in the oven. Some use mister spray bottles of water and spray the loaf and oven as it goes in. Or again, take a look at the dutch oven method below. You decide. They all work well. This develops the crispy crusty we all love. 

8. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until the crust is browned and firm to the touch. I was taught to give a decent hard tap with your finger which reveals a hollow sound, "the bread sings its doneness" said my granny. That's a skill developed through feel and hearing that really works too. Thankfully with wet doughs like this, there’s little risk of drying out the interior, despite the dark crust.

9. When you remove the loaf from the oven, it will audibly crackle, or “sing,” when initially exposed to room temperature air. Allow to cool completely - but this is very hard for my family so we wait 20m and dive in with fresh good butter waiting. Cool on a wire rack completely for best flavor, texture and the ability to slice well. The perfect crust may initially soften, but will firm up again when cooled.

Refrigerate your remaining fermenting dough in your lightly lidded (not airtight) container and use it over the next two weeks, giving it a few gentle finger folds every day or two when not used.

​You’ll find that even one day’s storage improves the flavor and texture of your bread. This maturation continues over the two-week period. Cut off and shape loaves as you need them. The dough can also be frozen in 1-pound portions if your 2 weeks mark is coming and you will not use it up in time. Freeze in an airtight containers and defrosted overnight in the refrigerator prior to baking day.

It's an easy process once learned. My best advise is work with a cooler dough. That is where I have made mistakes by letting it get too warm and hence so very sticky. Pop back in the frig for 20 minutes is all that is needed.

Good luck and I'm here if you have questions. Much LOVE & BREAD, Jen

​I LOVE the Dutch Oven Cook Method for great crust in a home oven which is not described in these links above. It is optional and a simple cookie sheet or pizza pan will always do. This delivers a consistently great crust so I share.

• Heat oven to 450 degrees F, with Dutch oven in it.
• Have your dough's final resting place be on a piece of parchment paper that becomes the hammock for moving it. 
• Remove the Dutch oven once oven reaches temperature and close oven to keep heat in. BE CAREFUL! This pan is so very hot. Remove lid and gently drop the loaf using the parchment paper like a hammock into the Dutch oven using the paper to lift it in.
• If you want a focaccia-like bread then skip the slash step above and press the loaf out to the edges with your olive-oil dipped fingers to flatten a bit.
• Splash a little water in there on and around the load with your fingers like you're blessing your loaf with holy floral water (yes, bless it) and put the lid on. Place back in oven and bake 20m at 450 degrees F. Some people slide a few ice cubes under the parchment. You decided.
• Remove lid, lower oven temp to 400 degrees F and bake another 20-25m or until it sounds hollow when tapped with your fingertips.
• Cool at least 15m to warm to the touch before cutting.

​Adding aromatics is easy. I change the aromatics up with each loaf based on wat we want and have available.

What is an aromatic? These are plants that smell and release oils when we work with them or touch them. Your spice cabinet is filled with aromatics. But there are more. If you stock a spice cabinet well for traditional Indian and Mexican cooking then you are all set with aromatics!  

I suggest 2 TB of minced fresh herbs/aromatics sprinkled on the flattened out dough, or 1 TB dried and rubbed between your hands to break them open and release oils. Seeds can be hand ground in a mortar and pestle briefly before sprinkling over your dough. 

So once you flatten out your ball of dough a bit and add aromatics (optional) to enhance and direct the flavor, you fold over by thirds and roll it up from the short end and tuck in the bottom with floured hands to make a boule (round shape).

This sits on parchment paper on your counter for about 30m to rise (aka "proof") a bit more while you get your oven HOT with a Dutch oven pot inside (see below). Next flour the top of your loaf lightly and slash it gently with a good sharp knife which helps to release steam as it cooks which allows for the bread to spring up as it cooks.

Sometimes I use no aromatics because plain yummy bread just works!
​
Note: Rue is used in savory baking and slow cooked meat stews in North African cuisine and is delicious! It’s strong so small amounts are all that’s needed. Rue is a regular part of the kitchen spice cabinet there. The first time I made Rue Bread we all ate the entire load right out the oven as it was truly different, absolutely delicious, and so soothing to smell and eat. Fresh Rue is also added to potato pancakes for spring and fall gut clearing in many European traditions. I was taught to add 1-2 TB fresh minced Rue per patch and you eat a few potato pancakes a day for 2 weeks to get rid of non-beneficial gut free-loaders. They're delicious too served latke-style with plain yogurt or sour cream, and apple sauce.

Other Aromatic Bread Combos We LOVE:
- Rosemary is always a favorite around here! 1 TB dried or 2TB fresh.
- Thyme, Lemon zest and fresh cracked pepper
- Chopped marinated Olives and fresh Cilantro are also amazing together.
- Fresh minced or whole Basil leaves with slices of Brie tucking into the top just before the bake staggered us. 
- Dried Cranberries, Sunflower seeds, and lots of cracked black pepper (1-2 TB worth!) is amazing too. This makes the best toast with the warm, peppery, spice note. Black pepper is quite an antibiotic too so I make this one with simple chicken soups for when we're sick around here.

.Homemade Rice Sourdough - Gluten Free Bread made in the Blender Recipe - For Gluten Free experimenting, this blender method rice sourdough recipe is also amazing. The chemistry of learning how to make GF bread has really evolved among us humans in the last few years. What used to taste like "yum... aged tree bark on forest floor" per my husband, is now quite hard to discern from wheat breads. Laughing - he does not candy his opinions and it's quite funny at times. 

I’ve been playing with many recipes and this one worked for me the best. For working aromatics in, I add them during the pour into the baking pan and swirl them through with a chopstick gently. Then let it rise and bake.
​
It is a very wet dough and so a proper loaf pan is important to invest in for that shape that is great for sliced bread.

AND YET ANOTHER GF BREAD ARTICLE LINK: Simple Gluten Free Bread by Christine Stoner (creator and author of this sourdough process outlined here.)

Send questions! Let’s break bread together and support the farmers that bring us old strains of wheat that are kinder to the land plus our bodies.

Much love💚Jen