Bobservation: Find A Hobby You Can Eat

We have all heard that having a hobby is very good for your health and happiness and I absolutely agree, but I think it's smart to have one that you can eat!

When I was a young boy between the ages of 8 and 13, my favorite hobby, other than various sporting activities, was building models. I used to save my allowance and go to the local toy store and choose a new model to build just about every month.

I built everything from racing cars to B-52 bombers to aircraft carriers. Of course, when I was a kid, we didn’t have the same diversions as kids today have. In the long winter months when you couldn’t go out side too much in my home state of Maine, you had to find a hobby to do indoors, and for me, it was modeling.

Eventually, I grew out of my beloved, modeling obsession, like most teenage boys, and was on to other things. I took up golf and other physical activities as hobbies. That seemed enough to satisfy me as I got older and married, and had less time for my hobbies.
Parents know that your time is not your own anymore and that’s a good thing because when you chose to become one, that was the sacrifice you have to make. But, we now understand that having a hobby is good for your mental health and your overall happiness. Life cannot be just round the clock, work, chores and responsibilities.

This brings me to my current hobby, that I took up during COVID-19 shut downs. Like most of us, we were stuck inside the house looking for things to do to pass our time. And to be honest, we all probably were cooking and baking more than we should have.

That is when I took up the hobby of baking sourdough bread from scratch at home. I saw a lot of people online that had become obsessed with getting their starter going and keeping it alive. The best part of this new hobby was, once you were finish making it you got to eat it.

I could have chosen a different type of hobby, such as fishing or yoga, but at the end of the day, what did I have to show for it? When you fish, generally you have to throw it back in the water, so what’s that good for? As for yoga? I just don’t bend like that.
The beauty of taking up baking sourdough bread is it’s surprisingly challenging and fun. I read all kinds of online articles, followed, baking enthusiast, influencers online and watched dozens of videos. Admittedly, my first attempts at sourdough were hardly successes. Some loaves were so hard that we could’ve use them for doorstops.

It took me a good dozen tries in order to feel really proud about my sourdough creations. Now we hardly buy bread at all and I make a loaf at the beginning of every week. I’ve given loaves away as gifts to friends and family and no one has ever returned one!
If you are interested in taking up, sourdough cooking, feel free to reach out to me, and I will pass along some of the knowledge that I have learned over the past few years. I guarantee you within a few attempts you will be is obsessed with it as I am. Of course if you can wait, don’t blame me.