The "Air" chapter of Cooked by Michael Pollan inspired me to complain about it to a friend. Then I sat down to read most of the chapter. As Pollan introduced me to all the intimate details of yeast, I found myself--frustratingly--enjoying the chapter. I enjoyed it because I could see myself baking bread from scratch someday, just for the fun of it, although not necessarily with a recipe as complex as the sourdough recipe Pollan used.

I prefer a denser loaf of homemade bread over this airy sourdough stuff Pollan aims for.  When I bite into my bread I want to taste food, not air with a food-like taste. A thin slice of Irish brown bread with orange marmalade or a plain slice of my mom's fruit-'n-spice recipe made with plain store-bought yeast and a bread machine...

Admittedly, the process of growing a starter is fascinating. I was first introduced to sourdough while playing at a friend's house in elementary school. Her mom called us over to take turns kneaded the dough and explained how much goes into making this type of bread--yeast starters, kneading, letting the dough rise, etc.