I have been making bread for a few years but not for every day use until about a month a go. A combination of reading Polan's book Cooked and Sandor Katz's new book The Art of Fermentation triggered a bloom of interest in sourdough and leaving things out on the counter.

The "recipe" ,scare quotes to show it is quite rough-hewn, goes like this.

Mix water and flour together to the consistency of pancake batter. (notice a lack of weights and measures?)

Leave it out stirring it vigorously a couple of times a day until it starts to bubble and smell a little bit like apples. Could be days depending on the weather.

When it is a bubbly sour-applely mess pour a coupla cups of it into a mixing bowl.

replace what you took with a mixture of flour and water.

Add flour until it looks like bread-dough (add salt to taste with the flour).

Knead it.

Let it rise until it becomes twice it original size.

punch it down.

put it in a pan (one with a lid is nice because it retains the humidity).

let it rise to twice its size again.

put it in a oven preheated to quite a hot temp 400 degrees 18-20 minutes.

but more importantly until it is browned on the top like you know bread should be.

there you go you got bread.

If you want better bread start measuring shit but more importantly develop an eye/memory for what each stage is supposed to look, smell, feel and taste like. Keep track of what you do and modify it for your local ingredients, taste, weather etc.

bonus recipe stolen pretty much from Sandor Katz.

Sour dough starter likes to be feed. This can result too much damn starter. To keep a starter fresh and yeasty you also have to use it. but my not have a need for more bread. Answer: sour dough pancakes.

put a coupla cups of starter in your mixing bowl salt to taste mix in an egg.

heat the skillet and make some pancakes.

they are good with savory and sweet topping or fillings if you roll them.