After investing about a week into making my very first sourdough starter, I am now planning to use that starter as the base of my first whole wheat bread loaf. It won’t be that sour given the starter is still young, but it will be my starting place for 100 percent fully homemade bread, no commercial yeast. And in order to make whole wheat bread, I’ll need to have… whole wheat flour, which I don’t have. I was planning to take a walk to Central Park today, but en route, I realized that the line at Whole Foods had only six people, so this was my chance to finally pick up the flour I wanted. When I got in, I noticed that nearly ALL of the all-purpose flour was gone except for two 5-lb. bags. A woman just took the second to last bag on the shelf. And for the whole wheat flour, all the name brand (Bob’s Red Mill, the related) bags were gone, and only Whole Foods brand organic was left… and only about four bags. This was really surreal, as the flour shelves are usually fully stocked. I usually the only one buying flour!!!!!!! So I grabbed a 5-lb bag and went on my merry way.

The COVID-19 pandemic has really made people crave pasta, rice, bread, and other carb-heavy foods like never before. Gluten-free is not currently particularly popular anymore, is it? But then, you know the anti-gluten people are coming for you when someone like me, who has been doing a ton of sourdough starter reading and research, gets targeted on Instagram for “probiotic gluten-free starter.”

NOOOOOOO. STAY AWAY FROM MEEEEEEEEE.