Instructions: I regularly add one step that is nonstandard: I almost always give the bread
an extra rising when the flour is half mixed in. The extra rising make the
bread smoother. With sourdough the extra rising allows the starter to many of the lumps of flour which makes the dough almost silky soft. After adding about 1/3 - 1/2 of the flour the dough is the texture of muffin, waffle
or brownie batter and I let it rise until doubled. Some of the recipes

(esp
the ones with potato) refer to this as a "slurry". Some recipes, especially
those that use potato to enhance the yeast, do call for this extra rising; however I add this step to all bread recipes. [Anne]

Heat the yogurt until almost boiling. Pour it over the oatmeal and stir and let stand a while so the oatmeal softens. Add margarine and sugar/molasses/honey. When cooled to lukewarm add the yeast mixture and the
sourdough starter.

Sift 1 cup flour and baking soda and salt and add. Mix with a wooden spoon
until smooth. Cover and let rise.

Add the rest of the flour mixing it in. When its too stiff to mix, continue
mixing in the bowl with your hands. When its no longer sticky, turn onto a
floured board and knead, adding flour as needed.

Let the dough rise. Punch down, divide into two loaves, shape and place in
greased loaf pans. Let the dough rise again. Bake at 400 degrees for 35-40
minutes.

Variations:
Add 1 cup shredded mozerella, montaray jack or munster cheese to the oatmeal
mixture. This bread will last
*forever*. We took it in the car on a road trip for 5 days and on the 5th day it was as fresh as on the first day.

Furthermore the consistency of this bread is very good; it can be sliced very
thinly without crumbling.

Substitute 2 cups whole wheat flour for the oatmeal. Add 1 cup shredded cheese.

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