Free kitchen lessons from Chef Evangalene
Did you just get a new sourdough starter? Have a jar of discard? Want to make focaccia or pizza with it tonight? Pick the real kitchen moment and I’ll point you to a useful free lesson—not a giant pile of tabs. Why would I do that to you, life already has enough bs.😊🍞
A free field guide based on years of experience for your starter, loaf, dinner, and high-desert kitchen. Because knowlege is power.
So tell me, what’s happening over there?
The journal is not a homework assignment. Choose one starting point, take the useful first move, and come back when you need the next lesson.
Find the exact free lesson
Title-only search. Nothing appears until you type a word from the lesson title, so the journal stays clean until you ask it for something.
No published lesson title contains that yet. Try one exact word from a title, like “starter,” “pizza,” “discard,” or “tools.”
Already baking, but the dough or loaf is giving you a weird signal?Start with the dough and loaf diagnosis guide →
Starter field note
Your starter has one job today: show you it is alive.
01 · What to do when you get a new starter at home
Keep this first day simple. Your job is not to force a loaf; it is to learn what a healthy culture looks like in your own kitchen.
Starter lessons
Read the small field note first, then choose the exact question you have. These cards open their real Shopify article—not the bottom of the page.
Learn what sourdough starter is, how it works, how to feed it, how to know when it is ready, and why starter matters so much for better sourdough...
Read this starter lesson →
Learn how often to feed sourdough starter, when to keep it on the counter or in the fridge, and how to build a simple beginner feeding routine.
Read this starter lesson →
How to store sourdough starter for daily, weekly, or occasional baking: choose counter or fridge care, wake it before baking, and save a dry backup.
Read this starter lesson →
A clear Albuquerque guide to sourdough-starter water: what chlorine means, why consistency matters, and Chef’s simple reset for beginners.
Read this starter lesson →
Is your sourdough starter flat, weak, or not bubbling? Learn why it happens and how to fix it with beginner-friendly sourdough tips from Eat Well...
Read this starter lesson →
02 · Put the jar to work
Discard does not need to become another guilt jar in the refrigerator. Choose a useful thing you actually want to eat, then make it before the day gets away from you.
Use your discard
A jar of discard can be breakfast, a crisp snack, or dinner.
Use your discard
Start with the free discard guide, then choose the actual recipe lesson—pancakes, crackers, or pizza dough—so you know exactly where each link takes you.
Learn what sourdough discard is, when to save it, when to throw it away, and how extra starter can be used in beginner-friendly recipes.
Open the discard lesson →
Chef Evangalene turns unfed starter into fluffy pancakes, crisp crackers, and same-day pizza dough—while showing when your jar needs feeding inst...
Open the discard recipe →
Bake tonight
Tonight’s choice: a generous pan of focaccia or a crisp sourdough pizza.
03 · Make dinner from the jar
Both begin with sourdough, but they ask different things from the dough. Pick the meal first, then use the guide that tells you what to look for before the oven is hot.
Bake tonight
Choose the actual dinner you want, then open the full lesson that gets you from active starter to oven without a generic jump to the bottom.
Have a lively starter? Turn it into pizza tonight. Chef Evangalene walks through a 100% starter dough, same-day and overnight paths, and the cues...
Plan dinner →Chef Evangalene turns unfed starter into fluffy pancakes, crisp crackers, and same-day pizza dough—while showing when your jar needs feeding inst...
Plan dinner →
Chef Evangalene’s same-day and overnight sourdough focaccia recipes for Albuquerque, with dry-air dough cues, pan guidance, and a pizza-night option
Plan dinner →
Albuquerque · 5,312 feet
In Albuquerque, dough is working in a real room—not a generic recipe.
04 · Albuquerque baking plan
Dry air, elevation, room temperature, and the dough’s exposed surface change what happens next. Use the calculator for a thoughtful first adjustment, then trust the cues you can actually see.
Albuquerque path
Start with the question on your counter, make one smart adjustment, then keep the Chef guidance beside you as the bake changes.
Learn how sourdough baking can change between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, including fermentation timing, hydration, dry climate issues, and New Mex...
Read the altitude lesson →
Learn how to add green chile to sourdough bread without wrecking the dough. Chef Evangalene covers moisture, heat, salt, folding, cheese, and bak...
Read the altitude lesson →
Learn how high altitude and Albuquerque’s dry climate can affect sourdough fermentation, hydration, proofing, and dough feel — plus how Eat Well ...
Read the altitude lesson →
Fresh pasta confidence
Fresh pasta gets easier when the dough, sheet, and water all meet at the right moment.
05 · Fresh pasta at high altitude
Start with the beginner pasta lesson, then use flour and tool guides only when they solve the next thing in front of you. You do not need a drawer full of gear; you need a rested dough, an even sheet, and a pan of water waiting.
Fresh pasta, flour, and tools
Start with the dough, then find the local tool guide, the fresh-pasta storage lesson, and the Albuquerque flour guide when each one becomes useful.
Chef Evangalene’s beginner lesson for making fresh pasta in Albuquerque: mix, rest, roll, dry, cook, and store egg pasta without overcomplicating...
Read this pasta lesson →
Chef Evangalene's beginner-friendly guide to the sourdough baking tools worth buying, the Albuquerque shops to check, and the skills that make ev...
Read the local tool guide →
A high-desert guide to keeping fresh pasta soft: cover it, work in small batches, and freeze perfect portions for later.
Read this pasta lesson →
A Chef-led Albuquerque guide to buying 00 and unbleached flour without wasting money—compare price per pound, package size, freshness, and recipe...
Read this pasta lesson →06 · Bread choices and the honest health answer
I do not want to hand you a health halo and call it education. These free lessons explain what fermentation changes, how long fresh sourdough actually lasts, and when sourdough versus regular bread makes sense for the person eating it.
Free bread-choice lessons
These are the health, comparison, and shelf-life articles readers were already finding in the archive. Now they have a front door.
How long does fresh sourdough last? Learn the real quality windows for bread, rolls, cookies, cakes, and desserts—plus how to store, freeze, and ...
Read the bread answer →
Sourdough vs. regular bread, side by side: compare fermentation, yeast, ingredients, flavor, texture, digestion, and which loaf fits your routine.
Read the bread answer →
Is sourdough better for you than regular bread? Get a balanced answer on fermentation, ingredients, flavor, digestion, gluten, blood sugar, and p...
Read the bread answer →07 · Albuquerque food and hands-on learning
A sourdough journal can answer the kitchen question and still lead somewhere human: breakfast in Albuquerque, a class with me, or a private baking event for your people.
Local guides and class planning
These links take readers from free education into the local food and learning experiences that make Eat Well ABQ more than a recipe archive.
Learn what to expect from a sourdough cooking class in Albuquerque, including what you’ll learn, what to bring, what you’ll make, and why hands-o...
Open the local guide →
Planning things to do in Albuquerque for food lovers? Start with hands-on cooking at Eat Well ABQ, then explore markets, New Mexico flavor, wine,...
Open the local guide →
Plan a private baking event in Albuquerque with Eat Well ABQ. Explore birthday classes, date nights, friend gatherings, team events, sourdough cl...
Open the local guide →
Planning a Balloon Fiesta morning in Albuquerque? Chef Evangalene maps breakfast by route—from Frontier and Golden Crown to three Eat Well ABQ ba...
Open the local guide →The full free journal
Every published lesson stays here. We show three at a time so the journal stays calm on a phone; the numbered pages hold the rest of your real Shopify archive.
Need one exact answer? The search bar lives up top, beside the five paths. This bottom section is the full menu—nothing gets hidden behind a broken category button.
The shelves above solve the immediate question. This is every published lesson, including the ones that do not belong in a starter, discard, dinner, altitude, bread-choice, pasta, or local path.
Showing 10–12 of 29 published lessons · page 4 of 10.
Planning a Balloon Fiesta morning in Albuquerque? Chef Evangalene maps breakfast by route—from Frontier and Golden Crown to three Eat Well ABQ bakes worth pr...
Read the free lesson →
How long does fresh sourdough last? Learn the real quality windows for bread, rolls, cookies, cakes, and desserts—plus how to store, freeze, and revive handm...
Read the free lesson →
Learn how whole grain flour, rye, spelt, and seeds change sourdough hydration, dough feel, flavor, texture, fermentation, and baking at home.
Read the free lesson →From reading to doing
The journal gives you a useful first move. In class, I can show you the starter, pizza dough, pasta sheet, and timing cues your hands need to trust at home.
Hands-on with Chef
Come feel the dough, then take the confidence home.
