Turnipseed Sisters' Loaf

I'm making a bread that rises with hops starter instead of traditional packaged yeast. 

In a previous post, I explained that I had to make the hops starter with liquid steeped from hops flowers, mashed potatoes, corn meal, etc. 

This concoction sat out on my counter in a warm spot until it got bubbly. 

This took more than 24 hours; It actually took two days! 

Once it was bubbly, I transferred it to a jar with a tight-fitting lid and left it in the fridge until the liquid separated from the solids (as instructed by the recipe). 

Once that happened, I mixed the liquids and solids together again, added a cup of this starter to flour, salt, sugar, etc. and left it out on the counter overnight to create what is called a sponge. 

This is the first bread I've made that required a sponge, so I didn't know what to expect. The recipe said it would be bubbly. 

In the morning, this is what the sponge looked like. 

To this sponge, I mixed in more flour and some lard then kneaded the dough for several minutes by hand. 

Then I left the dough to rise for the first time in a bowl for a little more than two hours. (It takes longer for bread rising without traditional yeast to rise, apparently.) 

Then I split the dough into two lumps and shaped them into loaves and placed them in pans. 

I let the loaves rise another two hours until they were coming over the top of the pans. 

I baked them as directed and... Beautiful! 

They smell amazing! 

I can't wait to taste them!