Alumni Digest / U of T / Ideas /
A nurse finds her rhythm in sourdough
Rachel Pardoe's pandemic baking habit grew into an online audience and a cookbook, while nursing remains part of her working life.
The context
Where the work begins
Rachel Pardoe began baking seriously in 2020 while working in community health, raising a young child and expecting another. Sourdough gave the Bloomberg Nursing graduate a creative outlet during an unsettled period. Decorative scoring caught her attention, and sharing her experiments eventually brought more than a million followers across social platforms.
The takeaway
What follows
Her debut cookbook, Sourdough Everything, includes classic loaves, more demanding recipes and ways to use leftover starter in foods such as pancakes and pasta. Pardoe encourages beginners to read visual cues rather than worry only about temperatures. She has stepped back from full-time nursing but still works casually in community health, bringing its emphasis on empathy to her online community.
Source reporting
A nurse finds her rhythm in sourdough
Original summary by Alumni Digest, based on public source reporting. This independent publication is not affiliated with or endorsed by the University of Toronto. Source image retained for editorial review; rights clearance is still required before any broader reuse.
