Darlene

I’m thinking about making some sourdough crackers with the discard too. I think they’d be amazing with everything bagel seasoning on them. 

Yeah, it took me a little bit to figure out how to incorporate it into an already packed day. I think the thing that motivated was that first loaf lol. I eat it every day now. 

Awwww happy birthday!!! And thanks Dee for the announcement 

Yeah I took a several year break mostly because while the recipe I used made great bread, it wasn’t that “it” for me. The KA recipe has blown me away and reignited my excitement over making bread. I started the process with my third loaf today. Less than a week from when I started the first loaf. 

That’s interesting E. That’s one of the things I noticed right off the bat with this starter. It’s far more active and a lot more fragrant. I’m excited to see if there’s any aroma or taste difference with the San Fran starter. 

16 minutes ago, euphrasyne said:

Sourdoughs is all the same regardless of age.   Treat it like you want it.  That looks awesome! I'm tempted to order some.  

What do you mean they’re all the same?

I can see huge differences between my original sourdough starter and the new from smell to activity etc. 

I know we have many posts about sourdough bread and making it, etc, but I wanted to share a few observations I've had recently with it.

I made my original sourdough with a starter and a recipe. It was really good but something was missing in it for me but I didn't know what it was. After a while, I stopped making it and let my starter die. I bought a new sourdough starter last year, but it was too busy to use and I ended up losing it.

A few weeks ago, my mom got on a kick of wanting to make sourdough bread and asked me where I got my starter. She ordered what I had always ordered, and my dad asked for a recipe for the 'no knead sourdough bread' I used to make.

I ended up giving him a different recipe than I had always used...not sure why (probably because that recipe wasn't "IT"). When 2 daughters and I went down to help my parents a few weeks ago, they made us a loaf of sourdough bread. When I tried it, I flipped because it was like the bread we used to get from the european bakeries when I was a little kid.

When I got home, I decided to get some new starter myself and found this amazing site with several different starters that are hundreds of years old. I made a loaf about a week ago and it was completely different (in a good way) from the sourdough I used ot make so I think it's partly the sourdough starter I have, plus a better recipe and I ate half the loaf in 2 days lol.

I just made my 2nd batch of this sourdough bread, and instead of keeping it in the fridge for 12 hours of cold fermentation, I did 2 days. What a freaking difference even that made. I had some last night and was amazed at how the flavor of the bread stayed on my tastebuds for several hours later (not in a bad way).

I also noticed something huge (for me). Normally, if I just have some toast or a bagel at breakfast, within 30-60 min, I will get really tired...must be my sugar tanking trying to process the carbs. But, when I eat the fresh sourdough bread I make, that doesn't happen. It's a weird testimony of how the fermentation breaks certain things down for the body that don't tax the system requiring extra work to process (if that makes sense).

Also, when I was re-searching the sourdough starters I had forgotten how it breaks down everything to make it more digestible for humans and also unlocks a ton of vitamins and nutrients that are only unlocked during the sourdough starter fermentation process. I am seeing the truth of that as I completely switch over from store-bought breads...even fresh breads from quality bakeries...and instead, make my own sourdoughs. While I may not be able to live by 'bread alone' :), I certainly am eating it alot more than I ever had.

If anyone is interested, this is the site where I got my '900 year old starter' and have been using that for the past couple of weeks. I just ordered the 233 year old sourdough starter because I want to see if there's a taste difference between the 2 starters. I also ordered the European rye starter because I'd like to see if I can replicate the black breads we used to be able to get as a kid, and also because I have ordered bread from all over the country from European bakeries, and NONE of it is like what we used to be able to get. The sourdough I have been making lately is better than any of those childhood memories so I'm excited to branch out and try other starters.

Living Dough sourdough starters is where I got my starters.

King Arthur's no knead sourdough bread recipe is the recipe I'm currently using. It really is an easy recipe to make...no traditional kneading, just a few folds and preshaping.

Let me know if any of you try it!

I bought the grow bags and will experiment with those. But I definitely plan on going all raised bed gardens this year.

We are currently looking into this. We had been having discussions with our board people about taking the site back a few days due to an unexplained accident that happened to one of our members’ account. It had barred them and deleted all their history. In an effort to restore that, we were inquiring about the process. 
 

It appears the board people took it upon themselves to do it without authorization so I am very sorry for the tumult this is causing y’all. 
 

Suffice it to say that I’m furious with them. We wanted to restore our members history but we wanted to do it in an organized manner, giving everyone a heads up beforehand etc etc etc. 

Yeah, I've been growing potatoes for a long time now and understand how it's done. I'm just looking for an easier way to do so, so I figured I'd try these. If they don't work, they don't but it's worth a try.

I'll keep y'all posted on how it all works...whether it's a bright idea or not lol. I'm thinking of installing some drip irrigation to handle the watering needs they will have.

I'm also researching/planning on incorporating some 2' high raised beds. I just don't know if I want to build them from scratch or whether to buy a prefab.

I'm such a silly girl.

I'm burdened about potatoes. Go figure.

lol

Was last year too and planted a ton. Only got 1 hilling done on the potatoes and the bulk of them were small. My fault.

It's alot of work to grow potatoes - hilling and harvesting and it's getting harder to sit on the ground and dig in the dirt like I've always done.

I'm in the process of planning massive raised bed gardens - at least 2' because I am NOT going to stop growing veggies. I have tons and tons of compost from the livestock and hay so I figured I'd fill the raised beds with that. 

But, I need alot of space to plant my beloved potatoes (last years crop is in boxes in the garage right now) so today I took the plunge and bought 10 gallon potato grow 'bags'. I remember seeing some posts in this forum a year or so ago, about a guy who plants his potatoes in round tubs. I didn't want to invest that much $ into plastic tubs so I found some grow bags that were were on sale on Amazon, plus 25% off. It wouldn't let me put in an order for several grow bags at the 25% off price - only one at a time. So I bought 1 by 1 by 1 to secure my 25% discount lol (saved $25).

I'm really curious to see how the potatoes will grow in these. The grow bags are reusable year after year, they have a velcro window that you can pull up to 'harvest' new potatoes along the way. The bags have handles if I want to move them around (not) and my hypothesis is that it will be easier to grow and hill and harvest the potatoes in that kind of setup. I bought 30 of them I think...can't quite remember but if it's a complete failure, the $ hit won't be too bad.

I'll keep y'all posted.

*pout* I missed it too, but at least she'll remember how much she's loved and how grateful we are that she calls MrsS home

On 1/12/2024 at 6:23 PM, Mother said:

make dozens of menus and choose what fits the sales that week.

I have found that this strategy saves the most $.

On 1/5/2024 at 9:33 AM, Mother said:

If you add a Food saver bag it’s even more.   I use food saver bags to freeze foods directly.  I vacuum seal the food then lay the bags flat on a cookie sheet to freeze.

Another one of the important benefits of vacuum sealing is that it is less likely to get freezer burn, which totally ruins foods for me.

My mom had bought a bunch of those containers and I cooked a ton of food and we froze them in them. It DID take alot of space and I was always concerned about the eventual freezer burn.

Like you, I'm not a boxed cake kinda girl. Boxed brownie mix, yes, but cakes no...so unfortunately I have no creative ideas to offer...outside of maybe making streusel type cakes, where you mix some sugar, cinnamon, maybe some chopped nuts, oats, flour, and pour half of the cake batter into a 9x13 pan, put the streusel in the middle, and then top with the remaining cake batter, with a little streusel on top. Might mimic more of a coffee cake type thing instead of a traditional cake?

On 12/30/2023 at 8:19 PM, Jeepers said:

Hope you and your family are doing well. I know you were having a trying time with your dad over the holidays concerning his health. Just wanted you to know you are being thought about.  

Awwwww...that was very thoughtful, Jeeps.

Yeah, we were able to get her sign in figured out so that she's able to read and relax

And yes, she is much loved and revered.

Merry Christmas 🎁🎄 to our beloved MrsS family!!!

On 12/20/2023 at 2:50 AM, Midnightmom said:

 Maybe one of the "changes" that @Darlene should make to the forums is to change the name of this category to - "What are you PRESERVING today." 

We can do that 

Happy thanksgiving!!! 🦃 

On 11/21/2023 at 10:18 AM, Necie said:

Glad to see you are still the whirlwind you have always been. It is actually very comforting, and anything less would be a disappointment. Love ya Chica!! 

Love ya too and am so happy you’re back!!!!

On 11/21/2023 at 10:18 AM, Littlesister said:

But I do miss those older folks that have posted on here

Many of them have passed away which is why we don’t have their input anymore. Thankfully, we have their history which still touches people’s hearts today. 

9 hours ago, Necie said:

And Darlene popping in and out as always. 

Hush you.

lol

1 hour ago, out_of_the_ordinary said:

 

 

OOTO note: We very lightly apply cooking oil (wipe excess off with paper towel) to our dehydrator's fruit roll trays before putting the mixture on it.

You can sometimes use parchment paper alone and forego the cooking oil depending on fruit