Monica Strazz

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since Mar 20, 2019
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Tremonton, UT United States Zone 6B
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Recent posts by Monica Strazz

Hi....thank you for doing this thread...always love to read up on sourdough starters.  Even though I have used sourdough starter for many many years, I still consider myself quite the novice.  My friend once gave me a loaf of her bread made with only 3-4 ingredients (made with freshly ground, very finely, hard wheat flour, it was so amazing and sandwich loaf consistency, so moist that I couldn't wait to make a peanut butter sandwich.  The bread seemed to just melt in my mouth.  She shared some of her starter with me and I took down her recipe, step by step, and was successful many times.  Unfortunately, with time restraints on hand at the time and all the rules I knew at the time about sourdough starters, I could not keep up with it and let it sit in the fridge for over a year or two, actually I've done that with another starter I purchased from Azure Standard.  When I took it out of the fridge, needless to say, it had that famous dark liquid on top-that I experienced before.  I purchased the one from Azure Standard thinking the one my friend gave me was dead.....which I let sit unopened for over a year too... My friend who shared the starter with me said she had success with adding pineapple juice to her starter and it came back to life.....but I don't think she ever let it sit for over a year.  I did not have pineapple juice but I had apple juice.....and wallaahh...both starters came back to life.  So no more worrying for me with adding flour according to the rules.  I will let it sit in my fridge for weeks without touching it, never have done a discard pile and I still get amazing bread every time.  I do keep two jars of it just in case.  I just feed it before using, let it sit on the counter overnight and it is bubbly and ready for use the next day, if it shows a slow start I just repeat the process and it comes back every time.  I use Azure Standard organic all purpose flour because I do not have that amazing grinder my friend has...I don't think they make it anymore, she inherited it from her mom.....and honestly, I did not want to invest in a grinder not knowing if it would come out as fine as hers.

Heidi shared a recipe from Kate but I wasn't sure if it is the same Kate that I found my soft loaf recipe...I also make rolls with the batch---it's a big recipe that even for my needs I can store some in the freezer and share a few loaves to dear friends...never had a complaint, only praise.  
Being a visual learner, I found this YouTube recipe from Kate who also has an Amish background....very easy to follow along.  I enjoy her channel.  The recipe Heidi shared looks similar, but the website looked unfamiliar.  Here is the YouTube link:

I make this recipe in Utah, but I've recently made it Florida, still came out pretty much the same.  I didn't make any allowances for altitude according to the books,  just watched what the culture and the texture of the kneading process was doing, adjusted if necessary and baked it at the usual recommended temperature.  
Hope this helps those that stress over the starter.....feel free to experiment and learn from your schedule.
1 year ago
Hi...Not familiar with water lettuce, but growing up we always used original Lipton tea for conjunctivitis. Perhaps any black tea would work or if I remember correctly, it was orange pekoe tea (per Google Lipton tea ingredient-orange pekoe and pekoe cut black teas).  Steep tea bag in boiling water in cup/mug, let it cool, then use dropper or eye wash cup to bathe or rinse eye several times until film over eye is cleared, several times a day as needed.  Do this daily until eye is free from discharge, redness and itching.  If using eye cup, only use for one eye at a time and discard tea after each use, then wash cup. Do not use same used eye cup solution for both eyes.  Can cover fresh tea batch and keep at room temperature for the day but make a new batch daily. I would use it whenever it would feel like my eye would start itching again or at least 3 times per day.  I never used antibiotics for eyes for myself or my children for any type of conjunctivitis.  It was very effective for us and cleared up quickly.  We also took the standard protection measures of not using the same towels once used and did not blot eyes, when helping to dry, in the same location of the towel, as well as frequent hand washing especially after touching eye.  Pillow cases were changed frequently as well.
1 year ago
Leigh, thank you kindly for responding so quickly and being patient with my questions...I got it now....
1 year ago
@ Leigh. Thank you for helping me understand that better.  I understand now....for water glassing, liming or larding to only use the most freshest eggs as one accumulates them for preserving, if in doubt , while in the action of collecting eggs for preserving, do float test, but wouldn't that go against the directions to not wash eggs for one of the preserving methods above?  I think if preserving, if not sure of the egg freshness, one would not use at all for preserving, that way the "bloom" would remain intact for the ones that are being preserved.....Sorry...as I was writing another question popped up....
1 year ago
@Leigh Tate Found the information to be very helpful and interesting.  Was wondering if you could help my little confusion about the need to do the float test if the eggs are submerged in liquid for preservation either by water glassing, lime or covered in lard.  My thinking is, if submerged or covered in lard, how will the egg "evaporate over time"?  And why would I eat the freshest eggs first? Shouldn't I find a way to use the oldest first, so that these older ones don't get older and older?  They may sit there for 6 months without being touched....I always rotate and use the older eggs first -that are sitting on my counter.  Never have more than 3 dozen sitting at a time and I use one or two a day.  Curious to hear how that works.  Thank you, Monica
1 year ago
Hello....always amazed that no matter how old the thread is, the information to me is always fascinating.  Love the response on the plums dating back to the Romans, even brought a visual of them sitting around eating them.  It also brought back a memory of a YouTube video about a Korean recipe for green plums. I saved it because I was going to go to the asian store and see if I could find it someday.  Think they are available sometime in May/June.  It is described as being very sour.   Here is the link.  
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrg-0IXeqw8&list=PL0DJyrWcqX7RX1CR5btsCWGCZfg-g44Fo&index=52&t=65s]


0:35 / 13:16

Green plum syrup, liquor, & pickles


0:35 / 13:16

Green plum syrup, liquor, & pickles[/url]

Don't know why it showed up twice, but the links worked when I previewed it. Didn't start from the beginning, so might need to move the cursor to the start of the video.
Also when I purchased my property 9 years ago, I found several small bushes planted under a tree, very very crowded like.  one year, to my surprise I found small ( a little bigger than those collossal green Spanish olives) yellow/red plums on it , they tasted sour but a bit sweet too, so I transplanted them all (6 of them) so they could grow bigger.  Last year I had a good harvest and had so much that I decided to try and make wine with it.  It was very, very, yummy to me, slightly fruity, with a touch of sweetness,  about 5% in strength. Everyone that I gave it to responded they like it and asked for more.  I had made about 8 gallons of it, still have a few bottles left.  I had never made wine before, and much to my surprise it got a bit stronger  now about 12% (the alcohol content) when I last drank it a few weeks back.  Made me go straight to bed and had a very good nights sleep...lol.  My children laughed and gently told me that it was on the very high side.....
1 year ago