Monica Strazz

Ran across this book…uploaded pic…hope it works..

Hi

Tanya White wrote:Lack of time is the biggest. Also, even with a good schedule/routine, stuff happens (i.e. I got off work 2 hours late and am exhausted and the schedule is thrown off). I end up making discard recipes a lot more often. I don't love the fact that I HAVE to feed the starter. While I actually enjoy a routine, sometimes things get overwhelming and one more thing that I HAVE to do at a very specific time can be a deterrent of sorts. I guess what I'm getting at is I want to figure out how to be more flexible when it comes to baking sourdough bread. I guess I could bake other types of bread, but I really prefer sourdough in terms of nutrition.

One more thing maybe off-topic: I would love to find a sourdough bread recipe that works with my oval romertopf clay baker with glazed bottom (it should not be preheated empty).

Hi....loving this post...like many of you I've tried many recipes but recently found a Youtube recipe that can make sourdough bread in 8 hours...I simply love it!  When I first made it I thought I had messed it up royally but it was great.  I have made this in the dutch oven like the video but when I put it in the  romertopf clay baker...what a difference in the inside texture.  Amazing, moist like, chewy awesomeness...if you like it that way...you can tell it was more steamed during the cooking process.  I love it...only 4 ingredients, and I don't spend more than 15-30 minutes total time making it...The starter really does all the work.  I do like to let it sit overnight in the fridge...sometimes 2 days...the dough is so flexible...so very hard to mess it up....at least that has been my experience...hope that link works...

Thank you, very appreciative of these gifts.

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.

Here is my submission for the Natural Medicine - Dry Elderberries BB.

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.

Leigh, thank you kindly for responding so quickly and being patient with my questions...I got it now....

@ 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....

@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