GardenForums.com a friendly and growing community of gardeners.
We feature a Garden Discussion Forum and Garden Photo Gallery. It's a fun and friendly place to talk with other gardeners, ask questions, share you knowledge, view and post photos and more! Whether you're a master gardener, or brand new to the hobby, you'll find something of interest here.
My sister told me I should start a business, but I told her that would take all the fun out of it. I don't sell stuff and I won't start. I had a business in the past and I remember how much time was taken up with taking care of government forms and taxes. My wife would like me to get a cell phone too. But I was a slave to a pager, two-way radio, and a telephone for too many years. I won't have one now. She tells me I have a bad attitude. It's probably true.
Randy,
I have a bad attitude too, I don't like a cell phone unless I am out and about. I don't want to be a slave to the phone. I am sure that lots of people consider me very old fashioned, but that is fine. When we moved here last Feb and lived in the Best Western for a month I got one, as I had no other way to contact the outside world. We get poor reception here, so I feel like I am throwing 70 bucks a month out of the window. When my contract is up I am going to go to a pay by use plan. If I was travelling a lot I would consider renewing my contract, but I am pretty stay at home at this point.
There are some other issues involved though too, Miss Jade. I don't hear as well as I once did. When I had a pager, I would often miss a page even though I bought the loudest one I could find. In vibrate mode, it was just as bad. I would still miss pages. If I can speak to a person one on one, I do pretty well carrying on a conversation. But put any kind of background noise along with it, and I am lost. In any gathering of a crowd where everyone is talking, I just smile and nod a lot.
Miss Kim, I made a double batch of sourdough buttermilk biscuits this morning. It's the same recipe as those I sent to you. That recipe comes from a sourdough recipe book I bought in Alaska and it is the best biscuit recipe that I have made. I have pizza dough proofing on top of my refrigerator right now. I have another hour before I punch it down for the second proofing (rising). My daughter and my wife both asked me what I was making this time and I just said, "Stuff!"
I guess I am. I told them both yesterday that I was going to try and make some pizza today and that I bought all the makings. They probably just weren't listening. I got the stuff to make pepperoni and Canadian bacon/pineapple pizzas. Those ingredients aren't out on the counter yet though, so they are still guessing.
I think the pizza was pretty good. My wife and grandson both expressed their approval. David and Fiona are both off to evening church, so they may have some when they get home later. Tomorrow I'm going to make those cookies sweetened with Splenda and get them ready to take to the nursing home. I have shared my jams with some of the staff over there and one day one of the residents said she would like to try some, so I took one of the jams over there that were sweetened with Splenda and gave it to the dietician to give to her in whatever quantity was allowed.
2 cups sourdough starter (approximately
6 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
1-1/2 cups water
2-1/2 teaspoons dry activated yeast
1 heaping teaspoon of baking soda
1 Tablespoon sugar
½ cup olive oil
The starter was started in the usual way by taking about 1-1/2 cups of starter from the refrigerator and putting it into a bowl with a couple of cups of flour and enough water to make a mix about the viscosity of thick soup. It was left overnight to work and then part of it was used to replace the starter used from the starter container. The dry activated yeast was stirred into a half cup of warm (not hot) water and stirred well and set aside. The remaining dry ingredients were sifted into a bowl. The starter, water with yeast in it, an additional cup of water, and olive oil were put into the mixer bowl (KitchenAid). The dry ingredients were added slowly to the liquid ingredients while mixing. The KitchenAid mixer using the dough hook eliminates the need for kneading the dough on a floured breadboard. Otherwise knead dough for about 5 minutes. Turn the dough out into a bowl that has been greased. Turn the dough in the bowl so the exposed top is greased. Allow to sit in a warm place until the volume is doubled. Using yeast and baking soda will allow the dough to rise to about double in about an hour and a half. Punch the dough down and allow to double in volume again. Separate the dough into two portions and roll each portion into a ball. Place each ball onto a greased pan with corn meal sprinkled on it. Cut the top of each ball to allow gasses to escape while baking. Bake in a 380 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until well browned.
Note: The addition of the yeast, sugar and baking soda reduced the amount of time for the proofing considerably. But the reduced time also reduced the sourdough flavor as it didn’t have nearly as much time to work. The olive oil worked very well to reduce the hardness of the crust. It was just right. The dough was a bit soft which made it more difficult to handle. It would have been better with an additional cup of flour or by reducing the water. The loaves baked through very well and the color was just right. Flavor was okay, but not nearly as good as Sourdough Bread #1.
Good! There are several biscuit recipes on the disc, but the best one of the bunch is that sourdough buttermilk biscuit recipe. I've made that one enough that I hardly need to look at the recipe any more.
The bread and the biscuits look yummy. Thanks for all the recipes. I've got to try the pizza one sometime on a sun night and have home made pizzas at my parents instead of pizza place pizza. Not sure my brother would eat it, he is a fussy eater. His pizza has to be extra crispy but not burnt.
If he doesn't eat it, it just leaves more for you, Laurie. LOL The pizza I have made here sure hasn't lasted. I don't think it's all that good, but the family seems to think so. I bought some turkey pepperoni and it just doesn't taste like the real thing. I put plenty on the pizza though and Alec commented on how much there was. Next time I will buy some real pepperoni, but I can also make some with other toppings that we don't normally have. I know that no one but MF and I like olives, so if I put any of those on, the Sanders part of the family will just remove them and throw them away. The same is true for mushrooms. I sneak some mushrooms in once in awhile though and they haven't caught me yet. But that hasn't been in the pizza.
Randy,
we were talking about crust in another forum. I've tried the steam method,the cornstarch mixed with water method and egg wash but am still not getting the shiny blistered crust I want. Any tips?
My son-in-law suggested the egg brushed on, but I haven't tried that. He is a baker for CostCo and was a baker for Albertson's before that. I saw on that History Channel show that they used seam, but have no idea how it was applied. I would like to be able to duplicate that, but I'm not sure I can do it. I will keep trying though. I think the next step though would be to remove the bread partway through the baking and use a spray bottle with water to spray the surface. I believe I would try the egg brushing partway also before I tried applying egg prior to baking. That way, the bread would already be hot and the egg was set quickly.
Randy, I just had to let you know that the sourdough biscuits turned out wonderful. I love them. No diet today! Breakfast I had one with butter and I just had one cold with ham in it for lunch. I am hooked! Thank you, again! I will make pancakes in the morning!
You got enough starter that quick? That's pretty fast. I'm really pleased the biscuits came out good for you though. And I understand being hooked. Now I'm anxious to hear your take on sourdough pancakes.
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ cup butter (softened)
½ cup buttermilk
1 cup sourdough starter
melted butter
Sift flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together. Cut butter into the dry ingredients with a fork until mixture resembles cornmeal. I use a pastry cutter for this. Mix together the buttermilk and the starter with a fork, stir mixture until a soft dough is formed that cleans the side of the bowl. Turn out onto floured work surface and knead gently for 30 seconds. Roll dough into a circle ½” thick. Cut biscuits with a cutter. Place in a slightly greased baking pan, biscuits touching. Brush tops with melted butter. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
I use our Kitchenaid mixer with a dough hook so I skip the kneading part. Our oven must run a bit cooler than the indicated setting too and I bake the biscuits for 20 minutes. But I also make a double batch, so That probably affects the baking time also.
I looked through the sourdough thread and didn't see the recipe here, so I posted it. I usually make a double batch as they don't last long around here.
Gardenforums.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com
