>>>>Sustainable Living PLUS Canning and Dehydrating Food<<<<

Nines Ive never baked bread in my life, but I want to try.

It's really not hard, Flav. The biggest few things you have to be careful about is no drafts of cold air in the kitchen. That can cause the yeast to cool too much while the dough is rising. If your making a recipe that calls for the yeast to be disolved in warm liquid, they really mean just warm. The easiest test of the liquid without a thermometer is like the baby bottle recipe. Just put a drop on your wrist and if it's the same as your skin you will be ok. The best kind of recipes for a first timer is the kind that mixes the yeast into the flour and then the liquid. That way the chance of yeast die-off is less. If you need a hand, this one I can help with. I use a bread machine these days. I can't knead the dough well enough, but I do prefer doing it by hand.

Thanks TB. I asked her on my thread, but if I dont have the starter, can I adjust the yeast or something? Do you have a nice bread recipe for crusty outside or sourdough type bread? My hubby would really like something like that.

mom and i are finishing another 7 quarts of pears. we were talking about the way you make bread, TB. is it harder doing the dry, then adding the liquid? we put the water in the yeast and then add the shortning, salt and sugar. then we warm the milk. after that we add in the flour.

i was going to bake today, but mom wants me to wait till tomorrow. she is getting tired, the dogs were up and down last night. sadie took a crap at about 4am and mom was not best pleased. sam and sadie are in the figurative dog house today.

mom is also unhappy about the time change coming this weekend. it will get dark at about 4:30pm and that is a pain in the ass.

mom has a sourdough starter and soudough bread recipe. she'll get it out after she finishes peeling some pears to cook in the simple syrup we have left over.

should be just a few minutes. she's fast with a peeler.

TG, tell mom how much we love her! I 've tried a bunch of sourdough recipes over the years and never found one I liked. I don't like the store kind either. Years ago, a friend and I went to Spaghetti Factory in Honolulu and theirs was THE BEST!!! I keep comparing every sourdough to that one.

my laptop is finished in the shop!!! i gotta go get it.

i'll be back in about an hour.

My dog did the same thing. Woke me up twice to go out and then left a nice surprise by the back door this morning. That is right after the youngest got hold of her older sisters cup of water and dumped it on my back.
My dog is 16 1/2. She barks to wake me up to go outside. Scares me everytime out of a deep sleep!

TG, you pears are beautiful! You are lucky that you have your mom to can with. My mom used to can brandied peaches. She still has all the canning stuff, so all of you here have been motivating me to learn to do more than jelly!
My mom just does not have it in her to do it anymore with my dad's health issues!
I think next year I'll ask her to teach me to do the peaches when they are in season!

Hi, Mama. Ask your mom if she'll keep you company and give you pointers while you do the work. That's how my gram taught me to do things in the kitchen. She even did when I had to wash out the cupboards! But it was alot of fun cooking with gramma when I was a kid.

BBL guys, but for now, there's a sourdough starter recipe here near the bottom:

Thread: Using Your Food Storage......Recipes and Ideas

Gotta to go for now, too. Thanks Nine's for the link. That's one I saw awhile ago and forgot to look at it! Got the last football game tonight and have to do the crispy critters early! They hate that.

HI TB!
I will do that! I can just do the canning at her house! Good to see you at Gabe's thread! I will be doing a little more prepping this weekend!

My dog is 15+ and wakes me every night. Right now I just leave her out after she goes out but soon it will be to cold. Thats gonna suck. Its like having an infant waking up at 3:30am every day. She wont go out the dog door to the yard at night, maybe critters or something, so she shits on my deck. There is a hose there so I wash it off in the mornings

Ya caught me, Mama!! I always have the best intentions of logging off right away and I get what hubby calls, one more thing disease!!

The animals are acting up around here lately. Lots of stuff making me antsy, so it's been hard for me to get off today. Got to, though, talk to you all later! Keep your eyes on the Bat Team this weekend, just a feeling.

LOL...yes it is! My little one still wakes up in the night and now the damn dog has started in on me! Mama be no sleeping!
What kind of dog do you have? Do you think she has a hard time seeing in the dark? My dog has been bumping into things at night. I hear her sometimes, coming to look for me in the baby's room.

I have a scotty. She is blind in one eye, and maybe losing some in the other eye?? She is definatly not hearing as well as she used to. I notice that sometimes she just doesnt know where she is. She will come in and try to go into a corner and face it, then after a few minutes its like a light went on and she gets the recognition and comes trotting over (in an old sort of trotting way).

I notice that when she has to go, she has to go now. Sometimes she barely gets out the door and starts running to the grass and doesnt make it. She was good for 15 yrs, so I guess I have to deal with it, its not like its spite, its just unavoidable.

i totally agree with you, TB. Mama, most of the time, mom sits and directs me. she peeled the pears and she peeled the cucumbers when we did relish, but i do most of the actual work. she's the brains, i'm the brawn.(sort of )

it works out well, even if it is hard on her because i'm slower than she used to be and i don't know all that she does by instinct now.

i'm learning and she gets to have things done her way. i may have to bit my tongue a bunch of times, but, we are all happy in the end.

have fun and be safe.

OK I'm done in. It's 7:36 here in SC. I just got home a little while ago. We ended up with 4 church groups participating in this cook off. We made 4 runs, 2 plane and 2 with cinnamon. It took 3 days. Each run takes 8 to 10 hours and then the kettle must be cleaned. Next is to go to Asheville NC. for the molasses runs. My cousin in Ashe ville says the dry weather is going to impact the molasses harvest. Dry weather causes more sulphur content in the cane.So we are looking for a lower output from the sorgame this year.

wow, i was talking about you to mom today, wondering how the molasses run was going.

you all travel with your equipment? is there anything that can be done to reduce the sulphur levels?

thanks for letting us know. you're an amazing person and your family as well.

Is your computer working good TG?? I hope so, we love your mom, but dont like when you have to share your puter

ah, fuck no. i'm so stupid some times. i didn't plug it in before i left. i got home and i still don't have DC power. then i was so pissed i accidently drained almost all the power out of the battery. went from almost 3 hours to about 23 minutes. it was after 5pm, so i called tech support and told them what had happened with no power. they said bring it in on monday.

mom said not to worry about it, she knows how upset i was. so, she said for me not to worry about her needing the computer. sure, like i won't worry about being selfish. which i am. kinda.

i don't understand how it doesn't work. the tech guy said at 4pm it was working fine.

one thing i noticed was that they had made it so that when there was no power the screen was fully lit. before, when there was no power it was dim and you could tell it was running on the battery.

so, i wait for monday and try to tamp down my temper. i used to have a real problem with anger. i guess getting older has done me a great favor, i have learned to control myself. most of the time. my ex said he can't call me 'chaos machine' anymore, so i guess that's a good thing.

thanks for asking. i appreciate that you care, i really mean that.

Last Edited by Tiny Green on 11/04/2011 09:13 PM

i love that puppy picture!! i just noticed it.

Thanks, thats my daughters dog that has been living with me for the past 6 months. Her brother who is the same has been here for a yr and a half, I guess he is kind of mine now huh! Anyways, since she is homeless as I like to call her (she travels for work and lives in hotels) comes home every other weekend, Lucy (the dog) lives here with me. She is 6yrs old her brother is 9ish. We dont really know his age as he was a rescue and man o man does he have issues. He is a lovable little guy though, as long as your not male, your the center of his life.

We call her in the picture Little little Lo. She is a lovable little thing. I take her with me to alot of places, she climbs in my purse and off we go.

little little lo lucy is a precious baby. your male dog is the same as sammy. he's afraid of men. after a year and being sick, he lets dad pet him, a little bit. he's just scared of men. to be fair, he's scared of everyone until he gets to know them.

i almost wish i had a tiny dog. they are easy to hold and like you said, fit in a bag. all my dogs except sammy have been at least 100lbs. sam weighs about 40lbs.

all 7 of my pears sealed. i was hoping one wouldn't so i could have an excuse to eat some right now!!

you should have left a few out, ya know to make sure theyre good.

I must say, my scotties were between 20-30 lbs and as low as my knee and I always thought they were small till these two came around. They are like babies, they just want to sit on your lap or be held. Lucy sits on my lap while I watch tv or type, and she comes in the garden with me. She loves to roll on dead bugs and worms, other than that, shes a primadonna. Jake, the boy, was abused by a man, apparently one who wore workboots cause even though he likes my hubby if he comes in with workboots, he gets bit in the leg. He also doesnt like Pete to come near me when I am standing, he puts himself between us and barks at him.

When we got him he wouldnt walk thru a doorway and had two broken legs and a broken hip. He was tied to a tree outside in a crappy junkyard type property with a disgusting rusty trailer on it and alot of junked cars. His bowl of water was filthy. He was on craigslist to come get this dog, I dont want him. When my daughter got there she found out that he had all the issues and couldnt leave him there. Took him to the vet to find that his hip and one leg had healed incorrectly, and the other leg was broken. We also found out at the vet that he had also had a broken shoulder that had healed incorrectly.

He would shit or puke instantaneously if you raised your voice, even if it wasnt toward him. He doesnt do that anymore, and doesnt bite all men anymore, just the ones that come near me or my daughter. He is a big mush, well little mush. He has a good life now.

people that treat animals like that don't deserve to live. i've beat down people for that type of bullshit.

poor little guy fell in clover when you got him. i bet your daughter about lost her mind when she saw him. why do people do that to creatures who can't fight back???? what the hell is in their minds? do they not understand that these animals(including us)have feelings? arrrhhhh, it pisses me off so badly.

most of my dogs have been rescued. except my labs. all three of ours now are and i can't imagine buying a dog when so many of them need homes.

i knew there was more than one reason i love you. you have a big heart and will do the right thing, even if you don't want to. and that's what counts. doing it even when you don't want to.

Thanks, that is true, and believe me some days I dont want to. I feel the same way as you, how can anyone hurt an animal, especially a 5 lb one.

I just uploaded some more cool stuff, cant wait to use them. I have to go to a friends sons wedding tomorrow morning, I have never been to a morning wedding. I am not a morning person if I dont have to be. Thats why I am greatful that I work on the phone and computer most of the time. I dont even have to get dressed or do my hair if I dont want to.

A loving spirit will be the main requirement for sustainable lviing.

What fun to see the kids again. Probably be a chilly night so take a blanket to cuddle up under. Nothing better than a chilly night outdoors with someone to cuddle under a blanket with. Oooh la la. Have fun!