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Almost Alaska Sourdough Hotcakes

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I say almost, because I don’t have an Alaska sourdough starter.

Yet.

I will be working on that later today, and when it is ready, I will make another batch to compare.

Basic Sourdough Hotcakes
(adapted from Alaska Sourdough)
Note: make sure the mixing bowl you use has enough room for the batter to expand.

2 cups sourdough starter
2 Tbsp sugar
4 Tbsp oil
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1 scant tsp baking soda; full teaspoon if starter is very sour.

Mix together all ingredients except soda.

Heat pan or griddle.

Dissolve soda in a tablespoon of warm water. Fold soda gently into batter.  Batter should immediately begin to expand and become light and fluffy.

Cook on prepared pan or griddle.  Place cooked hotcakes on hot place and serve immediately.

I like to put some butter onto the hotcakes as soon as possible after transferring them from pan to plate, while waiting for the next one to cook.  That way, the butter is melted into the hotcake before it gets to the person eating it.

These hotcakes have a very strong and robust sourdough flavour.  Which makes sense, since it’s got no additional flour, and only egg and oil for additional liquid.

For this recipe, I use an 8 cup measuring cup as a mixing bowl; that way I can measure the 2 cups of starter first, then add everything else, and still have room for the batter to expand.

Quick and Easy Sourdough Bread, with garlic and parmasan

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While I was driving my husband to a medical appointment and then the pharmacy, my daughters eagerly went at my new copy of Alaska Sourdough and baked bread.

This was not our first attempt at doing a sourdough yeast bread in loaves.  However, when we tried it before, we did not have any commercial yeast left.  Normally, this is not a problem; it just takes longer for the dough to rise.

Except it didn’t really rise.  Even using the oven with the light on to keep it warm and draft free, and giving it 4 hours, it still didn’t double in size.  Nor did things improve after shaping the loaves and setting it aside for a second rising of a couple of hours.

We baked it anyways and got a very dense loaf that was delicious, but it was half-way between unleavened bread and regular bread in texture.

Our home is simply too cool for doing sourdough bread without using commercial yeast, though if we had shaped them into buns instead of loaves, it might have worked better.

We have yeast now.

The girls went through the cookbook and settled on the Quick and Easy Sourdough Bread recipe because… well… it was quick and easy.

Of course, it was also modified a bit.  Because we do that.  They added Herb and Spices Parmesan (found at Bulk Barn) and garlic powder.  You can’t see it in the bread, but you can taste it!

They also doubled the recipe, because two loaves with 4 people is gone in a day.

So here is the modified, two loaf, recipe.

1 cup Sourdough starter
1 Tbsp yeast (1 pkg)
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 cups flour
optional: about 1/4 cup each, garlic powder and Herb and Spice Parmesan, or to taste.

Add yeast to warm water.  Mix in sourdough starter, sugar, salt and 4 cups of flour.  Beat well.

Put in oiled bowl and set aside in a warm spot to rise until doubled.

Mix soda win 1 cup flour.  Add to risen dough.  Knead in garlic, Herb and Spice Parmesan, plus more flour as needed, until satiny and springy to the touch.

Cut dough in half and shape into loaves.

Bake in 400F oven for 45 minutes.

Note: if using glass loaf pans, reduce heat by 25F.

The recipe did not call for a second rising, so with the doubled recipe, the first two loaves went straight into the preheated oven, while the second two loaves got a second rising while waiting.

I would go with doing a second rising.

The resulting bread has a lovely, spongy texture that is dense enough to handle being spread with rather cold butter (when we buy bread, sometimes I have to warm up the butter in the microwave for 8-10 seconds, just to be able to spread it.  Otherwise the slices just disintegrate!).

We polished off the first two loaves with some beef stew.  A marvelous combination.

 

Eight

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Okay, I’ve made up for lost time, that’s for sure.

I finished clearing, cleaning and disinfecting the linen closet.  The shelves are made of plywood that’s painted.  It’s quite rough in texture.  My mother had lined the shelves with sheets of plastic, tacked into place, to protect her linens.  I haven’t decided what I want to do with them to fix the roughness on a permanent basis, but I still needed to do something to cover them, so they won’t damage my stuff.

Cardboard to the rescue.

I cut a couple of boxes we’d unpacked previously, to fit the shelves.  It worked out quite well.

It’s amazing what getting that one thing done led to.

I was able to unpack 8 boxes.  I was also able to move two long bins designed to fit under beds, under the bottom shelf.  These hold things like our collection of canes, umbrellas and shinai in one, badminton and tennis rackets in the other, so we do want to keep them handy.  They stick out of the closet, which means the door can’t be closed, but the door is broken, anyhow, so it doesn’t really matter.  At some point, they will actually get unpacked to more permanent places.

With the linen closet now clear, I could not only unpack my linens, but move some of the ones already unpacked and shoved into the wall of shelves.  I was then able to pack a bit more of my mother’s things away, which in turned helped clear more shelves.  I was then able to clear and clean 2 columns of shelves in the wall of shelves, then unpack boxes of papers, binders, folders, board games, etc.  Some of it will need to be gone through and put into more permanent places, or at least better organized, but the main thing is they are no longer in boxes.

All that finally allowed me to unpack my last box of linens.  These I was saving for last, as it included things like an antique, cut work embroidered linen table cloth, and table cloths and napkins embroidered for me by the same amazingly talented family member who gifted me with the ceramic sugar and creamer set that the movers broke the creamer from.  She’s actually the one who inspired me to get into crafting myself.  I’ve also got items embroidered and crocheted (some pieces have both) by my great-aunt, who was amazingly skilled.

One box, oddly, was half blankets, half kitchen stuff.  The movers packed that one.  I unpacked the blankets half, then took the box out to the dinging room.  After I stopped for supper (which my daughters were awesome enough to make for us), it was there anyhow, I unpacked the rest of that box, too.

The best part is, I no longer have a wall of boxes along my side of the bed that I need to squeeze past.  Yay!  There’s now just a few things than need to be finished up and re-organized in the bedroom before it’s done.  Well.  As done as it can be, for now.

The next major area of boxes that needs unpacking is my office.  Some of them are my crafting materials and tools, but not all.  As usual, the challenge is, where do I unpack them to?  I still need to work out a space to unpack all my cookbooks in particular, since I do want them actually near the kitchen.

All in good time.  Right now, I’m exhausted, but in a good way.  I think my goal for tomorrow is not to unpack anything else, but to rearrange our bedroom and maybe even *gasp* vacuum it.  I do wish we could rip out the carpet.  The lumps and bumps are quite the tripping hazard.  That, I am thinking, will wait until we can install the second bathroom.  If we’re going to be doing construction in there, anyway, that would be a good time to get rid of it.  I have no idea how we would take out that wall of shelves, though.  It’s more than 10 feet long.

Ugh.  I can’t start thinking about that now!  Especially since it’ll probably be years before we can come up with the money to do it.  I’m more interested in getting more boxes unpacked and hopefully finding the stuff of the girls’ that’s missing.  I don’t hold out much hope for that, though.

The Re-Farmer

Trapped trap

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While vacuuming the linen closet, I went into the carpeted area under the bottom shelf.  In one corner I used the crevice tool to pull out what looked like a very old nylon knee high (they do NOT make nylons in that sort of fabric anymore, and haven’t for a very long time), tied into a loop.

I didn’t look took closely.

Then I saw a piece of wood tucked into the opposite corner.  Not an unusual find in this place, really.  I tried to use the vacuum to bring it closer, but that didn’t work.  So I bashed it around a bit, only to realize it had something on the other side that was caught on the carpet.

The carpet does not seem to be adhered to the floor at all, so it kept lifting up.

Eventually, I got it loose, and found this…

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It was the hooked end that was caught on the carpet.

I imagine that someone tucked it into the corner years ago, it got triggered without catching anything, and was simply forgotten.

I’m glad I didn’t find a little corpse to go with it.

Since I needed to use a little step ladder to reach the top of the closet, I took the opportunity to finally get into the very top, where there are sliding doors that hid the contents.

I found my dad’s old water bed mattress, what looks like rolled up blinds, some poster paper, also rolled up, a tied up bundle of fabric, what a plastic grocery bag with what looks like a folded up sheet of vinyl.

I had to show the folded up mattress to my daughters.  This was from when water beds first came out, so it is literally just a big vinyl bladder.  I still remember how fun it was to go on the bed and make waves, and the struggle to get out of it.  The mattress was held by a sturdy frame.  The mattress, of course, would sink as you sat on the edge, which would leave your legs hung up on the frame.  It could be quite painful, with that wood digging into the backs of your legs.

I’m procrastinating, now.  It’s all vacuumed out.  Now I need to clean and sterilize it.

Time to dig out the gloves…

The Re-Farmer

 

Legal Options

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Some time ago, I signed up with a program for access to legal assistance.  I think there are a few of these companies.  Basically, you pay a monthly fee for membership, and it gives you access to a law firm, where you can get certain services covered by the membership, while others services are provided at discounted rates.

This has come in handy over the years, as I’ve sought advice for when my family and I were being threatened and harassed by someone we had made the mistake of trying to help, and had to deal with restraining orders and courts.  It came in handy when the dealership screwed us over with our van, and I sought advice.  It came in handy when things were getting worse and worse at the co-op we lived in, when I started getting threats from our board at the time, and an employee.  The membership fee has more than paid for itself.

Now that we are in another province, we will have access to a firm in The City.  With the situation with the movers, and still no response in regards to them fixing the damage the driver did to our power pole, I called them this morning.  For an initial call, information is gathered, then passed on to a lawyer, then the lawyer calls back within 8 business hours.

The funny thing?

The moving company is based in the city we moved away from.  Which means the notes for my call will be sent to the firm in that city to discuss my concerns.

So even though I’m now in another province, I’ll be dealing with the same firm I dealt with before the move!

The Re-Farmer

Getting things done, and more deer

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This morning, we got a phone call from my husband’s doctor, following up on the fax sent from the pharmacy about that prescription refill.  We then headed into town to pick up the prescription (he ended up giving a bunch), since getting the pharmacy to do it might take a couple of days.  At the same time, the prescription dosage error on the other versions of this medication was fixed.  So my husband is all stocked up on painkillers again, which is making life much more bearable for him!

We also got a pair of deer visiting again today.  This time, they seemed less nervous about us in the window.  The deer came together, but kept their distance from each other, trading off eating.  They left, but came back soon after.  Interestingly, one actually started to drive the other off of the feed, with some aggressive posturing and jumping.  Then they went into the spruce trees and hung out there for an hour or more before one came back.  The other stayed in the spruces for a while, then drove the first one away from the food and started eating, while the first on stuck around and seemed to keep watch.

It was interesting behavior to watch.

I was able to get some good photos of them, too.

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2018.01.15.whitetail.deer.profile

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2018-01-15.whitetail.deer.tongue

In between taking photos, I finally started on clearing that linen closet, wrapping up a stack of mirrors to box up, then removing the plastic shelf liners.  The seeds that we think are mouse poison were only on the top shelf.  I swept most away, but didn’t get to vacuuming the ones stuck in crevices, because I didn’t want the noise to scare the deer.  Meanwhile, my older daughter was a sweetheart and started cleaning the set of decorative plates I inherited from my mother-in-law.  They had hung on her wall for many years, and my in-laws were both heavy smokers at the time, so they had to be washed twice.  Not all the nicotine quite came off, though, so a third washing will be needed to get the last of it off, but they look fabulous now.

Cleaning the hangers is going to be a challenge.  That and the one plate that is a relief of a Rockwell painting.  That one will need a toothbrush to clean it.

That will all wait until later, as my younger daughter decided to make up a double batch of sourdough dinner rolls.  I am looking forward to those!

All in all, a pretty good day.

An Excuse for a Post

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Ever since an OS upgrade some months ago, I have had all sorts of issues with my phone’s autocorrect.  It would change things that didn’t need to be changed, not change things that should have, insert the strangest alternative words to replace words that were fine…after I hit “post”, and capitalize words all over the place, instead of just at the start of the sentence.

I have just downloaded and installed the Grammarly Keyboard, and this is my first use of it.

So far, so good.  It is checking my typos and seems quite intuitive.

So, to give a reason for this test post (oh! It just did a great job dealing with an accidental word mash up!), I will share this photo.

I have put a new metal ring on my phone for the lens magnet, and this one is holding. I experimented with macro shots first, then tested the telephoto.  Everything held fine.

I’m not sure I like the telephoto lens much. It really doesn’t seem to be any better than my camera zoom.  Even modestly low light seems to throw it.

I will have to test the 2 fisheye lenses next.

The Re-Farmer

Ensured about Insurance

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After an hour on the phone yesterday, I have finally dealt with our home insurance.  It’s content insurance only, which is all we can get even here, since we do not own the property.  I cancelled our previous content insurance and, since we left almost 2 months ago, will be getting a credit on that.  We were still paying for an address we weren’t living in anymore.

New content insurance for our current location was set up at the same time.  We now have the same coverage as before, with only minor differences due to location and zoning (we can’t, for example, get sewer back up insurance here.  We have no sewers), and it’s going to cost us about $20 a month less than the new charges would have been with our previous location’s insurance, which was on automatic renewal, and was in the process of rolling over for another year.

Which led me to talking to my older brother, who had to get the property insurance on behalf of my mother, this morning.  Oh, the hoops he had to jump through to get it done!  No company wanted to touch an unoccupied property, for starters, and the amounts things are covered for are woefully inadequate.  No where near replacement value, if something happened.  Not all the buildings are insured, either.  It took him weeks just to get what coverage there is, so this is certainly not a complaint.  Any insurance is better than no insurance.

One of the things we agreed to do in exchange for living here is to take on the expenses of the place, including the insurance.  It will be up for renewal in the spring, so we have some time to figure that out.  A lot will change, with the place being occupied again, but we are also going to make sure there is adequate replacement value coverage.

Among the questions I was asked while getting our content insurance was how old the house was.  I couldn’t actually answer that.  I know the new part was built in the late 70’s, but the original, log cabin part of the house is far older.  I’m trying to figure it out, based on what little I know about when it was first acquired by a family member, then by my father.  It may well be 100 years old!  I wonder who in my family would know?  I’m now very curious.

The important thing is, it’s done.  We’re insured.  As it stands right now, it looks like we’ve got better content insurance than my mother was able to get for property insurance.

Meanwhile, I may have found out about what those seeds were that we’ve been finding in our linen closet and the couch.

My brother wasn’t sure, but his best guess is, it’s poison.  It seems there’s a type of mouse poison you can get that is in seeds that gets put where the mice might go. No photos I’ve been able to find match the seeds I’ve seen, but the pictures I’m finding are all much newer products than this would have been.  They now come in pellets or blocks, and/or are brightly coloured.

This would explain why it was found under the couch cushion, and under the linens, along with the mouse shit. It’s possible that my late father had sprinkled it under the couch cushion, though considering how long the stuff in the linen closet has been sitting there, whoever put it under there did it many, many years ago.

It’s a good thing I was already planning on taking precautions when cleaning up that linen closet.  Also good that I had made sure to vacuum up the seeds that had fallen onto the floor as I took things out of that linen closet so quickly, and that it’s currently so blocked off, the cats can get into it.  They have certainly been trying.

I have to admit.  Poison is not one of the things I expected to deal with while cleaning up and packing.  Not that I didn’t think poison was ever used; I know it was.  I just didn’t expect it to be sprinkled about so generously in the couch and closet.

The Re-Farmer