I LOVE sourdough bread but can’t seem to find any in the grocery stores that REALLY satisfies. So, recently I set out to find the recipe and, WOW! I discovered there isn’t JUST a recipe to be had for this baking endeavor. You pretty much get a science/chemistry lesson just learning how to get the starter started for an authentic, true-to-form loaf of sourdough bread.

The information I finally decided to follow to educate myself is located at Sourdough Home. There’s a lot to know and understand about sourdough starter and bread making so I highly recommend you visit that site and explore all the info.

It took me a week to build up my sourdough starter. Patience is a virtue. To put all that info from the link above simply, here’s what I did:

Sourdough Starter Recipe
1 cup Unbleached Flour
1 cup lukewarm water

I mixed the flour and water well in one of those old glass jars with the glass lid that just sits on top and has the wire that holds the lid secure. I did NOT use the wire to secure the glass lid because I wanted air to be able to get in the jar a little easier.

For the next week, every 12 hours (9 am & 9 pm in my case) I fed my little sour pet to keep it growing. To do that, I first stirred it all back up again after it had sit for 12 hrs and then poured out 1 cup of it (you can either use this cup to work up another starter or discard it).There should be at least a little liquid still in the jar.

To that bit left in the jar I added another 1/2 - 1 cup of flour and an equal amount of lukewarm water (make sure the jar has enough room for the starter to double in size once it gets going), mixed well again, and set it back in it’s warm (80 something degrees) spot for another 12 hours. In my case, that warm spot was next to a heater vent on the floor in my RV bedroom.

Once my pet started producing “organisms” (I don’t remember which day that was) I began to see it bubble up and increase in size in the jar. See the link above for much, much more info on that part of it. Too much to try to convey here in this note.

Recipe for Baking the Sourdough Bread

On the 7th day of growing my sourdough starter pet I used S. John Ross’ sourdough bread recipe MINUS the oil or butter (scroll about 1/2 way down the page for the actual recipe). And, YES, it was SOUR and YUMMY!:-D):

I saved some of my starter and have it stored in the fridge until I’m ready to use it again, too.

For now…I’m going to make me some sourdough bread toast and sausage for breakfast.

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No, it’s not Thursday Thirteen, LOL. I threw a list together offering some cooking and baking ideas that may come in handy during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. You may already know most of these. Feel free to jump in and share some of your own, I’m always eager to learn new ideas. As I think of, or come across others I’ll drop them in the comments.

Hints, Suggestions, Substitutions…

1. When microwaving – Do not salt foods on the surface as it causes dehydration and toughens food. Salt after you remove from the oven unless the recipe calls for using salt in the mixture.

2. Substitutions – One cup self-rising; substitute one cup all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt, and one teaspoon baking powder.

3. Equivalency

– One pound powdered sugar equals 3 ½ cups.

– 4 Ounces (1 ¼ cup) Uncooked Macaroni equals 2 ¼ cups cooked

– One medium Onion equals ½ cup

– One medium Lemon equals 3 tablespoons juice

– One cup regular Rice equals 3 cups cooked

4. Icing Cakes – If you sprinkle cake with powdered sugar first icing will remain where you put it.

5. Cream Pies – Sprinkle crust with powdered sugar in order to prevent cream pies from becoming soggy.

6. Do not despair if you oversalt gravy. Stir in some instant mashed potatoes to solve the problem. Just add a little more liquid in order to offset the thickening.

7. To keep celery crisp, stand upright in a pitcher of cold, salted water and refrigerate.

8. To keep cauliflower white while cooking, add a little milk to the water.

9. Use greased muffin tins as molds when baking stuffed green peppers.

10. When baking muffins or cupcakes, fill any empty tins 2/3 full of water to ensure even baking.

11. When adding raw, beaten eggs to hot mixtures and sauces, temper the eggs. Add small amounts of hot mixture to beaten eggs first slowly bringing them up to temperature; such as in making cornbread dressing. This will keep you from having scrambled eggs in your dishes.

12. To avoid tears when cutting onions, briefly place them in the freezer before cutting.

13. When making meringue, egg whites need to be at room temperature for greater volume when whipping.

Bon Appetite
The Backseat Gourmet

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Hi All! GUESS WHAT’S NEXT WEEK! Yea, I know Thanksgiving, BUT what else? Black Friday, the BIGGEST shopping day of the year! I heard it through the grapevine that Kohl’s Department Stores will be opening at 4 am. Friday, November 23. I LOVE to shop, but I’m not camping out all night at the stores to get trampled going after that one “Hot Item”. No Sirree Bob. Remember what happened the year the cabbage patch dolls came out?

Of course there are those that will camp out at the stores, not necessarily because they are shopping for kids or grandkids on their list. They are looking to capitalize by purchasing those “hot items” that are in short supply only to turn around to resell them on ebay to the highest bidder.

Perusing through the circulars and sale papers, watching football, and just lying around like beached whales is generally the consensus in our family after a big Thanksgiving meal. What are your plans for Thanksgiving, cooking, going out to eat, having your meal catered?

This year I have two Thanksgiving Dinners to cook for, neither of which is at my house; two separate meals on two different days. My contributions will be desserts, side dishes, and finger foods. More often than not I get asked, “will you please bring deviled eggs”? Or sometimes, depending on the occasion, my homemade pimento cheese sandwiches, not that there’s any secret ingredient to mine? Maybe it’s the Miracle Whip. LOL. What do you always get asked to bring?

One of the Thanksgiving Dinners I will be cooking for will be vegetarian. I saw THAT, don’t snarl your nose. LOL. Aside from the absence of a big juicy Butterball Turkey, and, or a Honey Baked Ham, you’d never know this was a vegetarian meal. There’ll be cranberry sauce, rolls, potatoes, rice balls, green beans, corn casserole, etc., etc., and Dressing. Yea, dressing. I won’t be furnishing it for this particular meal, but I have a recipe for Squash Dressing. Okay, carrot cake doesn’t taste like carrots, and squash dressing doesn’t taste like squash. What’s in a name? BTW, you can also make this recipe with chicken if you prefer.

Squash Dressing

2 Cups Cooked Squash (yellow), mashed (you can use canned, drained)
2 Cups Cornbread, crumbled
½ Cup Chopped Onion
1 Can Cream of Celery Soup (you can use Cream of Mushroom)
¼ Cup Melted Butter
½ Cup Milk
Salt, Pepper, and Sage to taste (I use 1 ½ Tablespoons Sage, unless I double the recipe)
Broth (Either “No Chicken” Chicken Broth, or Vegetable Broth)*

Mix all ingredients together adding broth last. If needed, add small amounts of broth at a time to get desired consistency (not too dry, or too soupy). Bake in a 2 quart casserole dish at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until brown.

I always double the recipe when I make it, and bake in a 13×9 inch glass pan lightly sprayed with Pam. I have also made it and added cooked, shredded chicken breasts.

*If preferred, you can use regular chicken broth.

Bon Appetite
The Backseat Gourmet

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