Sourdough Sandwich Loaf
Although I love a traditional crusty loaf of sourdough... the reality is, "regular" bread - shaped for sandwiches and toast - is a lot more popular in our house. This is the bread I make most often.
Sourdough Discard Pretzel Bites
Sourdough Discard Pretzel Bites
Once again I fell for an internet craze. These pretzel bites are all the rage on my sourdough lists right now. "Best Ever!" "Amazing!" "First Time I Have Farmers Market Quality Pretzels To Sell!"
So of course I had to make them. And as with most things that are over hyped, I was disappointed. Not because they aren't good - they are GOOD. They are not mind blowing-ly awesome. They are good. Maybe even very good. But most pretzel recipes are, even [dare I say it?] ones without the sourdough discard.
What My Family Should Know - In Case Of Emergency
Printable Forms to Fill Out And Keep In A Safe Place For Family Members
Everything from blood type and people to notify, to where to find the important papers such as Living Will, Will and certificates, and also pages for things like subscriptions to cancel, financial information, and more.
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This is yet another work in progress - part of my goal for 2024. My goal is actually, specifically, to organize our digital clutter.. but in doing so, I realized that even once it is cleaned up, my children may need to know where to find everything, and how to access it all. Ironically, one of the many files I am cleaning out of our old google drive is a document titled "things my family needs to know.". It's a good concept - but the particular document I have does not work well for me. I think it is aimed specifically at someone with a LOT more financials than we personally have. :-) After browsing through a variety of similar forms, including one titled "I'm Dead, Now What?" (my children would probably appreciate that title... but I kept it glaringly simple and obvious, so there's no guessing about what this is... and that it is more than our funeral plans) I decided I needed to make my own form.
This is what I have so far. When it is complete, I'll upload it as one PDF you can print and use yourself.
- Cover Page
- Personal Overview - all of our important pertinent information at a glance. One page for me, one for my husband.
- Where To Find The Documents. A list of our important documents, and where they are stored, who has copies. [Including things like wills, living wills, birth certificates, vehicle registrations, deed to the farm... and where any important keys are located.]
- Financials - Bank accounts, credit cards, online banking accounts such as venmo & paypal... lists of financial things our children will need to find and deal with if anything happens to us. Don't forget - where to find the past tax returns.
- Insurance Policies - Health, Auto, Home, Life.. all of the policies.
- Medical Information - Prescriptions, doctors, past surgeries, allergies, health insurance.. all the things nurses ask when you are admitted to the hospital
- Print a Living Will - Find Living Will, Or Advance Directive, Forms by State, from AARP
- People to Notify - A list of contacts that should be notified if I am incapacitated, or deceased. This may seem obvious, but having been in this situation myself, I've found that when you are surprised by grief, the obvious is not so obvious, and a check list is helpful.
- Obituary Notes - A list of things to include, or to not include, in my obituary. Things like where I went to school, degrees earned , awards, clubs I was a member of... and notations on whether or not I want those things included.
- Obituary Templates from https://www.legacy.com/advice/obituary-templates/
- Accounts & Subscriptions - Things that should be cancelled. All those things like ancestry.com, Microsoft office, the tv channels we pay to stream, HP Instant Ink... It's another one of those things that doesn't seem like much, but when you start to make a list, well, I was surprised at how many things we actually subscribe to!
- Family Heirlooms - a list of what, and why, things mattered to me - with suggestions for who to contact if they don't want them. Some of our heirlooms are in the will, but most are little things like the old yoke from here on the farm, or the tree full of fishing ornaments from my grandfather (the hand made ones were made by him). Because the items came from a lot of ancestors, a quick recommendation for who from that line of the family may be interested will help my children clear things out before they auction off whatever is left. :-)
- Family Tree - Not an in-depth genealogy - just a quick list of grandparents, great grandparents, parents, siblings, children, grandchildren... And a note on where to find the rest of the genealogy, for those of us who have that.
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Additional ICE Suggestions:
Add an Alternate Phone Number to your phones homescreen - so there is a number to call without needing to unlock your phone. [How to do this varies by phone. Google your options]
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Bread Flour Protein Percentages
In 2023 I delved into the science behind sourdough baking. Although I've been making sourdough off and on for decades, I've always done it rather.. haphazardly. Like my ancestors, quite honestly. But these days people are SERIOUS about their sourdough, and I was curious.
On the whole, after using scales and obsessing over temps and exact rise amounts.. my best bread was still when I just stopped obsessing and made bread.
But that hasn't stopped my fascination with some of the method discussions - such as, the importance of bread flour. This was an interesting, and frustrating journey. One of the most interesting things to me was to find that regular flour in Canada has more protein than our bread flour in America. And our wheat has more gluten, than the wheat grown in Europe.
There is no standard for protein content in flour in America. It varies by brand. In one brand I found that the protein content was identical in their All Purpose [AP] flour as in their bread flour. In another, the label I found online shows less protein than the label I read in my own store. [See chart at the top of the page].
How important is the protein amount in flour when making bread? Like absolutely everything else in sourdough, it depends. But here's the basic explanation:
"Ultimately, if the proteins in flour form gluten, then the more protein in the flour — i.e., the higher its protein content — the more gluten-forming potential that flour has. Another way to think about it: the higher the protein content, the “stronger” the flour."
I've made great bread with AP flour. I've made bread that didn't rise as well with AP flour. I have made great bread with Bread Flour. I've made bread that didn't rise as well with bread flour. The protein is only one part of the equation.
Use this formula to determine the percentage of protein in flour:
(x) grams of protein per (y) grams of flour
(x) x 100 = (z)
(z) / (y) = % of protein content in the flour
(x) grams of protein per (y) grams of flour
(x) x 100 = (z)
(z) / (y) = % of protein content in the flour
If there is 4 grams of protein per 30 grams of flour, you need to multiply 4 by the number 100 and then divide by 30 This flour has a protein content of 13.33%. The percentages will never be exact, because labels are not that precise. But it will give you a rough percentage.
I also checked the flour at Aldi, thinking that because it's a German company the bread may have a higher protein - but they were on par with gold medal, at 3 grams per a 30g serving - or 10%. My best options locally are King Arthur, Wheat Montana, and Heckers, all having about 13% protein.
Find an Index Of My Sourdough Experiments & Forays, here:
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Printable Page For My Sourdough Journal:
December Newsletter
December 2023
Where to find the Freebies, What I've been Reading, What I've been Crafting, our current favorite games, Our Winter Menu Plan... and other random things from the past month.
Seasonal Menu Planning - Winter
Seasonal Menu Planning, Winter 2023/4
This is a broad menu plan idea - rather than specific meals for each day.
What I do is plan a basic theme for Sunday Through Saturday, and then I compile all of our favorite seasonal meals into those categories.
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