Pull up a chair and mug with Coco and Deborah and me and a bunch of bloggers for the ultimate coffee tea date: How do sourdough pancakes with that coffee/tea sound?
If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you that they had just opened up inside visitation where my mom lives. Then a staff member in the assisted living there (my mom does not live in assisted living) tested positive. So much for that. I had planned to bring her her Echo Show (before Lola got so sick) and set it up for her.
It’s just a matter of plugging it in and putting in her Wifi password so hopefully I can talk her through it (I set up the device already at our house). In fact, I’m off to see her today. She’s going to have questions and I will be already tired from the visit! Lord give me strength.
If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you I have some green tomatoes I picked right before our snowfall. I am not a fan of fried green tomatoes. I’m not sure they’ll actually ripen inside since they were still green? I guess it’s a wait & see. Like if the potatoes & carrots survived the snow (we did cover them). Obviously at least one tomato is ripening.
If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you we did buy our toaster oven/air fryer (as I talked about in last month’s Tea/Coffee date, and in last week’s Weekly Run Down here). Mr. Judy had found a great deal on the model I decided on on Prime Day, but I was asleep and by the morning that deal was gone.
I took it as a sign that we were meant to get the other, more expensive model we’d been thinking about. Mr. Judy was not thrilled, but he did buy it and so far we’re really happy with it.
If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you I did a search to link up last week’s post. I searched on “RIP”. It came up with Lola, my Dad (both in 2020), and Chester. I wrote about Gizmo, too, who passed in 2019, but I titled it something different. Cause you know I’m always going to write about the furkids, even if right now it’s only furkid.
If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you I tried my hand at sourdough starter and was successful. Sort of. Wouldn’t you know I did it the week Lola got sick? So it was bubbly and doubling and I successfully made sourdough pancakes with it.
Then I forgot to feed it and it got just a little moldy. My research tells me I probably could have started new starter with just a little bit of it (it was just a little mold) and that that rarely that happens. But it is 2020, #amiright?
What you don’t know is that I used to bake bread from scratch all the time. Back when we were first married and I lived in VT. Kneading is really therapeutic! Then eventually we got a bread machine, and I used it so much it eventually broke.
I will try sourdough again, but right now I’m still recovering from the past month or so.
Where are my sourdough bakers?
Ever tried to save some veggies from a frost?
Does it bother you when you miss a good deal?
I am also linking up with:
I am also linking up with the Fridays with Fairytales and Fitness from Fairytales & Fitness.
Chocolaterunsjudy 
I have never tried to make sourdough. I have baked bread from scratch. I hope visit with mom goes well.
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The starter started really easily. If I hadn’t been so tired no doubt we’d have bread by now. I’ll try again.
When do you ever sleep?
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I usually sleep 7p-2a, but the time change always messes me up.
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The time change always messes me up, too.
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My father-in-law brought over some red tomatoes–can you even believe it? They aren’t as flavorful as the summer ones, but still better than the ones you buy at the grocery store!
Enjoy your visit with your mom!
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How did he save them from the snow & freezes?
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That’s so great you still have tomatoes. Mine are long gone. I runfess I still have a bread machine in the basement. I got it in the 80s and used to use it all the time. I do miss bread. Looks like a great toaster oven/air fryer. Enjoy your visit with your mom!
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Well I picked those tomatoes before our snow. They’re the last.
I don’t eat a lot of bread, but when I do, it’s often sourdough.
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I have heard of placing tomatoes on a window sill (with sunlight?) to help them ripen, but have never tried it myself. Our salsa garden was a miserable fail this year…only a handful of cherry tomatoes, a few bell peppers, and very few full-size tomatoes. We did have plenty of jalapenos, though. LOL Hope you’re doing well, and all goes well with your visit today.
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We got a lot of cherry tomatoes but only a few Roma. No peppers. I used to grow them in VT so not really sure why they rarely bear fruit in NY. Yup, I have those tomatoes in a window. I knew you could ripen them indoors, but I thought it might be too cold now. Apparently not.
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Talking your mum through setting up a device must be so hard on your patience! Especially if it would be much easier to do it yourself. I hope it will go ok today.
I have never tried making sourdough. From what I hear, it’s a very tricky thing. With your baking expertise, I’m not surprised that you were successful! (except for the forgetting it part, haha).
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It will help that we have one too. She’s really been looking forward to it so hopefully we’re successful.
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I do hate missing a good deal! I thought I got a good deal on AirPods during the weird Prime Day a few weeks ago, but my husband saw them on Amazon for even less this week — and got himself a set. We have a pretty big toaster oven — I use it for baking salmon all the time, because my big oven takes forever to preheat.
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Supposedly our new toaster oven will actually cook a 12 lb turkey. Turkey isn’t really my thing, though, so I don’t think we’ll be trying it. I’m enjoying it! As long as things don’t break (we read reviews where some things might burn out).
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I love sourdough bread but making my own starter scares me to death! I also love my new air fryer toaster combo that I got on prime day. I have been making everything in there. Good luck w your mom and her new hookup-my parents are seriously technology challenged! thanks for coffee!
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We’re having some trouble with the echo. Of course. I wish I’d waited to visit til next week — I would’ve been less tired AND they’re allowing inside visitation again.
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No. No time to be a bargain shopper. Actually not a shopper. My hubby doesn’t even use the computer. Because he would be dangerous.
My mil doesn’t even use a cell phone. Good luck.
We are having lovely weather. Drove to Vermont and back yesterday. Needed to get away so didn’t mind all the driving.
And no. No surprise. Never baked bread. Not Suzy homemaker. Lol. Prefer to be outdoors or going somewhere.
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My mom does use a cell phone, once in a blue moon, but not a smart phone. We tried & she couldn’t get the hang of it.
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I do a ton of baking but I’ve never tried making sourdough bread. Kneading dough really is therapeutic, plus there’s nothing like fresh, homemade bread from the oven. I’m definitely a bargain shopper and was bummed when a printer I was looking at that was $30 off was no longer on sale when I went to buy it earlier this week. I ended up buying a different printer, partly because the principle of the whole thing.
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LOL about buying a different printer. I just figured I was meant to get the other toaster oven. I’m happy with it, anyway!
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I’m still just so sorry about sweet Lola.
I do love fried green tomatoes, but not sure what will happen to them now they are picked.
We also love our air fryer, we don’t have a cool combo like you have. So fun.
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Thanks, Jenn. I have to remember to visit your blog on my ipad, the desktop is blocking it. 😦 Says there’s a trojan but I suspect not.
I didn’t want to get a standalone air fryer. Since I don’t have one, I don’t know if it’s better — but we’re really enjoying this so far. And our old toaster over kept having pieces that covered wiring fall off so it was time!
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Sourdough seemed to become quite the rage when the initial lockdown began. While I love to cook, I’m not much of a baker so I’m clueless when it comes to this whole starter thing.
Good luck with your visit with mom – hope all goes well.
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I had some information on starter, and it’s really not that hard. I just tried at the wrong time, is all. I actually think sourdough tends to be a lot healthier, and that’s what I buy (but still don’t eat a lot of), so it seemed like time to try my hand at it.
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I hope you have a good visit with your mom, Judy! Echo Show sounds like a good idea.
The farmer who owns the farm stand where we shop in the summer always picks green tomatoes at the end of the season and ripens them in his basement. He usually sells tomatoes until Thanksgiving.
Sending virtual hugs to you, Judy. What a tough year you are having! I still bake bread (including sourdough) once or twice a week. Did you ever try starter made with pineapple juice and whole wheat flour? I did that 10 years ago and mine is still going. There was a span of about 3.5 weeks where I forgot about it recently, but it survived my neglect. Let me know if you want the recipe when you are ready.
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I’m having trouble with the video chat, and of course that’s the main reason we got it. I’m sure we’ll get it straightened out at some point, but it’s a little difficult when you can’t go set it up yourself (although now they opened up inside visits again — of course after I’d just visited).
Of course mine would go moldy. That’s just been my luck lately. I’ll get after it again in a bit though!
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I’m not sure I know what an air fryer is, I’m afraid. I wonder if we have them but call them something different. Mr Liz has bought himself a soup maker – I was not keen but my goodness he makes a lovely soup twice a week then has it every lunchtime!
I’ve never had or made sourdough, I fear I would make a mess of making it and I’m never sure about these live things, I have to be careful with yoghurts that have added liveness (I know all yoghurts have live stuff in) as they upset my stomach! But I did get a laugh out of EVERYONE making it first lockdown, apart from me!
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An air fryer is basically a supercharged convection oven. It allows you to make things like baked french fries with very little fat (some would say none). Apparently sometimes they’re called health fryers in the UK?
Sourdough is actually a really healthy type of bread, and I started eating it a while ago. But this was my first try at it. Back when I baked bread regularly, it was yeast breads.
I know, that’s why I told Mr. Judy I’m becoming a cliche!
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I know sourdough is healthy, but the live bacteria things in it worry me, is the only thing, as I’m not good with that stuff in yoghurts. Silly tummy that I have which should like all that!
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You are not the only one that can’t handle yogurt, but I’m sorry that’s the case for you!
The interesting thing about sourdough is that it takes its bacteria from the air, so it’s different depending on the environment it’s made in.
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The sourdough pancakes look good! I have had a recent fascination with making bread but I am NOT interested in being as hands-on so I was considering a bread machine. What kind did you have? The options are so overwhelming and I’m a complete rookie!
My husband has a harvest of green tomatoes that he sits in the window to ripen. It seems to work pretty well though the process seems slower than it did a month ago.
I’m so sorry for all of the losses you’ve had this year…2020 has been so tough.
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Unfortunately my bread machine days were decades ago. Sorry, no advice there — except that even back then they worked really well! I remember once making bread while I was pretty sick — it was that easy.
Thanks, Janelle. Unfortunately we’ve been going through a rough patch all around for quite a few years here, but there are people much worse off than we are, too. I try to remind myself of that.
The tomatoes are all ripening. 🙂 So glad I got them in time!
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You’ve certainly had a year!
Oh my goodness, growing up on a farm with a huge vegetable garden, we watched the weather forecast and either covered plants with old bedspreads and sheets the night before frosts and then harvested what we could before the first big freeze. My mom and dad would have tomatoes ripening in their garage until Christmas.
Before I was married someone gave me a sour dough start, but it was too much bread for me to eat living alone and with Bill only visiting on the weekends so I eventually tossed it. I, too, used to make bread from scratch all the time. Bill would love it if I’d do it again!
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I did cover the carrots & potatoes, but we had temps in the 20s a few days so I picked those tomatoes right before that — they were never gong to survive that. They are all ripening. 🙂
Right now we really don’t eat a whole lot of bread (well, I don’t anyway), but knowing that the starter can hang out eventually in the fridge I want to try it. Once I’m feeling a bit back to normal I use a regular mason jar (we didn’t have any that weren’t full at the time) and I’ll try again.
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I hope you had a good visit with your mom!
I had a sourdough starter while I was back in NJ but did not manage to transport it back to CA without it dying, haha. 😦
I get kinda bothered too when I miss a good deal but I take it as a sign from above that I don’t reallyyyy need whatever it is (…unless I actually do 😥 ).
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I definitely could see it being hard to get a starter cross country! I haven’t started a new starter, but I’m planning to soon.
I also often feel that if I missed a deal it wasn’t meant to be. I’m really, really happy with the toaster oven/air fryer we ended up with though.
It’s a lot larger than the one we almost bought — I’ve been baking quick bread & muffins in there!
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