Sourdough Discard Cornbread Swirls---My Experiment

Good afternoon Y'all!!!!         I pray that your day, so far, is going great for you.      My day, so far is a good day.      I always say that any day my feet hit the floor, that's a good day.       I always have a little on my agenda to do each day and when I get that accomplished, that makes it a great day.      I have a few more things on my agenda, but we'll see if they get done.      If not, it's still a great day. ******************************    

From Thursday of last week to Monday of this week, my kitchen has been down.      The sink was stopped up to the point of NOTHING going thru!!!!        Wow, let me tell you how much I appreciate my sink!!!!    I'm a clean freak in the kitchen!!!!    I always have a hot soapy sink of water.      I probably fill it a dozen times a day, depending on what I'm doing.      We've been here almost 22 years and after finally getting the right stuff for the sink, I realized that the sink had always been running sluggish.      It's funny that you don't know what you don't know until you do know what you didn't know.      Now, my sweet sink will empty a full sink of water out in less than 5 seconds, no joke.       At it's best, before it stopped up completely, it would take 2 to 4 minutes to drain and it would back up in the other side of the sink.     It was a mess.      I finally told my sweet husband that the sink was stopped up and we set out to unstop it.      

During the days of covid, we don't want anyone in our house that hasn't taken all the proper precautions to keep those around them safe from any sickness.     We have chosen to keep us and anyone around us safe, that's our decision and it's also our decision to choose to keep people out of our home.     Having said all that, that's why we didn't call a plumber.       

But, Monday, after a few misses, we decided to go to Lowes.      Just to look and see, maybe even see if anyone there could help us.      It was my suggestion to go.       I'll point that out.     hahaha       Anyway, we went and talked to  young man and he tried to help us, he really did, but we was asking questions he didn't know the answer to.    He said, let me get the plumbing man for y'all.      BINGO!!!!!!       That young man done well!!!      The plumbing man came and talked to us.       He already knew what we had done because the young man had already told him our story to this point.       Mr. plumber man told us what to get and he said the sink would be clear in less than an hour.       I'm skeptical about a lot of things and I was skeptical about this.      Hubby had tried 2 or 3 different clog removers and we even bought a drain snake.      He actually got a big clog out with it, but that didn't solve our problems.         So we brought our golden goods home and done as he said.      Understand, we were still very skeptical.       We done as he said when we got home.       30 minutes later, we done another application and I was busy doing what I was doing and hubby also was busy and all of the sudden, a great WOOOOSHHHHHH happened!!!!!!    Just as Mr. plumber man said it would!!!!      We are going out to see him and tell how thrilled we were with him and his suggestion.      He was such a blessing to us.      I got my kitchen back and sink!!!!     What a blessing.       We take our sinks for granted!!!      Oh, and the best part, it drains better than it ever has since we have lived here.  

I mentioned a little earlier that it was my idea to go to Lowes.      A little later on in the evening, we was still talking about how that product worked and so quickly.      My hubby looked at me and said "thanks honey!!"       I asked "for what".        He said "it was your idea to go to Lowes and I wasn't really interested, but I knew you was, so we went, so that's the only reason we finally have that fixed.    You suggested and I relented."        hahahahaha         He fessed up!!     hahahaha       Oh, I really got a good hubby.       He listens to me sometimes.      Yay!!

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So, Tuesday, I played catchup with laundry and getting the kitchen cleaned up and all the dishes  cleaned up.        Today, Wednesday, I got some bread going.       Yay!!!      Back to doing what I love.    The pictures below kinda tells the story.      This is an experiment, like the title says.      I used sourdough discard instead of the usual liquid.      Then when it started mixing in the bread machine and the ball started coming together, I added a little water to get the doughball looking exactly as I wanted it to look.       I turned it out on my silicon mat with a little cornmeal on it.

I pressed the dough flat and made it into an oblong shape.       Pay close attention to the shape of it.      It should have been narrower by at least 2 inches and longer by the same amount.       The shorter it is, the better it rolls up and it will actually rise better.      But, I have a tendency to forget that one little bit of info.

I use a small and short dowel rod as my straight edge and a pizza cutter to slice it.      It works like a charm.      

This is all of them sliced.

This next picture is where I was brushing melted butter on the strips.    I have a story to tell about the melted butter a little later.

This is how I make my rolls.       I rolled  each one and showed you how I do it.

I place them on my trays with parchment paper.

They are now resting under a floursack towel, waiting for their time in the oven.       They sure do smell good, already.

I have been waiting for the rolls to rise and will pop them in the oven to bake.        When they come out, I'll show y'all what they look like.       Like I said, this is an experiment.      I wanted to see if I could use my sourdough discard as most of the liquid in my cornbread swirls.      If it works out, then I'll have one other thing that I can use instead of throw away.      I love sourdough bread, we both do.       I just really hate having to throw out the discard where you feed it.       If this works out, no more thrown away discard.     Yay!!!   Woohoo!!!!   Yippee!!!!!    hahahaha   Yeah, I get a little excited.     hahaha

Well, they are done!!!      I will let you be your own judge.       But, let me interject right about now, if I may.        These things are "stinkin" great!!!!       Oh my GoSh!!!!        They are so good and done much better than I expected.       I am so thrilled!!

These actually done much better than I expected.        I am so thrilled with the outcome.        The small try with 6 rolls on it was baked first and they never get as dark as the second batch does.      I'm ok with that because I store our bread in the fridge and then I pop it in the counter top oven to heat while I'm getting the rest of our meal together.     They warm up and get a little more color on them just fine.     I am as pleased a punch!!

This is just some close ups, I wish I had smell-a-vision!!        I had said that they were too long for rolling, but these turned out well.     They rose perfectly fine.      So, if I use discard, it will be good either way.

I just have to tell y'all, these make me very happy.

Almost pure perfection.       I really don't know what I could have done for them to turn out better.      I hope you have enjoyed my experiment with sourdough discard.        I have always used it in other ways.      I've even used it in cornbread, but not in a yeasty cornbread.       So, in reality, this has sourdough and yeast in it.      Best of both worlds.       Don't be afraid to experiment.       Just keep good notes so you'll know what was a success and what needs more tweaking.     Just have fun.       Oh, and by the way, these are DEEEE-LICIOUS!!!!!!!        hahaha

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Now, about the melted butter.        While I had it in the microwave oven, I heard something , a couple of different times.        I thought it noise my husband was making outside.     Not so.     It made the noise again and I happened to see what it was.       The microwave was sparking and smoking!!      It has bitten the dust.      So.........when my husband got done with what he was doing, we went to WalMart and got a new one.       I hate spending money on stuff like that, but we are so used to a microwave.      I don't cook with it, but I do a lot of reheating and y'all know as well as I do, that it's fast.      So, right now, my next chore is to get it out of the box and get it set up and see how it's gonna be.     It's a microwave, convection oven and an air fryer in one.      I love using my air fryer and I hope this turns out to be a pretty good investment.      If not, I'll take it back and get just a plain ole microwave.      The very thing that I'm used to.

We got it unpacked from the box and I got everything cleaned up and washed.     And I heated some homemade soup up in it for supper and it works great, so far.       I'm going to air fry some salmon in it tomorrow and see how that works.      It will take a bit of learning and time to get used to it.       The old one was so simple.       I really don't like to learn new things, but alas, I have no choice.       I just hope it lasts for a good many years.      The other one was at least 15 years old and it had been used a LOT!!!!

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Well, that's about it for the day.     But, before I go, if you get the opportunity to help someone do it.    You never know when the opportunity will present itself.      I always try to ask God to show me how I can help others.      When I was coming out from Aldi, after we had gotten the micro/airfryer at WalMart, there was a lady that went out in front of me.       She could hardly walk and she was hanging on to her cart for dear life.     She said to herself, "I hope I make it to my car".      I stepped up beside her and asked her where she was parked and she pointed at the car.    It was way off, even farther than my husband had parked, but in the same direction.      I told her that we would make sure she got in her car ok.      She was going pretty quickly even though she could hardly walk.      About half way to her car she lost control of her buggy and couldn't get it back in the direction it needed to go.     By that time I had gotten my groceries in the car and my buggy taken back and I seen she was really struggling, so I went to help her.       I got her buggy going in the right direction for her and helped her get it to her car and then loaded her groceries in the car for her.      She was so thankful and I was so thrilled that I could help her.        It certainly wasn't a hard thing for me to help her.     I was thankful that I was there for her and seen that she needed help.     I always ask God to help me see what He wants me to see.      This is what He wanted me to see today and I'm thankful I seen it.      It didn't take no time to be kind.      She was very receptive to it and appreciative.      We both were blessed and my husband also.      All it takes is to be ready willing and able.      If you see someone you can help, do it.      You both will be blessed, I promise!!!  

Blessings on you all tonight.       I pray that you have a wonderful, restful night of sleep, and are ready to good things tomorrow.      Just know that God loves you tremendously and I do too.     hugs and love, patty

Watermelon--------Done!!!! Yay!!!

Good morning blessed ones!!!       I hope and pray all is well in your corner of the world.      It's somewhat of a dreary morning here.      But that doesn't mean a whole lot.       I expect the sun to shine to brightly sometime today.      Even if it doesn't, that's ok.      There is always a lot to stay busy doing.    I got a new batch of sourdough starter going and I'm looking forward to baking something!!!      Right now I have some "discard" to use, before the starter gets completely ready.       When you feed sourdough, you take some off.    Taking some of the starter off before you feed it, helps to strengthen the starter.      In the past, people would throw it away or use it to start a new starter to give to a friend.    Many years ago I used to use it instead of tossing it.      I would make pancakes, biscuits, even put it in my cornbread.     It is fabulous in cornbread!!!!      Now, it has actually become a "thing", using the discard in recipes.      You can google "discard sourdough recipes" and be blown away with all the recipes.      hahaha       Who knew????        I was "hip" with my sourdough discard long before it became a "thing".     hahahaha        I think I have always been a trend setter, but just didn't know it.    I'm going with that.      hahahahaha

I had mentioned dehydrating watermelon and even showed pictures of some recently dehydrated.      I got a small watermelon on the dehydrator finally on Thursday.     It took me long enough, but it's done.  40 hours later, it's done.       It took longer this time than usual because I dehydrated it on 110* instead of 125*.       I always dehydrate at a lower temperature than most say to dehydrate, simply because I like to maintain color and flavor.      If you dehydrate some things at a high temp, it can actually burn the produce.      Not with a flame, but just by overheating for a long period of time.      You may not even notice it when you take produce from your dehydrator, but you will notice it when you open the container to use it.      It can smell burned and even look burned.      Then the taste test will prove that it burned.      So, if you have a dehydrator, start using a lower temp than what books call for and see if your outcome is better.       Mine always is much better and it always looks much better.

Just a quick update, I started this blog post about 7:15 am and mentioned how it was looking a little dreary, well, the sun finally made it high enough in the sky to touch us and it looks like it will be a beautiful day.     Yay!!!!       I can handle that!!

I took a few pictures of my watermelon process and will share them with y'all.  

The first pic below is where I cut the rind away from it and put it in the sink.        You can see too that I made what I call "watermelon steaks".        This was a small watermelon so I didn't get a whole lot from it.       But we did have one steak that wouldn't go on the dehydrator, so we got to eat it and it was delicious.

This picture shows how I sliced all the steaks and then put them on the dehydrator.      If I am being honest, this watermelon doesn't look really good.       But, it was!!!       Also, remember that when you dehydrate something like this, all the sugars in it will be concentrated, so it will actually be much sweeter than it was in the juicy state.      My sweet Momma, "eat it while it's still juicy!!!!!"      Well, we do eat it while it's juicy, but we can't have it of the evening because it keeps us running to the bathroom at night.       Like this, we can eat it of the evening and not have to take potty breaks at night.      Now you know our secret.       hahahaha

This one shows how I put them on each tray.

This one below is the finished product.      Once it comes to room temp, which won't take long, it will be crispy enough to snap just like a potato chip.       You can't leave them out in the open air very long at all because they will start re-absorbing moisture from the air and become damp and sticky.      Most of the produce that we dehydrate will do that.      I will take these off the trays and put them in the box that I store it in in the fridge and they will stay crispy as long they as I have them.       I have another small watermelon and I'll get it on the dehydrator now, so it can be done by Monday at least.        If you get the opportunity to try this, I encourage you to do so.       

I also have 3 bags of marshmallows to get dehydrated.       That is another VERY fun thing to do.        I have a bag of small marshmallows, a bag of small shaped colored marshmallows and a bag of the micro mini marshmallows.      I got those at the local Amish store.      This will be a very good project a little later on.      I still have a lot of peppers coming on and need to dehydrate them as they ready.     

I don't know if I have mentioned anything about the fermenting I have going on.      But I have a quart jar of honey garlic going.       That will a year.      Patience is a virtue.       That's what the bible says.    So we'll see how virtuous I am with this project.     hahahaha     Lord help me!!!!!       For this ferment, you take raw honey, it has to be raw for it to have the beneficial bacteria in it.     And lots of garlic.    For my quart jar, I used about 10 or 12 ounces of raw honey.      I heated the jars up in a pot of very hot water, but you don't leave it in the water long enough to pasteurize it, just long enough to thin it down a little so you can get it out of the jar.     I used 6 big bulbs of garlic too.      You mix it and the honey starts pulling the liquid from the garlic and the honey gets liquefied pretty quick.      The garlic floats, so you want to turn the jar over every day so the garlic doesn't mold.     I burp the jar every day too.      You don't take the lid off, just just crack it to the point of hearing a little "woosh" come from the jar and it stink wore than any "passy gassy" you ever smelled.      It's working!!!!!     hahaha       Supposedly, at the end of this process, the garlic will have lost all the sulphur compounds and will become sweet like candy and the honey will taste like garlic minus the sulphur.      It is a good immunity boost.      It's healthy for you.      Not practicing medicine here at all, just stating well known facts.      You can do your own research on that.  

I also have a small jar of dilly beans going.       I'm just nervous with my ferments, because I've not tasted real ferments, other than saurkraut and kimchi.       That's it.      Maybe fermented pickles.      But these dilly beans are so stinkin' good!!!!!!       I'm hooked on them from one little bite.      I just picked a handful of my beans and washed them real good.     I cut up a sweet pepper and a little bit of onion.    The onion is very prominent and the beans are very crispy.      I have to keep reminding myself that the ferments are raw.      The greenbeans are still raw although they are fermented and they are really crunchy.     Delicious!!!!!

I have a bag of hot peppers, onions and kombucha fruit fruit in a vacuum seal bag.      It's fermenting in the vac seal bag.      This is without a doubt, the easiest way to ferment.      Once you get all the air vacuumed out it is in an anaerobic environment, "without oxygen".       The bag will start puffing up.    It's not oxygen, but the gasses formed by the process of fermentation.      You'll want to make a tiny hole in the bag at the very top and release the gasses and put a piece of tape over the hole until the ferment is done.      When this ferment gets done, I'm going to make some hotsauce with it.      Should be interesting and hot, to say the least.   hahaha

I love this time of year.       It brings to mind sorghum and all the good days of being a kid and growing up in the country.      I have a lot of fond memories, some may just be dreams, some may be wishes, but my head is filled with a lot of good times from days gone by.     I wish, when I was a child, I would have paid more attention to the old ways.       I didn't know then that I was having the opportunity to learn a lot of things.     But, when you are a small child, that's not what's on your mind.     Oh well, I digress.  

I hope you have a wonderful wonder-filled day.       I hope you stop to thank God for allowing you to be a part of it.       I hope you tell someone today that they are loved.       I hope you know how much you are loved.       Share Jesus with someone today, you won't regret it and neither will the person you share Him with.      Always remember that Jesus loves you and so do I.  blessing and peace be yours today, love and hugs, patty