MISC MARKET NOTES

A small experience this week reminded me of something important. I went in for a “maintenance” chiropractor visit. So when Doc asked me how I was I told the truth. Between a few bad experiences and a nasty injury I wasn’t exactly in peak condition. The sweetest thing – he put his hand on my shoulder and prayed for me. HE PRAYED FOR ME. I immediately felt bottled up tension release which made addressing the physical issue go oh so much easier.

Sometimes we know what baggage we’re hauling around, sometimes we don’t. But regardless of known or unknown, IT AFFECTS US! Mental, spiritual, & emotional stress can zap the joy out of life and lead to more lasting physical problems if left unchecked and/or undealt with.

Mainstream medicine tends to ignore this facet of our common humanity – they deal with diet, exercise, tests, treatments, results, and trying something else if “that” don’t work. This is OK in many areas, but in some illness, especially ongoing medical problems it completely ignores any issues that may lay beyond the scope of tests and lab results, namely those issues that make us human, our mind, heart and emotions. Many alternative medicine disciplines do recognize this.

A young friend introduced me to the podcasts of Virginia Dixon a few years ago. He had met her in the course of dealing with his mother’s cancer. I’ll never forget his words – “This information came too late to save my mother’s life but it has saved the rest of the family from her fate.”

It was enough to interest me and I listened to her podcasts, all 8 of them on Spotify that year. The podcasts were HUGELY insightful into how our heart, mind and body is connected and when any one is out of sync it affects the other parts. I recently decided to listen to them again only to find there are over one hundred now so I’ve barely scratched the surface of this wealth of wisdom!

R.E.S.T. Stands for “Relational, Emotional, Spiritual Truth” and according to Virginia is the single most important component for healing the whole person.

Even if you are in perfect health and just want to understand our common humanity and all the wonderful moving parts that make up our personalities, relationships and thought processes, Virginia is a rich source of information. Her podcasts are available on both Spotify and her website at virginiadixon.com

Looking Ahead: Starting late July we will return to a bi-weekly schedule for the months of August and September, and possible into October. As we approach those dates we will publish a more specific schedule but for now please know that July 28 will be our last Friday for pickup before the schedule change.

JBW Farm Fresh: Things are progressing out here at JBW Farm Fresh. Our first load of grown out pigs have been taken to the processor and we are very excited about adding pastured pork into our freezers! Keep an eye out on our social media for updates!

Mt. Moriah Farms: Transfer your skin with our goat milk soap… 

Dry skin? Our Spicy apples and Peaches bar has a lot of shea butter in it which is very moisturizing 
Oily skin? our Activated charcoal bar removes the excess oil under the pores
Eczema? Our oatmeal, milk & Honey bar is widely used to help soothe the irritated skin, lightly exfoliating the skin, and the honey brings restoration 
Psoriasis? Our pine tar bar Pine tar soap has been found to have antiproliferative and keratinisation properties, which can help reduce the proliferation of skin cells that contribute to the buildup of psoriasis plaques, thereby reducing the severity of symptoms.
Acne? Our lavender essential oil Bar is the one we would recommend for oily prone acne and the Peppermint EssentiaL Oil Bar is the one we would recommend for Dry prone acne.

Katherine’s Kitchen: Bless the Lord! In the golden July sunshine Alabama’s tomatoes have been swelling with juice, and the basil has been crisp with rain. We bought some of those massive slicers from Avalon Farms, and of course we made our summer favorites; Insalata Caprese. . .

With such good weather for basil we have just been grateful that God provides us with the same richness he gave to so many Italians who introduced us to these delicious treats. Eating seasonally is being led by the Lord into “green pastures”.

Congratulations, you brought home a jar of sourdough starter! Now what? Take the lid off and put the cloth square over the jar and secure with a rubber band. It needs to be able to breathe while it sits on your counter and adjusts to its new home.

After it’s been at your home for a couple hours, if you see that there are bubbles in the jar and it has grown in size, its time to feed it for the first time.

1. Empty jar into a bowl
2. Measure 4 tablespoons or 2 ounces of your starter and put back in the jar
3. Add 4 tablespoons or 2 ounces of all purpose flour into the jar. I use King Arthurs brand all purpose flour.
4. Add 4 tablespoons or 2 ounces of warm bottled or well water. Chlorinated city water will kill all the good yeasts and bacteria in your starter and it will die. A very sad event.
5. Give it a good mix, place clothe back on jar and let sit on counter. Please note, I don’t use a clothe but a plastic lid that doesn’t fit tightly. When it has almost doubled in size, place the lid back on it and put in the fridge until you want to use it again. If it hasn’t doubled in size, feed it again following the above steps. If it developed a layer of grey liquid while resting in the fridge, don’t despair. That liquid on top is normal and even has a name! Its called hooch, just stir it into your starter and feed as described above.

Yay! You just fed your sourdough starter for the first time, you are now on your way to sourdough heaven!

Now that you have fed your starter, you have some unused starter in your bowl, that is your discard. It can be used to create many yummy things……pancakes, waffles, pizza dough, brownies, biscuits, cake, cookies, bread……you get the picture. There are many recipes online that use sourdough discard.
Here are a few things that I do with mine:

1. Pancakes – add 1 egg, 2 Tablespoons of flour, pinch of baking soda and a pinch of salt. Stir it up, if its to thick add a splash of milk or two. Cook as you normally would for pancakes
2. Waffles – almost the same as pancakes, but separate the eggs and beat egg whites until stiff, mix yolks into your batter then fold the stiff egg whites into the batter.
3. Pizza Dough – into the bowl of a stand mixer use the dough hook, add your starter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add about ½ cup bread flour and adding more flour or so water to develop your dough. When its done kneading, let rest for 30 minutes. Shape into your preferred pizza shape, spray or brush the dough with oil, add toppings and bake at 435 for 12 – 15 minutes. It’s done when the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Sometimes I will take my discard and feed it equal parts water and flour (I guestimate, sorry) then let it sit for a couple hours until it is a bubbly bowl of active sourdough starter. In doing this I am increasing the amount of starter I have to work with. I will empty it into my mixer bowl with the dough hook attached along with olive oil, powdered milk(about 1 tablespoon) and salt and slowly add bread flour until I have a nice ball of dough (I can touch it and it isn’t sticking to me, think same as yeast bread) that I then put in a greased bowl, turn it over (the dough so it is covered with oil on both sides) cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled in size. Carefully turn out on a piece of parchment paper which is on a baking sheet. Take a sharp knife and make a cut down the middle of
your dough about 1\4 to 1\2 inch deep, quickly, you don’t want to pull at the dough. Place in a preheated 375 oven and bake about 20 – 25 minutes. Its done when it sounds hollow when you knock on the bottom of your loaf. Wrap in a slightly damp tea towel until it has completely cooled down. Best if overnight, but I understand if you can’t wait. It will slice nicer, though if it has totally cooled down. Wrapping your bread in the towel will keep your bread crust softer and will also serve as a protective wrap for your bread as you eat it. If it lasts that long. Hee hee.

If you have decided you are brave and want to try a soft sandwich bread this is a link to the recipe I like for that: https://www.theperfectloaf.com/pain-de-mie/

Editor’s Note This document is permanently posted in the MarketatDothan.com website with photos! This is the link, https://marketatdothan.locallygrown.net/files/document/document/6751/original/Kathy_Stewart_Sourdough.pdf?1687630275, and it may be found in the Q&A section of the website.

We look forward to seeing you next Friday at one of our pickup locations. Thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!