Hope they admit her quickly and she's better soon. That sounds so scary. I'll be thinking of you all.

That's a great thread! I thought about using raisins, but the recipe I found said they had to be unsulphered. Have you found that to make a difference?

So Bill, are you after a sour-tasting loaf? Have you been baking frequently enough to find out if you can produce bread that is *not* sour? I don't think I have enough people eating enough bread to let my sourdough starter not taste sour. A little sourdough bread is great, but what I want to figure out is how to make bread which is not sour, without using commercial yeast. I know I *can* get commercial yeast; it's really more just a matter of satisfying my own curiosity. And, traditional bread in this region isn't sour. As KungFuPanda said above, it may just be about using the starter frequently enough. Or......??? Editing to add that I enjoyed your thread on breadmaking. You got me to start investigating mills.

I'm sure you're right about the wild, local yeast, and about it being essentially a sourdough, too, in that sense. Sourness is the goal in some bread, though, and it wasn't in this. Unfortunately I never saw or tasted it, I just heard stories from many decades earlier: I think maybe they were still doing this in the 1920s or early 1930s when my mother spent time there, but it's possible she was just passing on stories she had heard, rather than things she had seen. Their location was pretty close to where I am now, though: within about 50 miles. I'm sure there are a zillion other influences, which might have altered the prevalent wild yeasts. You're right about baking frequently. They were feeding a lot of people, and baking daily, I suspect. So that would alter the starter. I did manage to find some old recipes for yeast today, with widely varying ingredients: everything from potatoes to raisins and honey to hops (and that was being used for bread, not beer). I assume different ingredients might be preferred by different yeast strains, shifting the flavor balance a bit...? One of the sources I linked above also mentioned temperature having an influence on the lactic vs. acetic acid balance. Basically there's a lot I don't know about all this, but I'm curious. I started a culture of potatoes and a bit of sugar, following one recipe, but the instructions are decidedly scant, so it's going to take some experimentation. Something to keep me busy at home this spring...

This link is primarily focused on Italian types of sourdough bread, but goes into how to influence which types of yeast predominate, yielding a more or less acidic dough. https://staffoflife.wordpress.com/natural-yeast-lievito-naturale/ (Don't know why I can't seem to add the quote box where I tried to put it, after the link, but anyway...)

@SusanC's link is great, if anyone else is interested, and provides more avenues for exploration.

Thanks, I'll check that out! I was just coming back to link instructions for salt-rising bread, which seems to be one approach to making bread without commercial yeast. I'm going to have to try this. https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/classic-american-salt-rising-bread-recipe

While I have some active dry yeast on hand, I'd like to conserve it. My sourdough starter has made me start thinking about stories I grew up hearing about jars of liquid yeast kept in a springhouse. The family breadmaking style was definitely not sourdough; so, can a sourdough type starter be used for breads that are not sour? How would one do that? I'm thinking of good, basic yeast bread or rolls, or Sally Lunn, or something like that. Commercial yeast is a fairly modern invention. These breads are not modern inventions. How can I do this? Is it as simple as having a strong starter and some judicious use of sugar, or what?

He's adorable!

Yes, this would work.

See, this is part of the basis for my question. The banks within walking distance of her campus are not big national chains; there's a local credit union which I'm not sure she'll even qualify to join, and a couple of small local banks which don't have branches near us at home. The campus is in a small town. I think there may be larger banks she could reach with a car, but she won't have one. I don't think she can get to a grocery store without a car, either, but maybe she could get cash back from the college bookstore. Quarters for laundry, cash for tips for pizza delivery, cash to feed a snack machine...that sort of thing. But it sounds like laundry machines may not require quarters these days. Maybe she won't need cash. I haven't even known about Venmo, so this is outside my experience. I don't know, I just think of having a bit of cash available as a matter of safety and convenience, but maybe not anymore.

Okay, it looks like we have some options to investigate. Thanks, everyone! I'm hoping to open an account for dd pretty much immediately, even though she may not be on campus in the fall at this rate, so she can use it for summer earnings (we're hiring her for some work at home, since she's stuck here). Maybe I'll call the college and the local banks on Monday to get more information.

Okay, I will look into Venmo, thanks.

Dd's going to be living in a college town which doesn't seem to have any of the same banks we have at home, or any banks immediately adjacent to campus. There are a few within walking distance, but maybe not convenient for quick access. On the college website I see information about student accounts for college billing purposes, but nothing about general student banking needs. What has been your experience: do colleges send out information about the local banks most students use? Or are students managing without local banks, just using debit or credit cards? I'd think a source of cash would be needed. How have you all handled this?

Personally, I want to be left alone to do activities that make me happy: gardening, baking, some limited home projects. I don't want obligations outside the home, even virtual ones, because life itself is stressful enough right now. We do have online public school classes starting in about a week for my younger dd, which is not going to be easy. I do wish I had things to help relieve stress for my girls, but they are both teens. Their concerns are realistic: will a freshman college year happen on campus? Will family members be safe? I don't think online activities would help.

g-g-grandfather Telemachus (called Lem) and his sister Parthenia a few generations of Archibalds Gaynelle

I've started playing with sourdough starter recently too. The instructions I followed were the ones in my King Arthur Flour cookbook. They suggest leaving it on the counter and feeding daily for a while, just to get the feel of dealing with the starter, even if you eventually want to refrigerate it. That's all well and good, but right now I'm having a very hard time getting more flour, and like EmseB said, you go through a whole lot of flour just in daily feedings. They say before you refrigerate it, feed it, then give it at least two hours at room temperature. After that you can put it in the fridge for a week ( and obviously people are saying more than a week is possible). When I want to use it, I take it out the day before, let it come to room temperature, then feed it. Then the next day it seems ready to go. I haven't left mine refrigerated for more than a week, though. In that case a couple of feedings might be needed. https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/feeding-and-maintaining-your-sourdough-starter-recipe

I don't think anyone wants to "hurt" people who are making poor choices. We would like to explain to them why other choices are better. The thing is, we, collectively, *are* in control. That is the.whole.deal. We are in control of the course the pandemic takes. We can't absolutely stop it right this moment, because lots of people are already infected, but every single one of us is in control of our own actions, and if we work together, we can shut this pandemic down. But if other people don't understand or cooperate, that won't work. The virus will keep spreading. And that is why I get frustrated with people who don't listen, or who don't do their part. Personally, I think a bit of anger is understandable, maybe even appropriate.

I'm so sorry; that sounds beyond painful. Others have said it all better than I could, but I wanted to add my concern and hope for some improvement for your friend. Some time ago @maize mentioned a new treatment which showed promise, I believe. I don't remember the details, but maybe she'll see this and jump in. This is a rotten time in so many ways. Lots of extra stresses, worry about loved ones we can't protect, and at the same time loss of many pleasures: it's no wonder people are having problems. We will get through this, though. (((Regentrude and friend)))

I am so sorry. You are all in my thoughts.

Hear, hear! (A fine policy outside of crisis times, also. We'd all benefit from being more aware of the foodstuffs all around us.)

The reasons this particular virus is dangerous, apart from the overwhelmed hospitals, are the same reasons it has become a pandemic. 1. It is quite contagious. 2. It is novel, so none of us has immunity, which reinforces the contagion. And, of course, it is deadly to a significant, though presently not exactly certain, percentage of the population. Many of us fall within these groups, or at a minimum care about others who do. These seem like excellent reasons for anyone to be sensibly, rationally, intelligently concerned about contracting the virus, even after the peak of infection passes in their area. I am perplexed by the minimizing.

That seems to fly in the face of all logic. Of course students can spread the virus. I'm sorry, Stella. I hope he comes to his senses quickly. Is there any response from medical professionals, perhaps? Anyone who can counter this?

@plansrme, that is unspeakably awful. I am so very sorry.

Dd found out last night that she's technically wait-listed at UVA, but they're offering her the chance to enroll in their College at Wise for freshman year, with a guaranteed spot at UVA after that. She says she feels like she's been punched in the gut, only kind of in a good way, I guess. She had assumed that getting in at UVA was essentially impossible for her, and just sent an application because I said she should. She just hadn't considered getting in to be within the realm of possibility, hadn't been thinking about it, and -- key point-- hasn't visited. We had planned on visiting places she got in, because long back story, but now she can't. We did manage to visit three other schools before they shut down, and she fell in love with Mary Washington. She had just settled on going there, was relieved that the whole college decision ordeal was over, happy about Mary Washington, and then the email from UVA arrived. We still haven't heard from W&M, another one she had essentially written off... We do know it a bit better, though. So she's feeling gut-punched, and feeling like turning down a chance to go to UVA might be foolish, but can't go see what it *feels* like. We can still go walk around the empty campus, I guess, but that's all. We have spent some time in Charlottesville, though not on campus: mostly for appointments at the hospital. So, if anyone has fairly recent experience at UVA, or any experience with the College at Wise, we'd appreciate anything you can tell us. What's life like on campus, anything about classes, professors, research and internships, anything. She's interested in going into speech-language pathology, which will mean she needs a master's degree, but thinking of starting with psychology as an undergrad. She's wondering if an undergrad degree from UVA would be more helpful in grad school applications than one from Mary Washington, or if it's really more about how she spends her time at whichever school she attends for undergrad, experience in research or internship, getting to know professors and getting good references. Does the undergrad school matter greatly? And, she could attend Mary Washington, with merit aid they're offering, and have money left over to put toward grad school. Attending UVA would be possible, but no money at all left over. All thoughts gratefully accepted...