[aaronatthedoublef]

If I've told you all this before, my apologies. When we lived outside of Los Angeles we were less than half an hour from huge fruit and vegetable farms. But all the produce in the store was crap. The stuff in stores was trucked to warehouses in Texas where it was packaged and distributed all over the country. Labor and space were way less expensive. We found farmers' markets and the produce there was from the same farms but was so much better and sometimes, less expensive. When they were in season we would buy huge flats of beautiful strawberries for less than we pay for a quart here. And they wouldn't sell us less than a flat despite the fact that there were only two of us.

A chef friend started going to the docks to pick up seafood because even though he was buying local fish it was being sent offshore to be processed and then shipped back to the US.

So your maple sugar may have come from the VT (who knows) and shipped south because there is a lot of sugar processing that happens there... I've seen imported pineapples and coconuts in Hawaii because it was way less expensive to grow them some place else where land and water are not at a premium.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks BA. The recipe would be great!

This morning it sort of looked as if my starter had separated and had a small pool of liquid on top so I stirred it and it began to bubble again (our kitchen is around 63 most nights). I then fed it and I think I'll try and use it tomorrow.

There are a bunch of recipes I want to try. I am not sure how my family will react.

[aaronatthedoublef]

In January I started working for a supply chain company. It is amazing how fragile they are and how little slack there is. I remember when Just In Time started and inventory was seen as wasteful bloat. I am not smart enough to know how this will affect things in the future.

[aaronatthedoublef]

COOL! Now I need to test my mixer.

[aaronatthedoublef]

IC, as long as you're having fun that's all that matters. I remember one of the first pizzas I made for someone outside of the family as for a chef friend. I was having a rough dough night and the pizzas looked really wonky. But they tasted good - bread, sauce, and cheese - unless it's burned how can that taste bad?

I apologized for the shape and he smiled and said "they're artisan" and asked for more.

The more you do the more you'll figure out what you like and how to achieve it. Have fun - and it sounds like you are. There is enough stress in life, especially now.

And show us some pictures!

[aaronatthedoublef]

Sounds good! You are inspiring me to experiment with pizza. If my family doesn't like it I'll just blame you folks!

[aaronatthedoublef]

When I used to discuss this with friends who brewed beer they used to talk about using different yeasts for different beers. I haven't ever studied it and my brewer friends have stopped brewing. So much too learn.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Interesting about brewers yeast. I was at a bakery outside of Tuscany for a class and the baker there said he used "beer yeast" - he used the word "birra". I took that to mean brewers yeast but that was 20 years ago and my attempted translation. My memory of his bread is that it was great but that may just be because I loved that experience.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made chocolate chip cookie... I should have chilled them a bit and/or made them smaller as they all ran together on the pan. But they taste good and bend until they snap! Perfect except for the fusion.

Also while on a family walk some friends offered to help me with garden work in exchange for pizza so once this social distancing stuff is done I'll take them up on that!

[aaronatthedoublef]

Be careful with the grow lights. I used to have a buddy in Seattle who monitored for increased power usage caused by grow lights. He then turned those houses over to the police... 🙂

[aaronatthedoublef]

My friend is now selling fresh yeast telling people to use approximately twice as much as dry yeast. Also at least one of the local beer making supply stores I checked has dry and fresh yeasts. It might be interesting to go there as they have different strains. ANOTHER experiment to try!

[aaronatthedoublef]

Whole Foods at Amazon does not ship through Amazon. They let you order groceries from one of your local WFs and then someone goes through the store, fills your order, and delivers it to your house. The app is not great but it's the best service we have for this and for not going to the store.

Around us they are talking about opening some WFs just to fill Amazon orders. The logistics of it are pretty inefficient and the apps is built backwards but it's better than anything anyone else offers by us.

[aaronatthedoublef]

My starter is on day 7 and bubbling some. I wonder if I should have done it in something other than a glass jar. Also it's just www and water. I wonder if some sugar would have helped. Deb Wink uses pineapple juice which is good for adjusting pH but it also adds sugar which cannot hurt.

Not sure what I will bake today. I may start some cinnamon rolls for tomorrow.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks. I was thinking yeast cakes. My mom used to use them some when I was a boy and I've had brewer friends use them too.

[aaronatthedoublef]

The article said that while dry yeast is in short supply demand for fresh yeast is softening... I have never baked with fresh yeast. Another thing on my list...

[Author]

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