[aaronatthedoublef]

Mike and everyone else - a local bakery is selling ingredients online. Does anyone want me to see what they have and how much it costs?

I will ship it to you at cost. 50 lb bags of flour would be prohibitively expensive to ship but I might be able to send smaller amounts and yeast would probably be okay. They used to use KAF flours and SAF Red instant yeast. I do not know what they use now.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I think using the old dough is instead of yeast.

I read using old bread is to reduce the flour and use up leftover bread.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made KAF coconut macaroons but I used too much coconut (recipe called for 12 ounces I would back it down to 10) and too much sugar. I also baked the first batch with the convection on so they browned too quickly. If I make them again I will reduce the coconut, sugar, and temp and turn off the convection.

Last night I made matzah caramel crunch.

Passover is over so I'll make pizza dough tonight for this weekend. I'll make Stella Park's whole wheat bread this weekend. My yeast (SAF Red instant) never foams anymore it may be because out kitchen is cold - usually around 65 or 66. Now the days are a little warmer at 67. My family liked it when I made bread the last time because I "cranked" the heat to 68 to shorten the rise time.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Would I need to grind the berries?

Oh, also one thing interesting in the article was that Bob saves some of his dough from the previous batch to use as a starter. This might not work if you didn't make bread everyday but I wonder.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Nash is the first place I've seen Triticale other than you here. I may buy a bag to test.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Nestle is 16 oz and Guittard is 12. I went with Nestle. Maybe Guittard is more "chocolatey"?

[aaronatthedoublef]

Hi Mike,

I've seen a couple of those threads and actually something I like about KAF/Bob's is how much they stay the same from bag-to-bag and year-to-year. This isn't trivial and I should not take it for granted.

I did find a place out west called Palouse Heritage and I am thinking about trying a couple of bags from them for fun if the shipping is not too expensive. One of the things that attracted me to them is their "heritage" breeds of grains. But it's hard to know if that is real or just marketing.

I did find one place out west selling triticale here at Nash Organic.

[aaronatthedoublef]

BA,

In reading the article I was thinking about the wheat grown in volcanic ash and thinking maybe I would try some of the small mills in Washington and Oregon if the shipping is affordable. West is where you'll find volcanoes. I didn't see any in Alaska or Hawaii. Not sure if they grow wheat there or not. Hawaii probably did once.

I will also try some of my local mills here just because I want to support them.

And I won't give up on KAF or Bob's. KAF is still small even though they've gone corporate and they probably needed to do it to survive. Bob's is going that direction too they just aren't so far along. But they are both still nice companies who will take the time to have real people talk to you about what you are baking and how to make it better. They've been really gracious giving me information and I'm probably a customer for life.

[aaronatthedoublef]

One of our local restaurant distributors is selling boxes of produce. It's for pickup only. An enterprising local college student has started a delivery service with these produce boxes and is adding in bread from a local bakery and dairy and meat from a local farm.

Down in Williamsburg VA where my in-laws live my wife found a local farm service that will deliver much of what her parents need to them on a weekly basis. If you know any of the people who run local restaurants they might be able to point you in the right direction.

I think where we live some of this is probably technically illegal but people have other things to worry about now.

My friends have closed their restaurants except to cater to the local hospitals which they are doing gratis. It's a way to keep going, keep some people on the payroll, and do some good. And the takeout business is probably to unpredictable.

I think people under-estimate just how important restaurants are to our community. In addition to feeding us and being the site of many celebrations they are exceptionally generous and some of the first to step up and give of their time, energy, and money.

[aaronatthedoublef]

My brothers and their families and I are going to try to have a virtual Passover sedar tomorrow. I have no idea what it will look like and I am not certain why we did not think of this years ago. But whatever happens it will be fun with my family.

I will probably make macaroons and may try my hand at macarons. Maybe some time this week I will also make a flourless cake. Mom always made a Passover sponge cake with strawberries and whipped cream. But no bread this weekend.

Hag Sameach (which is not really the right greeting but I cannot remember the right one) and Happy Easter to you all.

[aaronatthedoublef]

It is fun to listen to my six year old sing the alphabet song each time she washes her hands!

[aaronatthedoublef]

Really good idea for recess!
Thanks

[aaronatthedoublef]

Hi. I posted this in a separate thread. Should probably have posted it here or in the WaPo thread. This is from BBGA where someone posted a an online map of small, local flour producers. The ones in New England still have flour but being small suppliers they probably do not have the consistency of KAF or BRM. So each batch is an adventure. But I may start buying from them just to support them.

[aaronatthedoublef]

At the HW store they had mint scented garbage bags to help keep them out. Has anyone tried mint as a repellent?

[aaronatthedoublef]

Hi. They're doing it in response to COVID-19.

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