[chocomouse]

I went grocery shopping at 6:30 this morning, first time in three weeks. I tried to help a poor man who was shopping for his wife - looking for yeast and had no idea what to look for. Of course, there was none. However, I had read online earlier that a small, family-run store in a neighboring town had yeast on the shelves! And at KAF, you can call the retail store direct, they will gather your items and put them out at the curb for you. They seem lately to have most items, including flours and yeast. At the grocery store, a small chain store, there was no store-brand flour, a few bags of Gold Medal, and a lot of KAF - AP, Whole Wheat, White Whole Wheat, Self Rising. I think that speaks to the local economy - it's pretty rural, working class people who are now unemployed or self-employed, folks who were just barely making a living before the crisis.

[chocomouse]

Hi Kimbob! Glad to see you here, and I hope you will stay a while. It sounds like you've been baking up a storm!

[chocomouse]

The morning after - and the bagels I made yesterday are still tasty but the texture is entirely different. The outside no longer shatters when you bite into it, and the inside is very chewy, not soft. I think they are no different from the the bagels made from 100% KAF AP, or from the 50% AP and 50% bread flour.

[chocomouse]

Thanks, BakerAunt. I bet they are delicious - a stick of butter, and only 3/4 cup of flour? I just read that the "19" in Covid-19 stands for the amount of weight one will gain during the distancing/isolation/etc. Those cookies would surely help me reach that goal!

[chocomouse]

I made bagels. I used the same recipe, but 100% AP flour instead of part AP and part bread flour. The outside were very crispy, and the insides even softer than the usual. I'm curious to find out tomorrow if they are less crisp and/or less soft inside.

[chocomouse]

I used Len's recipe "Wheat-Rye-Semolina Buns" to make sandwich thins today. I had a turkey sandwich and my husband had ham. The dough was very easy to handle and the flavor is excellent. This will become my standard recipe for the thins, and I'll also try it for burger buns. Thanks for sharing the recipe, Len!

[chocomouse]

Today I made rolls that are a variation of the KAF Crusty Gruyere Rolls. I used a basic lean dough recipe with bread flour, which gives them a crispy crust with soft insides. I rolled the dough into a rectangle and spread it with chopped green olives, gruyere, and cheddar, and then rolled it up like for a cinnamon bun. I put these into sprayed muffin tins and baked for 25 minutes at 375. Good with soup. We are forecast to get 4-7 inches of snow tonight.

[chocomouse]

Today I made rye sandwich bread for leftover-ham sandwiches. I also made muffins with chopped dried mangos, mandarins, pineapple, apricots and coconut. I used 1/4 cup of coconut flour in places of 1/4 cup of AP flour, and an third egg and a little more milk. They are still a little dry, but very good. I'd like to use up this bag of coconut flour, so if anyone has recipe suggestions, thank you.

[chocomouse]

I use the blueberries frozen. Just toss them with a tablespoon or two of flour right before stirring them into the batter. This morning I had a big decision to make: blueberry lemon bread or zucchini brownies - I finally decided on the brownies.

[chocomouse]

Len, I did the same. Had no clue! So used what made sense with the grammar.

[chocomouse]

Italiancook, that is one of my most favorite recipes ever! I love the lemon juice powder - it's better than any combo of zest or oil. And I have cut the streusel by half also. If you add a cup and a half of fresh or frozen blueberries, it's even better!

[chocomouse]

BakerAunt, when you were younger, didn't you always eat an ear off your chocolate bunny first? Is there a connection?

[chocomouse]

I bought several Fat Diddio pans last year, and the reason I ordered them was they were odd sizes and had straight, high sides. I don't use them often, but each has a purpose.

[chocomouse]

I live in a pretty rural area, the nearest restaurants and grocery stores are about a 25 minute drive north or south, and in those two area are many chain stores as well as local family owned places. Almost all the restaurants and coffee shops are doing curbside pickup for take-out, although quite a few have reduced hours, and almost none have closed. All the other retail stores ("essential" only are allowed to be open) are doing call/email your order for curbside pick up. And some organizations, such as fire departments (volunteer) are picking up curbside and delivering to the homes of the elderly, at-risk, etc. residents. Also, residents are making large donation, like $50-100 each, to restaurants to have meals delivered to fire, police, hospitals, etc. Excess food goes to schools, (making and delivery meals via school bus, to all students under 18 in their district), and to the food banks and homeless shelters. Also, many towns have "Road Captains" who contact all residents in on their assigned roads on a regular basis, and manage "Give help - Get help" lists. My sister is sewing masks for everyone on her road, and putting them in bags hung from her mailbox at the end of her driveway for neighbors to pick up. I'm not sure a lot of this would work in more urban areas, but it's amazing to watch the daily creativity and generosity of townspeople. We no longer have large dairy farms in our area, but it's sad and confusing to read that farmers are dumping milk, yet the dairy section in the local grocery store was almost empty when I went shopping on Tuesday. No cheese, except the imported brands in the deli case, almost no yogurt, cottage cheese, milk.

[chocomouse]

Dinner tonight was salmon patties, green salad, and cornbread. I'd never made salmon patties before -- canned salmon, celery, onion, eggs, crumbled saltines, sauteed in olive oil. They were OK, a nice change on a chilly evening.

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