Saving a trip to the store! Home made bread...

[rpcrowe]

Both Judy and I enjoy rustic breads but, because they have no preservatives, the shelf life of this bread is limited.

We have begun baking our own bread, using a Dutch Oven pot in our regular oven...

https://smile.amazon.com/Lodge-Ename...s%2C230&sr=8-4

The results have been very pleasing! Baking the loaf in the covered Dutch Oven results in steam as the bread is baking which gives us a nice crisp crust...



This loaf is olive bread and it is delicious...



Besides being delicious and eliminating trips to the store, the cost of the ingredients for the bread is minimal, in comparison to the cost of such bread in the store.

BTW: Our home is equipped with solar panels which generate electricity - so the power cost of running the oven is negligible...

[Manfred M]

Richard - I suspect that you are not the only one doing this.

On top of hand sanitizer and paper products, the areas of the local grocery stores (and that included our local Costco) that were out of stock included flour. The ready to bake pizza section was empty too.

[DanK]

Also yeast.


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[rpcrowe]

Our recipe uses a minimal amount of yeast - one teaspoon per loaf...

Our COSTCO stores were hit hardest with crowds and their stocks were down and lines were horribly long...

Our two military commissaries were also hit hard by crowds and the crowds were terrible...

We shopped in a more expensive grocery store that had stuff like flour and pasta and even toilet paper. They rationed most items that were in demand.

Our criteria for shopping was to avoid crowds and hopefully to find the items we needed.

We even avoid the old folks hour in which many of the local stores open for us senior citizens... Later on in the day, there are usually far fewer people...

Early on - I purchased two pints of alcohol out of which I created hand sanitizer by adding Aloe Vera and lemon juice (as per WHO recommendations). I did not feel that a pint of alcohol for each of us was hoarding and a pint of hand sanitizer goes a long way.

The secret to purchasing was to try and figure out what items will be in short supply. Early on, I knew that N95 masks were going to be in short supply so I purchased a few (non medically approved) N95 masks designed for such tasks as sanding and painting. These had not been approved for medical use back then and were in plentiful supply. They have since been approved for medical use and cannot be had anywhere. I split my small supply of 20 with the first responders at our local fire station.

I have recently purchased two pairs of safety goggles and have a large supply of disposable plastic food handlers gloves as well as two boxes of surgical gloves (one large for me and one medium for Judy). I use the disposable food handlers gloves when I do quicky things like fill up with gas at the self service pump.

I don't go out except when necessary but when I do, I look like an alien from outer space...



I have had this neck gaiter for years and used it when I was fishing in the hot sun! I will have an N95 mask under the gaiter and wear safety goggles. I will wear gloves of some type when I touch things and I will still maintain social distancing and frequent hand sanitizing/washing protocol.

OVERKILL? I think not. I'd rather look funny walking around than look pitiful on a ventilator

BTW: the fabric of the neck gaiter is rather cool. I have worn it when fishing in tropical conditions off the lower Baja Peninsula of Mexico... Toss it in the washing machine when I arrive home and put the mask aside until I go out again. Hanging it in the garage for two weeks should nullify any and all viruses especially since it has been covered with the neck gaiter fabric...

[lovelife65]

Looks delicious! Love rustic breads, and yours looks as good or better than any bakery bought. Good for you for trying to eliminate trips out, I actually just pulled out my bread maker.
Love your photo of what you look like when you do venture out, and sure wish I was seeing more of this. Until then, seems we will continue to be in a world of hurt as a nation.

I guess the line for one of the Costco stores in WA State closest to us (Burlington, WA) was around the block, probably hours to get in. Can't imagine what they are like in higher population parts of the state.

Friday I ventured out to pick up some supplies to drop off for my mom at her memory care home (every place online to get them are out), and the main Oak Harbor Walgreens was closed. I thought uh oh. Yep, they had an employee working that was positive for COVID. Luckily I was not in that store during the period of public exposure. Wal-Mart (which I do not shop at) as well.

We are pretty much staying home all the time, other than I hit a couple of the hiking areas with the pups that are not crowded... rarely seeing another person. So many stores don't seem to have hand sanitizers at the entry ways, and many people and employees wear the same pair of gloves the entire day.

[rpcrowe]

I am happy that our county has mandated the use of facial coverings for some people (such as grocery clerks) and highly recommended the use of coverings for the general populace; for two important reasons...

1. I am sure that it will somewhat limit the transmission of COVID-19 from person to person by blocking (at least partially) the virus from being sprayed on healthy people by those infected...

AND

2. I don't feel so darned stupid wearing my gear. Instead, I feel rather smart... Also, the covering prevents me from habitually touching my face which, appears to be another way that the virus can enter my body.

Keep healthy Sharon, I am glad to be living on the "Left Coast"

[connaughtgreen]

I have been making bread at home for many years now
I do admit to using a bread maker just for the dough but always bake in the oven
My way is to place dough in a bowl and leave to stand an hour then punch the dough before making whatever my choice is for that day
If im making Bagettes then i have special tray fo it it has four ridges where the dough lays in the tray which has hundreds of holes
That is then placed in my study where it is warm to rise after an hour the dough is placed in the oven at 200 for 15 minutes i now spray water on the dough after 2 minutes in the oven to get a nice crisp coating

[rpcrowe]

Terry, apparently, the use of the Dutch Oven simulates the high tech commercial ovens that include a mist of water in the baking... We needed to regulate the amount of salt that we add, according to the type of bread we are baking.

When we add the olive tapanade to the dough, we need to severely restrict the amount of additional salt added; since the tapanade itself is very salty.

I have also added some chopped up dried fruit such as dried apricots or raisins and then sprinkled the top with a sugar/cinnamon combination before the final ten or fifteen minutes of baking with the lid off. Makes a very flavorful but, not too sweet cake-like bread good for dessert or breakfast. Also makes a super French toast...

[lovelife65]

I am happy that our county has mandated the use of facial coverings for some people (such as grocery clerks) and highly recommended the use of coverings for the general populace; for two important reasons...

1. I am sure that it will somewhat limit the transmission of COVID-19 from person to person by blocking (at least partially) the virus from being sprayed on healthy people by those infected...

AND

2. I don't feel so darned stupid wearing my gear. Instead, I feel rather smart... Also, the covering prevents me from habitually touching my face which, appears to be another way that the virus can enter my body.

Keep healthy Sharon, I am glad to be living on the "Left Coast"

YES to all you have written. Thank you for caring about others, and yes you should feel smart. Part of it is the message about masks has been confusing... yet now it's admitted that Hong Kong was right all along.

[lovelife65]

I have been making bread at home for many years now
I do admit to using a bread maker just for the dough but always bake in the oven
My way is to place dough in a bowl and leave to stand an hour then punch the dough before making whatever my choice is for that day
If im making Bagettes then i have special tray fo it it has four ridges where the dough lays in the tray which has hundreds of holes
That is then placed in my study where it is warm to rise after an hour the dough is placed in the oven at 200 for 15 minutes i now spray water on the dough after 2 minutes in the oven to get a nice crisp coating

Thank you for this. Helps us amateurs quite a bit. Must go make bread. :-)

[pschlute]

Making me hungry

[rpcrowe]

I need to hone in on every slight bit of encouraging news because there is so little of that type of news coming out these days.

We are filled with remorse and dread during news broadcasts and don't even watch the presidential press conferences because these are like the fantasies of some African dictator and I cannot rely on them for any valid information...

However, the bit of information that made me feel a little better is the fact that the governors of our three West Coast states: California, Oregon and Washington are confident enough that our social distancing is working; that they have been able to transfer ventilators to other areas of the nation. California has transferred 500 ventilators to the national stockpile!

However, there are some things that really worry me; including medical workers in New York City hospitals wearing plastic garbage bags to protect their scrubs from the virus as they treat patient. It seems to me that rain suits which are still readily available used in conjunction with a decontaminating spray (as the worker leave contaminated areas) would be a far better choice than garbage bags. A local gas station - mini mart on a freeway exit still has a supply of these plastic rain suits available. It seems to me, that wearing one of these suits (even though it might be somewhat hot combined with a frequent decontamination spray and a subsequent shower rinse would be a lot more efficient in preventing contamination than the wearing of plastic garbage bags.

Other ways that have been proven in places like Korea is having hospitals with entrance and exit sides. Rather than a mulligan of folks entering and leaving through the same doors... The supermarket in which I have been shopping lately i doing that. You enter through one set of door at the right side of the market and leave through another set of doors at the left side of the market. This helps to facilitate social distancing...

[rpcrowe]

Also yeast.


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We have just begun a batch of sourdough starter. I "think" that sourdough starter was begun in the San Francisco, California area during the California Gold Rush of the late 1840's to early 1850's when yeast was not available.

Sourdough bread is made by the fermentation of dough using naturally occurring lactobacilli and yeast. Sourdough bread has a more sour taste and better inherent keeping qualities than breads made with baker's yeast, due to the lactic acid produced by the lactobacilli.

Once you begin the sourdough starter (in a glass or ceramic container) you can add to it by replenishing the starter with a bit of new dough every time you make bread. It is a self replenishing process; because the bacteria will begin working on the new dough, turning it into sourdough starter. Besides, I like the taste of sourdough bread...

[DanK]

However, the bit of information that made me feel a little better is the fact that the governors of our three West Coast states: California, Oregon and Washington are confident enough that our social distancing is working;

Although much of the initial focus was on the west coast, at this point, the Northeast and Michigan have been far harder hit. New data from NY and, more recently, MA suggests that COVID death rates have been underestimated because of people dying at home, but if we assume that the underestimate is roughly consistent, one can still compare death rates from official sources. Here are some numbers from yesterday's New York times. The numbers are the official COVID deaths per 100,000 population.

NY: 76.2
NJ: 53.5
CT: 39.9
MA: 28.5
RI: 16.1

MI: 27.0
IL: 1.7

WA: 9.0
OR: 1.8
CA: 3.3

You can read the whole depressing story here.

As one would expect, cities tend to be hot spots because of their density, but not all hot spots are cities. For example, Berkshire County, the largely rural county in western MA, has quite a high rate. And the rural areas are not subject to different mathematics. The doubling period may be longer in some because of fewer contacts among households, but they should still expect exponential growth. For people who don't understand exponential growth with a large base, it's easy to think that a currently low incidence rate means you're off the hook. Not necessarily so. Assume a doubling every week, which is far slower than the 3 days found in places like NY. That would mean that after 8 weeks, there will be 256 new cases for every 1 new case now. In 12 weeks, more than 4,000. It's the same math simple math as f-stops, but it seems to be beyond the grasp of some governors.

As an example of the foolishness of taking comfort in a currently low incidence rate: When the first deaths appeared in WA at the beginning of March, MA had one documented case and no fatalities. Less than 8 weeks later, we have had al most 43,000 cases identified, despite severely inadequate testing, and about 2,000 deaths, more than 200 yesterday alone. (I think the Times data for MA, slightly under 2,000, were a day out of date; the local public radio station that updates counts every day reported 2,182 cumulative deaths as of yesterday, with 221 yesterday.)

Fortunately, our governor is neither stupid nor craven, unlike some others, and we aren't likely to see a loosening of social distancing soon. Even if he were to loosen restrictions, however, the people who have both the wherewithal to isolate and the education to understand this aren't going anywhere. And institutions aren't all waiting for politicians to make decisions. Universities, for example, are already nose deep in contingency planning for September, when some epidemiologists expect another wave of infections.

[rpcrowe]

Recent investigations indicate the first USA death might have come as early as February 6, 2020, in Santa Clara, California, and was the result of community spread. Some nieve reporters mentioned that if we had known of person to person transmission in the USA as early as late January, we would have been better prepared.

I consider such statements pure balderdash. We have not (at least the administration has not) done much to protect citizens during the time we did know about person to person transmission.

After all statements like, "There are only 15 cases in the USA and soon there will be none!" Is just one example of the happy talk and lack of action demonstrated.