Prepping for a Pandemic - Thread 16

[Sprayitall]

I don’t know why another thread hasn’t been created yet , so here you go. Now as we prep ourselves to the peak of this pandemic, let’s all face it together and appreciate how fragile our lives are and how we need each other to survive and flourish.

Got me veg box today so lasagne and Jamie Oliver's hidden vegetable tomato sauce for the freezer. Also made chocolate brownies and apple and pecan muffins too.

Tomorrow, I will make a cauliflower, potato & spinach curry and will prep roasties & mash for the freezer. Got loads of surplus potatoes so will use those up. How long can I store potatoes for?

@FazakAli I would say potatoes are fine until you see sprouts on them.

Potatoes keep well in a paper sack, in a cool dry place, if you have one. They keep best with the dirt on, but even washed ones will last a reasonable length of time.
Don't store in the fridge if you can avoid it, as the starches go sugary and give a strange taste!

@WeedsnSeeds1 & @Sprayitall many thanks. I've transferred the potatoes to a paper sack & stored it in the garage.

Made a spelt loaf with the whey in the end

@Weedsnseeds1 wow that’s a lovely loaf I should say.. Today I made some chocolate marshmallow stirrers with dd- saw them selling for lots of money in the shops and the quantity was all too large for little ones to have. So made them at home (this way I made sure the chocolates last longer than dh and dd scoffing them up all at once) dd loved making them with me. So if you people are thinking how to make the chocolates last longer this is an idea. used the ice trays for this if that helps.

With today’s numbers and the dates given I think it’s all confusing. What do you all think? Are we past the peak or are we in the peak now?

What a great idea, I'll suggest it to my neighbour. She's struggling to keep her children entertained.
I made a poolish starter as well, but I think I might have to retard it in the fridge, normally takes about 18 hours, but it's gone off like a rocket!
Date yeast didn't take off, close inspection of the packet showed potassium sorbate preservative, so that explains it.
Fig and raisin yeast cultures are fizzing nicely!
Have we reached the peak? No, I don't think so. We still havd as one time to go based on other countries. The figures go up and down a bit due to reporting lag. I think they will look to be going down over the Easter break, then shoot up again on Tuesday because of this.
It looks like peaks and troughs on day to day numbers, but it's more of a steady upward climb.

Poolish - using about 1/10 g of instant yeast BB January 2015!
It fascinates me how you can coax so much life out of a few primitive cells

Sorry, previous post should read "some time to go". I must learn to proof read before posting!

Nice loaf Weeds and interesting experiments. I baked my sourdough loaf this morning that took two days to make, all gone by tea time.

Most Preps, well mine anyway, not lending themselves to the warm weather, would happily eat stews, baked beans, mash, rice pud etc back when I stocked up in Feb, now I want only fresh and light stuff.

Drove past what must have been at least 100 people queuing outside at Sainsyburys this morning, so glad I did not have to join them.

I know what you mean - stew and dumplings in the garden is just wrong, somehow?!

@lexloofah So true. I found out the same today. I ran out of fresh juice and we wanted to have some because it was sunny outside. We were in the garden sorting the pots and transferring seedlings so lot of work. Thankfully I had a bottle of Robinson’s squash in my prep stock so that helped. Have some long life oj but didn’t want to dip into that yet.
@weeds loving your experiments with yeast. This is the first time I’m hearing something called poolish. I’ve not baked European breads much at home except for the pizza bases and the part baked ones for soups at times. Looked up what’s that and pleasantly surprised. I think I should try making some too. Thank you. Everyday I am learning something new here 🙂

A sachet of quick yeast is 7g - so enough for 70 loaves in theory, using this method!
In practice, I think the yeast might deteriorate once the sachet had been open a while, but it's an interesting thought!

Personally I don't think we're at the peak yet. Things have only started to ramp up.

Has anyone else noticed the articles saying that the medical advisers to the government, only told them early march that this was serious? It seems like anyone could see it but didn't want to.

P.s the bread and chocolate stirrers look lovely.

Sorry I’ve been a bit absent, struggling a bit lately and not sleeping well.

@weedsnseeds1 your food pics are amazing

Op sounds like an AMAZING life in NY I thought living there was much more expensive.

I’ve not made bread since school! It feels like I’m not expert enough? I remember it as being very time consuming and physical! No yeast in anyway but I MAY try some unleavened/flat breads?

Other than that it’s just nice to know I have flour in now to make sauces etc

Also looking forward to possibly making cakes! Something I used to do a lot but haven’t for a few years. I’m not a bad baker but I’m crap at decorations I’m all thumbs! But they taste good!

I've asked on another thread too but I'd be very grateful for tips on measuring dry ingredients by volume as I'm having trouble getting hold of scales. Particularly converting measurements in recipes.

Bread is quite easy, you just need the patience to walk off and leave if to its own devices.
It can be a bit physical, but there are " no kneed" methods too (I'll find a link for you.
Strong our is ideal for European style bread, but standard flour is great for flat breads and burger Bun style, brioche etc. The more cakey texture breads.
There is ALWAYS yeast - it's everywhere! You just need a few spare days to "farm" it.
Ant dried fruit ( without preservative or oil in it - check ingredients!) or fresh fruit of the type that looks a bit "dusty" like grapes, figs, plums, even apple skin.
Add to a jar or glass of tepid water, with a bit of sugar or honey, cover with cling film or put lid on loosy. Give it a stir each day and keep in a warm place - you will have yeast in a few days.
Flour and water will grow yeast from the environment and the flour itself - that is all a sourdough is.
Even potato water after you have cooked potatoes ( possibly my next experiment!)
To convert weight to volume measures, the easiest thing to do is look for American recipes that use cups. They rely on ratios of ingredients, so as long as you use the same thing to measure they should work.
A standard cup for cooking is about half the size of a coke can, so look for something like a ramekin or a small teacup and use that.

In American recipes, you quite often see a "stick" of butter referred to. Their butter comes in a little pack of 4 x 2oz sticks, rather than 1 block like ours.
A stick is 0.5 cups (half)

No kneed bread
www.jocooks.com/recipes/no-knead-bread/

Is it safe to go ahead with grocery delivery that's scheduled for next Tuesday? As usual I’m ordering for three households this time but I could personally do without one and still manage. But the delivery will be made only to my house anyways as I’m booking the slots so I can add some if I want to? I’m wondering if it’s safe.
Also saw the news about schools going to be opened sooner. Why are people rushing so much for the exit strategy right now? There are other pressing reasons that needs more attention now I think! It’s not even peak yet. People who think kids are less affected and can attend school - No, they can still be carriers, they have elderly vulnerable parents and grandparents. how will a child attend school if the parents are ill? Ffs it’s high time to Start virtual education and issue supermarket vouchers for kids who depend on school meals. Wondering do they even understand the intensity of this? Why don’t they concentrate on the present instead.

Sprayitall grocery delivery safer than going to the shop for you and the others you are ordering for so I would keep it. I think I have us sorted now with deliveries from several local suppliers to not need to go at all and if we run out of something non essential like a condiment then we will go without it.

I hadn't seen news about schools but I don't think they will be opened anytime soon.

Had a great bike ride with DD this morning, roads nice and quiet.

I would keep the slot and add some bits, personally.
I think we are still going to have gaps in supply chain for a while. If its something you will use and has a decent shelf life, buy it.

Poolish used for hot Cross buns

@weeds loving your pictures.. the buns look lovely .. when I was little, I never got a chance to know what hot cross buns were. Being a very curious child who got carried away by the rhymes I asked my gran for it. Those days we never had the internet. My gran had saved the rhyme book page, got the recipe from my Anglo-Indian teacher & she approached the “bakery on wheels” hot biscuits street vendor for me one day and paid them to make hot cross buns for me. It was such a big surprise for me and I then wanted the same as my birthday cake that year 😂 which didn’t happen as we never had cakes for birthday. For English Gregorian calendar birthdays we shared sweets and candies at school. But lunar calendar birthdays were given the most importance and is celebrated with a trip to temple, get blessings from elders of the family and a special dessert pudding served at home all day for anyone who visits.

I love hearing your stories. It all sounds so idyllic and exotic
I grew up in a rural village in the South West, so maybe my stories of fishing for tadpoles, building forts with hay bales and picking watercress from the stream would be equally intriguing to you?
My parent's friends had a farm and my sister and I used to play with their two boys.
They had a Hereford bull, a good natured breed, who used to lived in his own little house with a yard, when he wasn't earning his keep!
We would take it in turns to climb over the gate and see who could get closest to the bull, before they lost their nerve.
If you went 1st or 2nd, you could get quote close, he was fairly docile. As the game went on, the bull got more irritated, the danger increased, he would paw the ground and you would run for the gate and vault over....
Not sure our parents knew what we were up to!