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Hey y’all, what’s with the run on yeast? James has been making all of our bread for a couple years now and there has always been plenty of yeast at the store. Now we can’t find any anywhere and we are running perilously low. Lunchtime sandwiches and toast at breakfast is in danger!
Yeah, I know, everyone stuck at home has suddenly decided that baking bread is THE thing to do when most all these people have never baked bread in their lives. So they’ve bought all the yeast. And how many have actually baked bread since buying that yeast? I’m going to wager not many. Or if they have, it was a novelty but not something they are going to do again or even regularly. Meanwhile, those of us who need the yeast for making their daily bread, are out of luck. We do not buy bread at the store because plastic. This is worse than the toilet paper hoarding!
So, James has resorted to testing out no-yeast breads, which is perfect for Passover, but not all that great for burger buns. He made bread today that is more like one giant biscuit than a loaf. Though it will go well with the stir fry we have planned for dinner tonight.
He is also trying his hand at making a sourdough starter. He started one last weekend and it was doing fabulously until Wednesday when is suddenly died. He was baffled. After a little research, he figured out it was because we went from warm sunny spring when the culture was getting started to, on Wednesday, a big drop in temperature and light snow.
After wandering around the house looking for somewhere consistently warm and insulated against the vagaries of temperature swings, he decided our linen closet was ideal. Not only is it insulated with towels, but it also has a heating duct running through it. He started a new culture today and stowed it on a shelf among the towels.
He also came to understand that the culture is a living creature that needs not only to be kept warm, but also regular attention (stirring) and feeding. We now both understand why the Zero Waste Chef names her sourdough starter. I suggested that should he manage to midwife the culture to birth as sourdough, that he should give ours a name too. I even offered to knit a sweater.
If, no when, he manages sourdough success, we will not need to worry about when there might be yeast at the store again. But this process could take one to two weeks, enough time for the leavened bread situation at my house to become dire.
One fermentation project that succeeded was the sauerkraut. You don’t have to worry about killing anything to make sauerkraut. Even if the fermenting is slow, if you wait long enough, the magic happens. And it happened! Came out really good too and I am not generally a fan of sauerkraut but this is making me rethink that. Just like in the past year I have become a fan of coleslaw, variations on cabbage seems an intriguing culinary path to take. Good thing I had decided to grow purple cabbage in the garden this year!
I have a small tray of seeds I started indoors at the Equinox. While I can direct sow kale and cabbage, I started a few for an earlier harvest. Then in a week or two when I can direct sow the cool weather seeds outdoors, I will seed more cabbage and kale along with peas and radishes. Speaking of radishes, I have heard fermented radishes are pretty good. Anyone try them and can offer an opinion?
Today while tending my indoor sprouts I noticed a couple very tiny ground cherries finally have poked up from the soil. I am happy to say hello to them because I had begun to despair they would not make an appearance. I have to be careful my excitement does not overwhelm them.
Outdoors in the garden the Dashwoods are happy happy happy. Today they are getting their last run of the place because tomorrow they will be banned to the chicken garden for the duration. Things are sprouting and they will inadvertently destroy them. I need to get the mulch off the herbs in the herb spiral and remove the mulch and row cover fabric from the garlic. I have also noticed arugula sprouts popping up. The strawberries are beginning to fluff themselves up. The rhubarb is looking delightfully wrinkly and prehistoric as its big leaves sprout up and begin to unfurl.
Too early for actual blooms except for spring bulbs. The tiny blue scilla I love so much and that love my garden—their patch grows bigger each year—are a lovely shock of blue against the still prevailing brown.
Whether you celebrate Easter or Passover or the simple blessing of being alive, I hope you take time to stop and enjoy the budding spring (or the harvest of autumn). We are not able to get close to people right now, but we can hug trees, smell flowers, sit on the bare earth and reach out to our non-human family. Peace and love and well wishes to you all.
If you give your sourdough a name and a sweater, watch out if it starts making faces (have you read Sourdough by Robin Sloane?) https://necromancyneverpays.wordpress.com/2017/11/08/sourdough/
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OMG, I have not read that! I definitely will now though. Just have to wait for the library to re-open.
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I too have a sourdough starter going… we used exclusively sourdough starter as yeast when I was a poor hippie kid. YUM, so good — I wanted to make a yeast-risen treat but no yeast, so I decided it was time to revisit sourdough. Sourdough waffles and pancakes are THE BEST. We also made some great sourdough muffins. Going to do a loaf or two this weekend. I agree, however — come on people, just get what you need and don’t hoard! In other news, my chickens don’t know that their time of confinement is coming soon… what do you for a ‘chicken garden’? I can’t remember. Mine have a nice run but of course they’ve picked it bare. I was thinking of making them a big ‘chicken tractor’ that I could move around, or at least making some kind of flexible fencing that I could rotate so they don’t kill all the grass at one go. I did put up some chicken wire fencing around the lettuce and peas area of the garden, so they won’t pull up all the sprouts. We’ll see… anyway, enjoy the spring! I am moving things around and having fun. Stay safe and healthy!
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Oh Daphne! You have made me even more excited for the sourdough to work! I have a recipe for sourdough pancakes that looks delicious. The thought of sourdough waffles makes my mouth water!
As for the Dashwoods, their chicken garden is a fenced off part of the backyard that sits below the level of the main part of the yard. It is where their coop and run are and where our garage used to be. There is no grass in is because it was covered in a concrete slab. It has a layer of wood chips and old leaves in it, a cherry tree, and a number of fruiting shrubs that I have to share with Marianne because she loves cherries, elderberries and serviceberries. I bet a chicken tractor would work really well for you since you have a good amount of space to move it around in.
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I was thinking about your sourdough failures… what about on top of the water heater? I think that’s where we stored ours when I was a kid, living in a very chilly, poorly insulated old house. I also have this funny Alaskan sourdough book that said that prospectors used to snuggle their sourdoughs at night to keep them warm! Maybe you don’t have to go THAT far, but… I’ve been keeping mine either on top of the refrigerator or, when I want to warm it up for use, on top of the range (we have gas so there’s a mild warmth from the pilot light there all the time). Otherwise it lives in the fridge and gets fed once a week! So far so good… thinking good yeastie thoughts for you!
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Oh! That’s a great idea Daphne! We wrapped the new starter in an old athletic sock and it got thick but no bubbles yet, still, hopeful. And, after checking out the top of the water heater, it definitely has some warmth, not a lot, but it might be enough. So now it’s sweatered up in the basement on top of the water heater. Fingers crossed! I hope we don’t have to resort to sleeping with it! 😀
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fingers crossed!!
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Sorry to hear about the yeast shortage. I make my own bread about twice a year. There is really something special about home bread. I have never tried to make bread without yeast. But now I want to try.
Stay safe and healthy.
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Hi Brian Joseph! Making your own bread is definitely special and I don’t want to take that away from anyone. But the sudden run on yeast has been surprising. I do hope more people come out of this making their own bread regularly and not just to pass the time at home! I hope you stay safe and healthy too!
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What a delightful post! I don’t make bread, but my neighbors do and they tell me there’s a flour shortage. They had to order a huge bag, too.
My bluebells (grape hyacinth) is blooming right now and they’re lovely. I didn’t plant them, I inherited them.
Yes, I think we should all go out and hug a tree! Great idea!
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I have heard some people are having a hard time getting flour too, that they had to get a huge bag. I kind of laughed because we special order huge bags from out food co-op regularly of a couple different kinds of flour. We just need the yeast!
Ah, pretty bluebells! I do love them but they only last a few years in my garden and never naturalize. The scilla do so they make a nice substitute. Still, I envy your bluebells!
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I’m awed by all your experiments. I have never made bread, I’m fine with cooking and baking cakes and pies. I like (buying) sourdough bread. Over here too making bread is the latest fashion,so much so that bakeries now sell bags of flour. At the small supermarket there was yeast but no baking powder anymore. In French it’s the same word, so it’s very confusing for all the beginners bakers!
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Oh Smithereens! what a funny and confusing thing for new bakers! How curious that baking powder and yeast are the same word. Our co-op says they should be getting yeast this week. We have our fingers crossed and will be calling every day to make sure we can go there as soon as they get it in!
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Good luck for the yeast hunt! I would gladly send you some but international mail is really not working anymore and food will be stopped at customs anyway…
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I’m so sorry about y’all’s inability to get yeast! My sister and father have been baking bread like mad (well, bread and sticky buns), and for the longest time we couldn’t find any yeast for love or money. I eventually procured a 5-lb bag from the restaurant supplier in town, which sent my sister over the moon, and now we are all set. Is that an option that’s available to y’all at all, a restaurant supplier like that? I will say a prayer to St. Anthony to find you some yeast!
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Oh Jenny, sticky buns sound fantastic. I highly endorse the baking of sticky buns! I don’t know of any restaurant suppliers but will investigate! Thanks for the prayers! ❤
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We can’t even get any flour here as well as yeast. Luckily I had a few extra packets in my cupboard, worried that when Brexit happens we will fall off a cliff with no deal done. Brexit has gone completely off the news though. Have a lovely weekend.
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Oh Katrina, a flour and yeast shortage is even worse! I hope your shops get stocked up soon. Brexit is not in the news here anymore, it’s all pandemic all the time. And the Brexit date is coming soon. Sending good wishes that it ends up being ok. I hope you had a lovely weekend!
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I stocked up on yeast and flour a month ago, and haven’t dipped into my reserve yet, but then I don’t bake bread often. I usually make biscuits, tortillas, muffins, once in a while rolls. Would like to try my hand at a real loaf of bread, but then the kids might start asking for it every day! Isn’t it nice to see spring arriving in spite of all the troubles around us. Like you, I love to watch the thick wrinkled leaves of rhubarb unfurl, and the hostas uncurling. My rhubarb hasn’t been happy- I’ve already moved it once but think I need to do so again. It just doesn’t get enough sun.
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Ah Jeane, you stocked up at a good time! It is wonderful watching spring arrive, though painful too watching 4 inches of snow fall on top of it yesterday! My rhubarb gets sun all day long and really loves it. I hope you find a good spot for yours!
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As usual I love reading about the beginning of your garden adventures. I’m so grateful that, if this had to happen, that it’s happening in Spring and not the dead of winter. We’ve been lucky to spend a lot of time outside the last few weeks. Things are sprouting and in about a week I can start planting some other things.
I’m sorry about the yeast! I hope you find a solution soon. My husband has made two loaves of bread so far during quarantine, but he’s a baker anyway so this isn’t terribly new to him. I hope all those new bakers are really using that yeast!
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So glad spring is letting you spend lots of time outside! Ours is a roller coaster right now, just got 4 inches of snow yesterday! But I am grateful for the nice days, that’s for sure. Though in a lot of ways it feels winterish in that everyone is supposed to stay home. But at least it isn’t dreary outside.
James is a mad scientist experimenting with no yeast bread options. Our food co-op says they should be getting some yeast in this week. We are hopeful! And if they do, and we can get some, we will buy extra, which I don’t want to do, but we need enough to hold us over for a month or so. I love that your husband bakes bread too!
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You know what else is flying off the shelves? From last night’s news I learned that hair products, esp. self grooming, home-cutting tools and gadgets etc. Have a fun and peaceful time at home, Stefanie!
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Hair products? I never would have thought about that Arti. But it makes since because all the salons are closed. I hope you had a wonderful Easter!
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In this article “5 weird products Americans are stockpiling (besides sanitizer and toilet paper)” I read the following: Yeast sales 647% higher than last year. I thought of you.
Here is a link to the article for you: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/5-weird-products-americans-are-stockpiling-besides-sanitizer-and-toilet-paper/ar-BB12zBhv?ocid=spartanntp
I admit I started using my bread machine again (nothing so comforting than the smell of fresh baked bread during a pandemic) but I use “Machine Yeast.” To produce a 1 lb loaf, the machine can take up to 2 hrs. But I figure I have the time. Hope this finds you well, Stefanie.
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The yeast and flour shortage is clearly worldWide. Haven’t been able to get any now in UK for a month. I have plenty of dried yeast but was running low on flour. Then someone told me a guy in our village whose restaurant has been closed by government decree because of the virus had flour for sale. So now I have 3 kilos of Italian flour to play with.
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