Coronavirus, Covid 19 Discussion and How It Has Affected Your Daily Life Chat Thread

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

https://www.mybakingaddiction.com/homemade-bisquick/

Thanks for posting it. You beat me to it. Times like this the real cooks show up.

 

[FortCluck]

Absolute unknowns at the present time, right now it's a hope not a cure.

Just wondering if they knew the dose they were giving. If they do find a treatment... Hope they have plenty because I'm sure everyone will need it at some point. That's a lot of meds!

 

[IamRainey]

By the way, Deb ekholm, posting links is as simple as:

• go to what you want to add to your text
• copy the URL address in the search box
• go to where you want to add the link
• either paste it into the text box OR look at the top of the text box for the link tool
• to use the link tool option choose a word or phrase in your entry and highlight it, now click on the link icon, a box will come up and paste the link you copied onto the first line. It will add the link to the appropriate part of your text then anyone who wants to access it will simply click your link and see what you wanted to illustrate.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

OK I need to vent. Blame it on cabin fever. So I’m on like day 11 of stay at home. I’ve spoken to the kind folks at the feed store and they will gladly take my order and load it into my car- no touching. I ordered some wine from a kind of local liquor store. I order online, and will load it into my car, no touching. They had to stop delivery because of demand. That’s ok. But I still can’t get yogurt or trash bags without going into the store. All delivery and curbside services at grocery stores AND Walmart have been cancelled. Seriously! The really great news is apparently a distillery has stopped making the really good bourbon and other beneficial spirits and are now making hand sanitizer. Yay! It’s good to know that customer service is still alive and well somewhere.

 

[IamRainey]

Times like this the real cooks show up.

At times like this we surely thank our grandmothers and great aunts for all those old fashioned homemaking skills they taught us, no?

My great aunt from Maine was a fabulous cook. Their food was simple. Most of it came from their garden and what she'd canned. Her house was full of elaborate crocheted lace she did all winter when they were snowed in.

I only spent a couple weeks with her in the summer but I've never forgotten the joy of simple things done at home. My whole lifetime I was the only one I knew who baked her own bread and canned her own pickles & preserves and quilted. But times have caught up with us. More people have discovered those things and then this bomb hit us and now, thank god, there are some of us to pass those skills along to another generation!!!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

At times like this we surely thank our grandmothers and great aunts for all those old fashioned homemaking skills they taught us, no?

My great aunt from Maine was a fabulous cook. Their food was simple. Most of it came from their garden and what she'd canned. Her house was full of elaborate crocheted lace she did all winter when they were snowed in.

I only spent a couple weeks with her in the summer but I've never forgotten the joy of simple things done at home. My whole lifetime I was the only one I knew who baked her own bread and canned her own pickles & preserves and quilted. But times have caught up with us. More people have discovered those things and then this bomb hit us and now, thank god, there are some of us to pass those skills along to another generation!!!

As you can see from my previous post I’m not having a stellar day. I’m a baker and I start to hyperventilate when I get down to only 10 pounds of flour. I hate to do it but I’m about to check out the King Arthur website and see if I can put in an order. There are 2 dairies within 30 minutes away so I know I can get get milk and cream but they don’t make yogurt. I may have to make that myself as well. But I can’t go anywhere until I can move some more garden dirt out of my driveway. Aaaaagh!

 

[21hens-incharge]

Nothing here on our store shelves all wiped out Tp, Paper Towels all cleaning products, and food in the stores very low...

Hang in there. Be creative! Worst case....an extra shower.

The store workers are working feverishly to try and restock as things come in. They really do deserve a lot more credit than they are getting. I doubt anyone really expected global TP hoarding.

 

[IamRainey]

Can't help you with trash bags. I made my own ripstop nylon ones many many years ago. Can't help you with curbside deliver either. But here's my recipe and technique for great whole milk yogurt. Vietnamese style means it's flavored with condensed milk which makes it both a thicker matrix and a wonderful smooth flavor.

Whole Milk Yogurt wiith Vanilla and Condensed Milk

This homemade yogurt is so good and so easy there's no reason to buy commercial yogurt.

My version started with a recipe and the resulting discussion on David Lebovitz' blog and owes as much to the commenters and my own experimentation. The addition of condensed milk came from one of his readers who said this style of yogurt comes from Vietnam.

The amounts are really very flexible and so is the timing. The only really important thing is not to disturb the milk once it's in its jars incubating. Everything else is pretty approximate and bulletproof.

• 1/4 cup non-fat milk powder
• 1/2 cup active culture yogurt, if you've got some; if not the culture will do the job
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 vanilla bean, seeds and pod
• 1 quart whole milk, 1% or 2% will also work but will not set up as firmly or be as creamy
• 1/8 teaspoon commercial dry yogurt culture, approximate, for insurance or a whole packet if you don't have active yogurt
• straight-sided canning jars

1. Prepare six 8-ounce straight-sided jars and one 4-ounce straight sided jar and their lids by sanitizing them. Set them aside. The 4-ounce jar is your starter for the next batch.

2. Combine the milk powder with the yogurt and condensed milk in a 1-quart bowl or measure. It will be hard to evenly wet the milk powder at first. It may be very lumpy and some will cling stubbornly to the spoon but it will hydrate while the milk heats if you continue to stir at intervals.

Squeeze in the vanilla beans and stir to combine, reserving the pod to steep in the milk.

3. Pour the milk into a heavy 1 quart pot. Add the vanilla pod. Place the pot, uncovered, over a medium flame and heat to 180˚-190˚ stirring periodically to avoid a skin developing. If a skin does form, just stir it back in and continue.

4. When the milk reaches a point between 180˚ and 190˚, turn off the heat. Then let it sit checking the temperature occasionally until it reaches 110˚-120˚. (120˚ is a little higher than conventional yogurt recipes but the cooling milk will be added to a larger volume of cool ingredients so it works just fine.)

When it reaches the target cooled temperature, pour it into the condensed milk mixture, removing the vanilla pod. Stir to combine and add the powdered yogurt culture if you're using it.

5. Immediately strain the milk mixture into the jars and cap them.

Transfer them to the warmed insulated bag and place it in the cavity of a microwave or oven that is -- and remains -- turned off. Allow the milk to incubate for 5-8 hours then remove them to a counter to come down to room temperature. At that point they are refrigerated. Put the small one aside in the fridge to act as the active culture for your next batch.

Notes:

For really decadent try this yogurt with a big spoonful of Lemon Curd topped by Homemade Granola and fresh blueberries. It's like cheesecake for brekkies.

The milk can be homogenized or not but non-homogenized will separate during the long incubation period and leave a thin non-objectionable fat layer on the top. It's barely noticeable and will taste just as great but there is a color difference.

To further simplify this, if you have a sous vide appliance you can warm and cool the milk to the target temperatures in a half-full half-gallon milk jug. Add ingredients with a funnel thinning them as necessary with some of the milk to make them pourable. Then simply pour the yogurt mixture into your canning jars through a sieve.

 

[IamRainey]

The store workers are working feverishly to try and restock as things come in. They really do deserve a lot more credit than they are getting. I doubt anyone really expected global TP hoarding.

ABSOLUTELY!!! These are the times we get to understand and appreciate the unsung heroes of our culture. We don't always take time to think about the grocery clerks and sanitation workers and insurance clerks and even the (gasp!) "deep state" that keep our government running. Let's stop and think what life would be like without them!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Thanks for the recipe, but I would have to cut the sugar. I’m diabetic and have never liked the sweet yogurt even before. I only eat it for the probiotic properties.