I am fortunate to have a nature reserve in walking distance. I'm going there very early in the morning, with the logic that most people won't be up so early, and that does seem to be the case. I only encounter about five people each walk, all walking individually, some with dogs, and it's easy to keep a distance.
Firenze, I always go shopping with a backpack too - it makes it much easier to carry heavier things. I carry extra shopping bags in the backpack, so I can balance the load, but heavier items go in the backpack.
I wasn't sure which thread to post this in, but the Pray As You Go series now has a support series called Pray As You Stay. It is based on Ignatian spirituality, finding God in all things. I am finding it helpful, so wanted to share.
Thanks, fineline.
Busy soaking lentils for sprouts. My sourdough starter has a cheesy smell which may or may not be OK.
It's snowing like mad here. I'm going skiing later. Off the front door step, in the midst of the city. No one will be out except me and dog. And rabbits, they're everywhere. That's whet happens every blizzard.
I keep Twitter, but I follow only nature pictures, bicycles and dad jokes.
We couldn't get yeast in the grocery store. I bake all of our bread. So I went back in time. 1/4 teaspoon of yeast, 3 cups water. 1.5c each of whole wheat and unbleached flour. 1/2cup each large flake oats and ground flax. Stirred 100x in the same direction. Fed it 1/2 c of unbleached flour 24 hrs later. It's working. No sugar by the way and cool water, on the counter in the kitchen. My initial thoughts was a 4-5 day project for 3 loaves. The last time I did this was to try to understand how people did things 100s of years ago. Going to use a bit of dough for next batch. I have just used flour and water but catching wild yeasts takes 3 weeks here. And getting yeasts off of fruit isn't on when we're bleach water washing everything coming into the house.
I made a loaf of soda (wheaten) bread yesterday, but it came out a bit dwarven. But plenty bread in the shops.
More exercised by the fact the Council have stopped uplifting bottles for recycling. At the rate we empty them in this house, we could be living behind a wall of glass before this is over.
My son makes a mean soda bread, so definitely worth using if you can't find yeast. @Boogie, deleting Twitter sounds very sensible. I never got sucked into that, and until recently didn't visit Facebook that often. I can feel myself being slowly drawn in, so need to be careful. I also think clicking on the Guardian site every five minutes isn't good for me either.
My exercise today was also Pilates, @Bishops Finger , via a website I've signed up to. I intend to alternate one day of Pilates with one day of aerobics. I'm also lucky enough to live within easy walking distance of two royal parks and various other open spaces. Today we went to one of the parks. It was busy by the entrance, but not many people out and about deeper it. They've banned cars and bikes which makes the whole place so much nicer. A bit of a pain for my husband as he is working from the office tomorrow and the park is usually part of his commute.
... More exercised by the fact the Council have stopped uplifting bottles for recycling ...
EEK!!!!
I'm reminded of the time in Belfast when we hadn't been to the bottle bank for months, and five large boxes of bottles had accumulated in our garage. D. took them to the bottle bank, and was merrily chucking them into the bin, when the bloke next to him looked over and said, "Good weekend, was it?".
The dog seems grateful that the people are home a lot. The cat is not grateful. Both need to inform of their opinions, trooping around together contradicting each other.
Boogie, you can read most twitter feeds without being logged into the site, so you could read say 'hourly cats' or whatever positive account without seeing all the crap. I completely understand though. It's difficult to battle my own need to check .
... More exercised by the fact the Council have stopped uplifting bottles for recycling ...
EEK!!!!
I'm reminded of the time in Belfast when we hadn't been to the bottle bank for months, and five large boxes of bottles had accumulated in our garage. D. took them to the bottle bank, and was merrily chucking them into the bin, when the bloke next to him looked over and said, "Good weekend, was it?".
Mr F always remembers his first time Abroad - with a school geography trip to Spain. First morning he took himself for a walk and came upon a house with a shedload of empty Cava bottles outside. This, he thought, is a nation that knows how to enjoy itself! (I suspect they'd had a wedding or somesuch, but who knows?)
Thank goodness he’s in Germany, not the UK. They have all the equipment they need at his hospital.
His uniform has always been laundered at work. He showers at work and comes home in his own clothes. Clean uniform ready the next day at work. Work shoes kept in his locker.
Bookmarked a list of user-friendly Instagram cook-alongs from the Guardian.
My sourdough starter Mr Burp smells a bit cheesy and my lentils don't want to spout. I have an ancient packet of adzuki beans in the back of a cupboard and wonder if I should try soaking them for a vegan curry.
Bookmarked a list of user-friendly Instagram cook-alongs from the Guardian.
My sourdough starter Mr Burp smells a bit cheesy and my lentils don't want to spout. I have an ancient packet of adzuki beans in the back of a cupboard and wonder if I should try soaking them for a vegan curry.
Oh - you’ve just reminded me - I have two bags of organic mixed beans for sprouting!
Thank goodness he’s in Germany, not the UK. They have all the equipment they need at his hospital.
His uniform has always been laundered at work. He showers at work and comes home in his own clothes. Clean uniform ready the next day at work. Work shoes kept in his locker.
That sounds as good as it can be. Catching up with girlfriends yesterday, one of their daughters' friends who's a nurse in London had some very distressing things to say, apparently.
Thank goodness he’s in Germany, not the UK. They have all the equipment they need at his hospital.
His uniform has always been laundered at work. He showers at work and comes home in his own clothes. Clean uniform ready the next day at work. Work shoes kept in his locker.
That sounds as good as it can be. Catching up with girlfriends yesterday, one of their daughters' friends who's a nurse in London had some very distressing things to say, apparently.
I fear that many healthcare professionals will have harrowing tales to tell. Hopefully, they will receive the support they themselves will need.
Having half a tin of bamboo shoots knocking about, I added diced courgette, sliced mushrooms, spring onion, a chilli, fresh ginger and garlic. Stir fried that lot, chucked on rice wine, soy sauce and kepak manis, added cubed tofu and noodles and fried some more.
I have half the pack of tofu left so will find out tomorrow if it was just a flash in the wok, or whether I can come up with another combo.
Having half a tin of bamboo shoots knocking about, I added diced courgette, sliced mushrooms, spring onion, a chilli, fresh ginger and garlic. Stir fried that lot, chucked on rice wine, soy sauce and kepak manis, added cubed tofu and noodles and fried some more.
I have half the pack of tofu left so will find out tomorrow if it was just a flash in the wok, or whether I can come up with another combo.
First I've heard of kepak manis. May have to find some and try it out.
Should be kecap manis sorry. I have a weakness for buying stuff in Asian supermarkets with little clear idea of what it is. Leads to a lot of bottles spending a decade or so in the back of the cupboard before being thrown out.
But mirin, nam pla, pomegranate molasses, kecap manis, dark and light soy, shaoxing wine and various hot sauces have made their way into the house cuisine.
I have learnt not to buy the noodles with the fire-breathing chicken on the packet. Though not to detect all the ones that ought to carry FBC.
Hubby has done a lot of business travel to Japan and China and, what with him being a keen experimental cook, our cupboard has miso paste, mirin, various soy sauce, several types of seaweed...
He tends to put tiny cubes of tofu in his miso soup. I’m an ex-veggie and would put it with stir fried veg in much the way you describe.
I had tofu quite a lot in Japan, it's pretty much a staple. Always very tasty (well, it is Japan and apart from Natto everything is tasty ... though I suppose Natto is tasty, it's just not a pleasant taste IMO). The problem is I've no idea how it's prepared so that it's tasty! Maybe next time I need to go into a supermarket I'll see if they've any tofu on their not-as-empty-shelves.
I stir fry tofu like that. Another trick is marinating it in flavours (chilli, soy, tamari, etc) and then roasting or grilling the flavoured cubes. We have a tofu and miso ramen bowl recipe from Riverford which uses greens various, tofu and soft boiled eggs which my daughter loves (with soba noodles instead of ramen).
I have lots of those weird spices, mostly because there are a lot of lovely dairy and gluten free recipes in Indian and Asian meals. Use mirin, tamari (it's gluten free soy), sesame seeds, ginger root all the time.
Mice love eating erasers, by the way. I don’t know whether they like the taste or the texture or whether they chew them up to use as bedding, but they certainly leave a lot of holes.
I stir fry tofu like that. Another trick is marinating it in flavours (chilli, soy, tamari, etc) and then roasting or grilling the flavoured cubes.
Exactly true - marinating tofu is very easy. I use a mixture of soy sauce, Worcester sauce and lemon juice. If I'm in the mood, a trace of smoke sauce is really good. I add ginger, plenty of garlic, chilli powder and sometimes turmeric. Frying it in the wok in olive oil works well, and you can fry either lightly or to a golden crust. Fried tofu is also a good alternative to paneer in a lot of Indian dishes.
A little tofu would go a very long way with me; I appreciate that it can be marinated and take on the flavours of the marinade, but, like Miss Amanda, I still think it has the texture of spongy rubber.
Though, a nature reserve is only of help if it's a short walk away and only a small number of people who can walk to it do so at the same time. I've a country park about 15 mins walk from here, but my exercise hasn't taken me there because I suspect that many of the families living close to the park are also walking there.
I was enjoying daily walks on the beach, but local authorities had to close the beaches because people insisted on congregating. So now I just walk in the neighborhood, avoiding the commercial streets. People are good about staying out of each other's way, thank goodness.
I’ve always cooked with firm tofu, soft (or silken) tofu was mainly used for desserts when I was veggie (over 20 years ago, mind).
Tripe was mentioned upthread. My parents were working class Lancastrians and my father loved tripe cooked with vinegar and onions. He would drive from our house in Luton up to Manchester (visiting elderly aunts on the way ) to buy it as he said it was better quality up north. In my opinion, it is utterly vile, though the recent BBC historical northern food programme ‘Back in time for tea’ managed to disguise it well by deep frying strips in batter.
My eight-year-old grandson, who has had a kidney transplant, is due at the hospital for a regular checkup. The hospital wants him to have a corona test first. They will do the checkup in any case, but they want to know if they have to take special precautions.
There are categories of people who are eligible for testing. Unfortunately he does not fit any of those categories. After a massive effort, arrangements have been made for him to be tested.
This has been very stressful for his parents. It's hard enough to have a kid with a serious health problem without having to jump through unexpected hoops.
I'm relieved to report that I've never tried tripe: it was apparently the only food my father wouldn't eat, so we never had it. D's mother (whose father came from Yorkshire) loves it; I remember her buying a tub of it in the market at Great Yarmouth.
@Tukai - the village in your link is just a few miles from where D. grew up - he often rang the bells in the church there.
My paternal grandfather, who lived with us when he was in his nineties, loved tripe and onions, and hated my mother (she took his precious boy from him!). All of us hated tripe, with or without onions, but we all had it because Grandfather did. I remember going with her to buy the revolting stuff, and the butcher would ask us which sort of pattern we wanted. In know one was honeycomb (a much too nice a name for the stuff!) but can't remember the others. I always thought it looked as though it had been knitted!
And we ate it because we were told to. That's what we did in those days!
That is really difficult, Moo. Glad he's finally getting the test though.
I've tried tripe once. I once had an African colleague who told me about how tripe is lovely if you cook it right, and how she'd grown up eating it in Africa. So I was curious, and bought some from Tesco, and asked her for lots of details about how she cooks it, and tried the same myself. It was pretty good - I'd eat it again. But most of the time, I don't see it in the supermarket. Though I can't remember her cooking instructions any more, so probably best if I don't buy it again!
Do all of you know that the devil has selected a special menu for you, if you go to hell? It's your "hell food", and it's all you get. Mine would be cilantro / coriander. The mark of the beast is OR6A2. Tofu is nothing like that.
:-) <checks out of window for further signs of the Apocalypse>
I have only ever found chickpea and tofu curry edible, but may try your recipe if I ever get the right ingredients in the house - your store-cupboard must be much more exciting than mine...
Round 2 for lunch today. Definitely missing the bamboo shoots and noodles to give a bit of texture and substance.
However, don't know when I can replace the tofu as the Chinese grocery nearby has shut, and I cannot mind if any of the 4 other food shops I can walk to stock it.
Tripe is the main ingredient in what in Mexico is called menudo, isn't it? It's usually served in Mexican restaurants only on weekends, but people will line up for blocks to get some. Not me!
Meanwhile, I had eye surgery scheduled for May -- it's been postponed till July. Wise move.
Grocery shopping this morning went without incident. Again, I managed to get everything on my list, although the produce (especially lettuce) looked a little sorry. They were rationing toilet paper and paper towels -- one package to a customer; you couldn't go down the aisle to help yourself -- they handed it to you. Some other products were limited also.
Went to the pharmacy this morning also -- not only did they have toilet paper and facial tissues, but my favorite brand of each! Again, though, only one package to a customer.
Comments
Firenze, I always go shopping with a backpack too - it makes it much easier to carry heavier things. I carry extra shopping bags in the backpack, so I can balance the load, but heavier items go in the backpack.
There is just about enough space on the floor of the saloon of the Ark for me to stretch out my 1.8 metre frame into the various contortions required.
Which enabled me to see how dire the need for the Hoover Ing now is...
Thanks, fineline.
Busy soaking lentils for sprouts. My sourdough starter has a cheesy smell which may or may not be OK.
It’s not good for the mental health.
If only someone would do the same to Trump's Twitter account...
Facebook, OTOH, though I don't participate, is proving useful for churches wishing to live-stream services etc.
I keep Twitter, but I follow only nature pictures, bicycles and dad jokes.
We couldn't get yeast in the grocery store. I bake all of our bread. So I went back in time. 1/4 teaspoon of yeast, 3 cups water. 1.5c each of whole wheat and unbleached flour. 1/2cup each large flake oats and ground flax. Stirred 100x in the same direction. Fed it 1/2 c of unbleached flour 24 hrs later. It's working. No sugar by the way and cool water, on the counter in the kitchen. My initial thoughts was a 4-5 day project for 3 loaves. The last time I did this was to try to understand how people did things 100s of years ago. Going to use a bit of dough for next batch. I have just used flour and water but catching wild yeasts takes 3 weeks here. And getting yeasts off of fruit isn't on when we're bleach water washing everything coming into the house.
More exercised by the fact the Council have stopped uplifting bottles for recycling. At the rate we empty them in this house, we could be living behind a wall of glass before this is over.
@Boogie, deleting Twitter sounds very sensible. I never got sucked into that, and until recently didn't visit Facebook that often. I can feel myself being slowly drawn in, so need to be careful. I also think clicking on the Guardian site every five minutes isn't good for me either.
My exercise today was also Pilates, @Bishops Finger , via a website I've signed up to. I intend to alternate one day of Pilates with one day of aerobics. I'm also lucky enough to live within easy walking distance of two royal parks and various other open spaces. Today we went to one of the parks. It was busy by the entrance, but not many people out and about deeper it. They've banned cars and bikes which makes the whole place so much nicer. A bit of a pain for my husband as he is working from the office tomorrow and the park is usually part of his commute.
Yes.
My Facebook wall is a positive, pleasant place. You can easily control what you see on FB. Not so on Twitter.
EEK!!!!
I'm reminded of the time in Belfast when we hadn't been to the bottle bank for months, and five large boxes of bottles had accumulated in our garage. D. took them to the bottle bank, and was merrily chucking them into the bin, when the bloke next to him looked over and said, "Good weekend, was it?".
Today's cheering news is Llandudno goats
Mr F always remembers his first time Abroad - with a school geography trip to Spain. First morning he took himself for a walk and came upon a house with a shedload of empty Cava bottles outside. This, he thought, is a nation that knows how to enjoy itself! (I suspect they'd had a wedding or somesuch, but who knows?)
I realise I need to reduce my Twitter use as well, having been awake very early reading my Twitter feed and now feeling pretty wobbly.
It’s just got worse. He’s been asked to join the intensive care team.
His uniform has always been laundered at work. He showers at work and comes home in his own clothes. Clean uniform ready the next day at work. Work shoes kept in his locker.
Bookmarked a list of user-friendly Instagram cook-alongs from the Guardian.
My sourdough starter Mr Burp smells a bit cheesy and my lentils don't want to spout. I have an ancient packet of adzuki beans in the back of a cupboard and wonder if I should try soaking them for a vegan curry.
Oh - you’ve just reminded me - I have two bags of organic mixed beans for sprouting!
Time to start them up!
That sounds as good as it can be. Catching up with girlfriends yesterday, one of their daughters' friends who's a nurse in London had some very distressing things to say, apparently.
I fear that many healthcare professionals will have harrowing tales to tell. Hopefully, they will receive the support they themselves will need.
Having half a tin of bamboo shoots knocking about, I added diced courgette, sliced mushrooms, spring onion, a chilli, fresh ginger and garlic. Stir fried that lot, chucked on rice wine, soy sauce and kepak manis, added cubed tofu and noodles and fried some more.
I have half the pack of tofu left so will find out tomorrow if it was just a flash in the wok, or whether I can come up with another combo.
Or not, as the case may be.
First I've heard of kepak manis. May have to find some and try it out.
But mirin, nam pla, pomegranate molasses, kecap manis, dark and light soy, shaoxing wine and various hot sauces have made their way into the house cuisine.
I have learnt not to buy the noodles with the fire-breathing chicken on the packet. Though not to detect all the ones that ought to carry FBC.
He tends to put tiny cubes of tofu in his miso soup. I’m an ex-veggie and would put it with stir fried veg in much the way you describe.
I have lots of those weird spices, mostly because there are a lot of lovely dairy and gluten free recipes in Indian and Asian meals. Use mirin, tamari (it's gluten free soy), sesame seeds, ginger root all the time.
Thankfully tofu doesn't have the texture of pencil erasers. The tripe I had, however, had the texture of rubber bands.
I was enjoying daily walks on the beach, but local authorities had to close the beaches because people insisted on congregating. So now I just walk in the neighborhood, avoiding the commercial streets. People are good about staying out of each other's way, thank goodness.
Tripe was mentioned upthread. My parents were working class Lancastrians and my father loved tripe cooked with vinegar and onions. He would drive from our house in Luton up to Manchester (visiting elderly aunts on the way ) to buy it as he said it was better quality up north. In my opinion, it is utterly vile, though the recent BBC historical northern food programme ‘Back in time for tea’ managed to disguise it well by deep frying strips in batter.
There are categories of people who are eligible for testing. Unfortunately he does not fit any of those categories. After a massive effort, arrangements have been made for him to be tested.
This has been very stressful for his parents. It's hard enough to have a kid with a serious health problem without having to jump through unexpected hoops.
I'm relieved to report that I've never tried tripe: it was apparently the only food my father wouldn't eat, so we never had it. D's mother (whose father came from Yorkshire) loves it; I remember her buying a tub of it in the market at Great Yarmouth.
@Tukai - the village in your link is just a few miles from where D. grew up - he often rang the bells in the church there.
And we ate it because we were told to. That's what we did in those days!
I've tried tripe once. I once had an African colleague who told me about how tripe is lovely if you cook it right, and how she'd grown up eating it in Africa. So I was curious, and bought some from Tesco, and asked her for lots of details about how she cooks it, and tried the same myself. It was pretty good - I'd eat it again. But most of the time, I don't see it in the supermarket. Though I can't remember her cooking instructions any more, so probably best if I don't buy it again!
I have only ever found chickpea and tofu curry edible, but may try your recipe if I ever get the right ingredients in the house - your store-cupboard must be much more exciting than mine...
However, don't know when I can replace the tofu as the Chinese grocery nearby has shut, and I cannot mind if any of the 4 other food shops I can walk to stock it.
Meanwhile, I had eye surgery scheduled for May -- it's been postponed till July. Wise move.
Grocery shopping this morning went without incident. Again, I managed to get everything on my list, although the produce (especially lettuce) looked a little sorry. They were rationing toilet paper and paper towels -- one package to a customer; you couldn't go down the aisle to help yourself -- they handed it to you. Some other products were limited also.
Went to the pharmacy this morning also -- not only did they have toilet paper and facial tissues, but my favorite brand of each! Again, though, only one package to a customer.