The Coffee House-Come & Chat With Us!(April 2020)

[silva]

Hello everyone. This is Unghshu speaking. I hope you've had a nice weekend.
I'm sleeping more and more every day (maybe because exacerbated COPD is still torturing me, - maybe because i got tired during the school year and now my blocky carcass wants me to pay attention to its needs... who knows...). I'm trying to have a long walk every day, so my guts can wake up and start working,- apparently, it's essential for me; my skeleton and muscles need some movement too. So i made up a nice route around neighbourhood communities. If i walk normally (with quick steps),- it takes me about 1.5 hrs (perhaps a little more) to finish the circle and come back home (because i'm making a decent circle around the place).
A little off topic, but i feel that i don't need any additional pills for digestion anymore! I'm convinced that it's all due to long sleep that i'm getting (i'm telling you: very soon i'll turn into a koala completely).
Empty streets of my community this evening:
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A bird house:
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Sunset over "Machinery plant av." (my street as well). On the right - is the house where my grandpa and Gala used to live. Natasha lives here, and the flat belongs to her. Gala still stays here periodically, but it won't last forever. Poor Gala...
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Love these photos: Marine sent me some more pics of her Doosya. What a gorgeous kitty...
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I think this is a nice video.This is the workshop belonging to uncle Borya (Boris Shaulov - husband of my mom's cousin, aunt Sveta). Aunt Sveta is an artist too, but uncle Borya is more well-known. In the video, you can see his paintings, and him too... Major part of his paintings is about SPb, or russian nature.

Ðидео Ð¾Ñ lerische9000

drive.google.com

I just love those paintings! and the whole workshop!
And yes, that is gorgeous cat!
I should really go out for a walk. I'm balking because they keep predicting warmer temps than we have. No wind though....

 

[KLS52]

Day 3 of my sourdough starter. It looks lovely. I freaked out all day because I was scared I could not find unbleached flour. I did not find it at the first store and lines to long at the second. We went home. I was upset. I saw online that another store had it and hubby went out and got it for me. I have never tried this before. I am excited.

I’ve been wanting to do a starter but I’ve been too unmotivated. But because have been unable to buy any yeast, I started reading up on starters a few days ago and found out I don’t need yeast if I have a starter. Amazing. I’m going to go do it right now. I just need to find a big enough glass container.

 

[Freesia]

Can't wait for the lockdown to be over. I'm really not enjoying being with the people I am locked down with, in fact I am getting the polar opposite you can imagine, my mental health is getting worse the longer I am locked in with them.

On the up side, I was outside and there were less walkers so I spent some time in the garden. There was the most joyous dog swimming in the estuary, and it was high tide, the dog was a black dog and looked ecstatic, I haven't seen a happier being in a long time. That did lift my mood a bit.

 

[Freesia]

I had over 60 books on my kindle before this staying in started and now I have 53. I did delete a couple, though. I don't know why I constantly hoard books and never read them because I buy new ones to read instead. Stupid habit! But at least that means I have a lot of time to read now.

We got a pizza delivery last night. I just had baked beans on toast and a slice of cold pizza for breakfast.

That is one of he things locked down in New Zealand. You can get grocery deliveries but not takeaways, which are all closed. Also all public transport has been shut down. Uber eats have to wait for the lockdown to be lifted to start delivering again.

 

[SuicideBlonde]

Sourdough Starter

This is the tried-and-true method we use for making sourdough starter here at King Arthur, and we feel you'll have success with our sourdough starter recipe.

www.kingarthurflour.com

This is what I am doing.

 

[KLS52]

Sourdough Starter

This is the tried-and-true method we use for making sourdough starter here at King Arthur, and we feel you'll have success with our sourdough starter recipe.

www.kingarthurflour.com

This is what I am doing.

That’s nice and easy. I like that it’s one cup flour half cup water. The one I have is 3/4 plus 2 tablespoons flour and 1/4 water.

 

[Bob Who]

I just made a loaf from my first disgard of a starter that I had dried and had in my freezer. All my label read was "Grape Starter 3-14" I don't recall actually making any starter from grapes at this house and we've lived here 9 1/2 years. Even though I can still buy small packets of yeast locally, I thought with all that is going on it would be worth going back to it. I took what 1/4 tsp worth of the starter and fed it twice a day since Thursday. I fed it home milled whole rye. Saturday the starter was doing pretty well and I used about 8 oz of it and some spelt flour I had and this loaf was the result.

I had to abandon my prize starter I had from our old house. When we first move in here I tried making a starter a couple of times from scratch, and it didn't work well. I suspect it was because the kitchen wasn't "seasoned". At some point along the way I must have had success making it , hence the label. My success rate was about 50% over all.

If anyone out there trying to make starter from scratch and it doesn't work out, I just checked and Breadtopia.com still has dried starter for sale. I tried his sourdough starter after a few failed attempts here and it's reliable and has a nice sour flavor.

Best of luck to you all. Enjoy your new pet.

 

[KLS52]

@Bob Who I’m so jealous! That looks amazing.
I see my problem as not having the patience to start something that takes several days. I need instant gratification. I keep putting it off which makes it worse because then it’s just going to take longer. If I had started it when I first wanted to I’d be baking by now.
And I lied...I was going to go do it “right now” and I didn’t!

Years ago when my kids were small I lived in a nice neighborhood with other families with small children. My next door neighbor gave me a cup of her starter and all I had to do was feed it every week. That’s what I need...one of you people who already have starter to be my neighbor, lol. I used to make delicious cinnamon buns with it.

 

[shyvas]

@Bob Who I’m so jealous! That looks amazing.
I see my problem as not having the patience to start something that takes several days. I need instant gratification. I keep putting it off which makes it worse because then it’s just going to take longer. If I had started it when I first wanted to I’d be baking by now.
And I lied...I was going to go do it “right now” and I didn’t!

Years ago when my kids were small I lived in a nice neighborhood with other families with small children. My next door neighbor gave me a cup of her starter and all I had to do was feed it every week. That’s what I need...one of you people who already have starter to be my neighbor, lol. I used to make delicious cinnamon buns with it.

Perhaps you could pinch some off this lady!

But there is no record for oldest sourdough starter. Maybe it belongs to Lucille. Herstarter is 122 years old,
kept alive and fermenting in Lucille's refrigerator. To maintain astarter this old, Lucille, 83, keeps it in a ceramic jar with a lid.

https://trib.com/news/state-and-reg...cle_000fcb17-5a5a-5590-84c2-3b55bb1d80fa.html

 

[Bob Who]

KLS52,

Sorry you haven't been able to find any yeast. The only other thing I can think of , is matzo, or tortillas type flat breads or even pancakes and other quick breads. Certainly not what you might think of for cinnamon buns, but fairly quick and adaptable.

I've been baking & cooking a lot this week trying to build up stores. It was cool enough and the weather around here is going to get warm at least for week ( no A/C at this time) and with all the potential shortages I'm not sure what I'll be able to get and have to rely on store bought flours again.

I spend a lot of time in the kitchen every week. Some things I do require little time at the moment, but the reward is certainly delayed. I'm not a patient person , but I am quite preoccupied trying to figure out what has to be made when to make as little work for myself as possible and still be able to get it all done for any given meal.


Shyvas,

Several years ago I ordered something from the King Arthur Flour Company and they sent along 2 packets of dried sourdough starter and if memory serves me right ( questionable at best) I thought they said it dated back to sometime in the late 1700's--I looked on their website and they didn't have the same dried starter mentioned, so I can't confirm.

 

[Raven]

Can't wait for the lockdown to be over. I'm really not enjoying being with the people I am locked down with, in fact I am getting the polar opposite you can imagine, my mental health is getting worse the longer I am locked in with them.

I imagine that is happening with a lot of people and families. I keep reading people saying they are stressed out with their kids at home.

I said to my husband that it is lucky that we are used to spending a lot of time with each other!

 

[KLS52]

I did it guys! I started my starter!! Lol

 

[Chryssie]

Morning/afternoon y'all! It is a cloudy morning but not raining today. I think it is going to clear up later. Now the sun needs to shine for the flowers after the nice rain! Today I have no plans. I will have to brave the grocery store some time this week though. They are now limiting the number of customers in at a time so I wonder when would be a good time to go. I think the biggest crowds are early in the morning.

 

[KLS52]

And I mixed the dough to make pitas! Well, it’s actually Navajo flatbread. It’s resting for 30-60 minutes. I will post pictures when I’m done cooking them.

Bread Shortage - Easiest Kind of Bread You Can Make

Navajo Flatbread: Makes 6 2 cups all purpose flour 1 1/4 cups of lukewarm water 1 Tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons oil (

templehousegallery.com

 

[KLS52]

I imagine that is happening with a lot of people and families. I keep reading people saying they are stressed out with their kids at home.

I said to my husband that it is lucky that we are used to spending a lot of time with each other!

Yes, I’m not so sure how I am going to fare now that I have retired. This is week three for me. I think I am going to have to find some kind of volunteer work to get me out of the house once we are settled and not cramped in this apartment. I find myself getting easily agitated lately and it’s kind of out of character for me. But we have been married 46 years so I guess it’s to be expected. I’m sure the feeling is mutual for him, too, lol, although he’s been semi retired since 2008 so he had many years of having his days to himself while I was still working. I’m not going to have that luxury, haha.

I just had to delete half of this post because it was turning out to be a tirade of everything I see wrong with living with two messy “boys”, lol. I don’t want to be that person. I just want to hold onto the thought that we will close on a new home soon and will be able to settle in and move on from Covid19 not too badly scathed.

 

[KLS52]

My daughter is lucky because she loves having her kids home. She is a lot like me in that respect. I always hated the whole school routine...early bedtime, homework, school projects...I loved holidays and summer vacation.

This must be extra hard on parents though since all extra curricular activities are cancelled and helping keep the kids amused all day long must be tough. I imagine many kids are getting a lot more tv/game playing time. At least the weather is cooperating and we’re having many really nice days so the kids can get outside for some fresh air.

 

[Chryssie]

I feel for parents who are used to going to work and having the kids go to school. I don't think many parents are prepared to be teachers! I feel so bad for Haley and Jade whose senior year has been destroyed. There will probably be no graduation ceremony for them.

 

[Val]

I feel for parents who are used to going to work and having the kids go to school. I don't think many parents are prepared to be teachers! I feel so bad for Haley and Jade whose senior year has been destroyed. There will probably be no graduation ceremony for them.

Blin, sorry that your family has to encounter this issue. A ruined senior year and graduation ceremony (and a ball, and a prom, ...whatever you call it) is an "event" that our lyceum's kids will remember for their entire life. I know many kids whose graduation exams will be delayed/cancelled, some of them will be lacking of education programs to be finished. The whole education process is already disrupted and ruined.

 

[shyvas]

I've just seen this and it made me smile:

''You can't buy happiness, but you can buy wine and it's nearly the same thing''.

 

[Val]

I'm glad i have finally installed mom's bank's app on her phone. Now she can make some payments without interacting with other people and dirty ATMs...
Unghshu's playing the fool (can't figure out what should i do for work, because Annie is depressed, obviously, and she's procrastinating),- so just lying on bed, digesting my dinner, lol, and getting ready to go out for my daily walk. It's wet and gloomy, but at least it has got a little warmer (41°F).
Liza is sending us photos and videos of David entertaining himself in conditions of self-isolation. He has to "have walks" on the balcony! While other parents manage to provide safe walks for their kids (it's a question if they are safe though),- Elijah and Liza have locked poor David "between 4 walls", and i feel pity for him.
Elijah has bought a new phone (because he had violently crashed the previous one), and now his photos are of a very good quality, but they all have this annoying sign in the left lower corner.
David on the balcony. (Liza says that on the first picture he looks like me in my childhood).






Photos made on Liza's phone, before the total LD:




Videos of David's activities at home.
This is a hilarious one: washing the dishes (and trying to tear the tap out, haha).

VID-20200402-WA0021.mp4

drive.google.com

A tiny video: playing a wooden flute.

VID-20200402-WA0022.mp4

drive.google.com

Listening to one of his favourite melodies (everyone's favourite melody) "Spyat ustaliye igrushki" ("Tired toys are sleeping") from the daily puppet&cartoon show for kids "Spokoynoy nochi, malishi" ("Nighty-night, kids"). This show exists since Sept.1st, 1964!!!

VID-20200315-WA0006.mp4

drive.google.com

Liza is harrassing David, making him imitate animals' sounds.

Ðидео Ð¾Ñ lerische9000

drive.google.com

Reading a book with "surprises".

Ðидео Ð¾Ñ lerische9000

drive.google.com

Reading a book in bed.

Ðидео Ð¾Ñ lerische9000

drive.google.com

This one is hilarious too: David is "desinfecting" the flat (also desinfecting his mom and dad). Didn't forget to desinfect their favourite purchase - a robotic vacuum cleaner that makes funny noises.

Ðидео Ð¾Ñ lerische9000

drive.google.com