The other day, when I was looking for something in my freezer, I noticed that I had a number of containers with unknown contents.  And, since my freezer was rather full, I decided that it was time to clean.

There were a number of plastic bags containing what I perceived to be meat.  But, because of freezer burn, I couldn’t tell for sure what kind of meat it was or even if it was meat.  So, I tossed them out.

There were also a half dozen “Cool Whip” containers which held various substances of unknown origins.  I also tossed them.

I also tossed my packages of frozen scallions, frozen ginger and frozen jalapenos.  At one time, these were scarce.  But, these are now readily available in the produce section of Meijer (regional grocery chain), so, why use frozen when I can use fresh.

Including the 4 half empty packages of tortillas, I had a trash bag full of frozen food.  My freezer is now cleaned and well organized.

Every year, thousands of children in the US are struck and killed by automobiles that are backing up because the driver could not see them.

To help prevent this from happening, a law has been introduced to add backup cameras to all new vehicles.  These cameras would help the drivers to see into that blind spot when backing up and save the lives of thousands of innocent children.

But, unfortunately, it doesn’t garner the attention of the media who only reports on the sensational and not the common, everyday death of children.

The other day, I had to run to Meijer (regional grocery chain) to buy some Brussels Sprouts for  supper.  When I checked out, not only did I receive a regular receipt, I also received a gift receipt.

Now, I had never considered giving Brussels Sprouts as a gift.  But, I guess I should consider it for next Christmas.  I suppose I could put an orange, a chocolate bar and Brussels Sprouts in next years stockings.

I got rid of my Bow Flex today.  I ran into an old friend of ours at Meijer today.  She inquired if I still had the Bow Flex.  I told her that I did and asked if she wanted it?  She said that she did and two hours later, it was gone.  YES!!

I have wanted to get rid of it for several months now as I have out grown it.  I am sure that Kathy would have approved as I gave to her best friend.

A few weeks back, our Burger King closed.  All that is left is a Realtor sign and an empty building devoid of any franchise emblems.

Well now, the Realtor sign notes that a sale is pending.  Wow, that was quick.  While I realize that it is in a prime location, there is also a lot of vacant land available.  So, I am wondering what could possible be moving into that location.

I guess that I will have to wait and see.

Well, it is flu season and once again, the media is trying to terrorize the public.  The media is claiming that this is the worst flu season ever and that millions could die.

But, unfortunately for the media, this flu doesn’t have a name like the flu’s of years past.  So, they can only refer to it as “the flu”.  Too bad!

The Kitchen Aid quickly turned the flour, water, yeast, salt and oil into a big blob of goo.  The recipe then instructed me to dump the goo onto a lightly floured surface and knead it until it was smooth.

Now, I had never kneaded before as I have never kneaded to.  (sorry)  So, I wasn’t really sure of the hows and whys of kneading.   But, after pushing the dough around on the counter for a few minutes, I concluded that it must be ready to rise.   So, back into the bowl with a damp towel to cover in a warm location.  (note: next time I will also lightly flour my hands)

An hour later, at the end of the first rising, my daughter, the bread maker, dropped in for a visit.   The blob had doubled in size and was ready to be divided for the second rising.  So, she helped me divide the dough and give it a second kneading.  “fold, push, turn, repeat”  that is the secret to kneading.   Then, two blobs went onto two cookie sheets for the next rising.

At the end of the second rising, I had two 12 inch loaves of bread ready for  baking.  45 minutes, my efforts paid off when two perfect loaves emerged from the oven.   That night at supper, I cut off a slice and slathered it with butter.  Then, I bit in.  It was moist, tender and tasty.  The proof is in the pudding or in this case, the loaf.

Since I had never made bread before, I decided to stick close to my one and only recipe for Durum bread.  And, given the rise time and bake time, this looked like an afternoon project.   So, with the afternoon free, I started making bread.

The first step was to add 1 Tb of yeast to 3 cups of warm water.  Pulling out the packets of dry active yeast, I wondered just how much yeast was in a packet.  After careful measurement, I was able to determine that a packet contained 2 tsp of yeast.  So, one was too little and two was too much.   Since too much seemed like the better option than too little, I added two packets of yeast to the water.  Next was adding the yeast water to the flour and mixing.

With its wide ethnic diversity, certainly Grand Rapids would have Durum wheat, but where do I begin to look.  Since health food stores, carry a lot of unusual products, I decided to check them out first.

When I entered the store, I found a whole isle devoted to various grain products.  Great!  I found red wheat flour, spelt flour, oat flour, rye flour, and flour made from an assortment of nuts and berries.  But, no Durum flour.  So, I decided to ask a clerk.

The clerk was easy to spot since he was the one wearing the shoes made from recycled grass clipping.  When he assured me that semolina was the same as flour, I decided to move on to my next store.

Since Durum wheat is used in making pasta, my next stop was the local Italian import store.  And while they carry almost every type of pasta, they also carry pasta making equipment.  So I figured that in order to make pasta you need pasta ingredients.  So, sure enough, not only did they carry semolina, they also carried Durum flour.  Yes!  I was finally on my way to making bread from Durum wheat flour.

I really love homemade bread.  Unfortunately, most breads are high in carbohydrates.  So, my low carb diet doesn’t afford me this pleasure very often.

But then, I ran across a recipe which used Durum wheat flour to make a low carb bread.    Cool, all I need is some Durum wheat flour, water, yeast, salt and oil and I am good to go.  And, since I already had everything I needed except for the Durum wheat flour, I could practically taste that warm bread.

A quick check on line for Durum wheat flour showed me that King Arthur brand makes a Durum wheat flour.  And, since Meijer (regional grocery chain) carries a lot of King Arthur flour, I felt that they would certainly have Durum wheat flour.

When I got to the store, I discovered that there was over a dozen kinds of King Arthur flour, but no Durum wheat flour.  A further check of other brands revealed a wide selection of exotic flours but again no Durum wheat flour.  I did find some Durum semolina which caused me to recheck the selection again, but no luck.  Then it occurred to me to check the international foods isle.  In doing so, I found Durum couscous and Durum semolina, but no Durum flour.  Rats!  Time to check out Grand Rapids.