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.

Well, it is 2013 and like it or not, 75 watt incandescent light bulbs will no longer be sold.  Instead, you will be forced to buy the more expensive 75 watt alternative.  And, if you can’t afford the replacement bulbs, well, there are always candles.

Christmas is over at Meijer (regional grocery chain).  All that is left of Christmas is now discounted 50%.

Christmas has been replaced with Valentines Day.  And while Valentines day is not very big, the retailers are trying to change that.

Who knows?  With a little aggressive marketing, Valentines Day could be as big as Christmas.

The other day when I was in Meijer (regional grocery chain)  they had jalapeno suet cakes for sale for bird feeders.

So, if I put one of those out for the birds, should I also put out a bag of tortilla chips?

Chicago gun deaths have now reached the 500 mark for the year.  This is pretty spectacular since guns are illegal in Chicago.  In fact, more Americans have been killed by guns in Chicago this year than in Afganistan.

I guess the criminals in Chicago are not aware that guns are illegal.

The other day, I was shopping with a friend of mine when she commented that she couldn’t find “foldtop” sandwich bags.  I told her that Meijer (regional grocery chain) had lots of them.  She told me that her Meijer did not have any.

So, the other day, when I was in Meijer, I decided to pick up a box of foldtop sandwich bags for her.  But, to my amazement, there weren’t any.  I don’t know if they have been discontinued or if the stock is just low.  I guess time will tell.