Corona Cavern

[Snoop Puss]

Snoop might remember me asking what is used in Spain for SR flour 2 years ago when I was over there and was asked to bake a cake. I can't remember the answer but it worked and I can't check it out as I don't seem to be able to look at my messages.

Janie, I don't remember either. Was it maybe harina de reposter�a (cake flour) and levadura qu�mica (chemical yeast, meaning baking powder, often simply called Royal after the leading brand here)? The other thing we get here instead of baking powder is what they call gasificantes (gasifiers), boxes of paired sachets of bicarbonate of soda and some kind of acid (tartaric acid, malic acid or citric acid), used for making cakes and for making fizzy soda drinks. The acid activates the bicarbonate of soda, which is why the sachets come in pairs. You can just use bicarbonate of soda if you've got some kind of acid in the cake mix.

Are you maybe putting in a lot of baking powder, Nicos? Or might 'gasifiers' suit you better?

[burnie]

My late mothers cheats pudding was (usually) chocolate or (sometimes)digestives, brielfy soaked in a saucer in either sherry or whisky(or your favourite tipple) , not too long or they go to mush. Sandwich together with whipped cream and then frozen in portions, my portions would be a bout a foot long, but some one here insists I only need about 5 or 6 biscuits worth. They can be thawed out a bit before eating, or if impatient like me scoffed frozen.

[Nicos]

Gasifiers sounds ever so dangerous!!!!

I've given up on bicarbonate and rising agent and a few other things I've tried...I get a horrible tang in my mouth afterwards for a couple of hours.
For baking the French often whip up egg white and fold it into the mix to lighten the bake -and it certainly makes a difference to cakes.

Is there another name for gasifiers which I can gooooogle to try and see if it's available here?

[Snoop Puss]

How's your French? Brilliant, I presume. Might these links be of interest?

https://www.objectifsante.mu/article...es-differences

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baking_powder
(the French page has slightly different info that might also be of interest to you)

I've just had a look at my box of 'gasifiers'. The acid component is citric acid, the other two ingredients are bicarbonate of soda and saccharine. Maybe you could come up with your own version of baking powder using bicarbonate of soda and some kind of acidic ingredient, yogurt, lemon juice, whatever. Mind you, whipped egg whites sounds like a reasonable solution.

[Snoop Puss]

Thanks, mothhawk. If I don't get a grip, my epitaph will be 'She died because she couldn't say no to a biscuit'.

[JanieB]

How's your French? Brilliant, I presume. Might these links be of interest?

https://www.objectifsante.mu/article...es-differences

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baking_powder
(the French page has slightly different info that might also be of interest to you.

I’ve realised having read the first one that I don’t have much difficulty reading french but i would have a major problem speaking it nowadays.

[JanieB]

Me again! I’ve been isolated for 13 weeks now and I thought I was doing OK, but to be quite honest I’m not. I want to throw things and shout at someone but I do realise it will serve no purpose and upset the dogs. And I have family and friends checking up on me every day. What is it like for those who haven’t?

[Shortie]

It is hard isn't it JanieB? I find I have better days, average days and rubbishy days. I think they have nicknamed it the RonaCoaster

Are you able to get the dogs out for freshair? Can you play online games with friends and family to help feel better connected as well as phone calls?

[JanieB]

I play Scrabble with my cousin and 2 of my children. I’ve tried walking the dogs but so many others are in the same boat social distancing is difficult. Saying that, I have a relatively large garden by modern standards, so we have fresh air and exercise. I’m generally a very sociable person. I like my own space but I’ll talk to anybody, supermarket queue, stranger in the pub, anyone looking lost, people with estate agents pamphlets in their hands.

The weirdest thing about all this is that I spent 12 years with a nightmare neighbour who made me scared to go out in my own garden. He moved away 3 years ago and I’ve got used to having my garden to myself since then. The current lockdown means that my (truly lovely on both sides) neighbours are at home all day. I just want them to go back to work.

[Shortie]

It's funny how you get used to space and appreciate it differently isn't it?

I was dreading having to work from home as I like being around people I work with - socially but mostly to help with the job we do. I am actually loving it - we have the right level of face time on work meetings, but most imprtantly I'm loving being in my own space waaay more than I expected to

[Containergardener]

Hi Janie
I'm hating the isolating . Consultant wants me to sheild til August. I have been out though.
Thing is, going anywhere is tedious .

The weather has been weird and so muggy ots made me tired , so tired I missed 2 days of meds. Which made me even more tired .

[JanieB]

Hi Janie
I'm hating the isolating . Consultant wants me to sheild til August. I have been out though.
Thing is, going anywhere is tedious .

The weather has been weird and so muggy ots made me tired , so tired I missed 2 days of meds. Which made me even more tired .

I really need to contact the cancer team in charge of my treatment. I rang them at the beginning of lockdown and they said I needed to shield. I've had no letter specifying this as others have done. 2 checkup appointments have been cancelled by them. So I don't actually know how long I'm stuck here for.

And I've been out too. I'm on a key meter for my electric and the only way I can put more on the meter is by going to the Post Office. As I'm not letting anyone else use my card, I had to go myself. I couldn't get a delivery slot at the beginning of this, so I went to get milk, this was a combination trip with the electricity. This was when I found out I can only put �49 max on at any one time. So I had to put my card in the machine 3X to get �147 on which I reckoned would get me through 12 weeks, which it has.

And I go and visit a friend who is also shielding as I know she has't been near anyone else either. I had to go and pick up my own prescription, a click and collect from Screwfix and some DIY stuff from a shop just down the road that is run by a friend. So that is 6 excursions in 13 weeks. My daughter has visited, on my birthday just to drop off a pressie and card, she didn't stay. My eldest son has been 2x and we've sat in the garden with a glass of wine.

And that's it. I'm better off than a lot of people though and I don't know why it's getting to me but it is. And now I seem to need a face mask.

[Containergardener]

Do speak to your consultant. The reason I'm shielding is the medication, immune suppressant. It runs out soon as would have had another in august . I should have seen her in May but she phoned me instead.
I had a letter via gp saying shield I'm vulnerable , then one to say im so just shield . Then one from consultant. I went with consultant who knows what's going on.
Letters are hit and miss everywhere I think.
We just have to use our common sense and do what we can (or not) .
I think it's the lack of just fancying going somewhere. But nowhere appeals anyway with facemasks and queues galore.
I just hide my thoughts in the garden and talk to the plants

[Snoop Puss]

Lowering the level of debate here: mothhawk, the book has arrived. There are biscuits in there I've never even heard of. So that will keep me busy. Thanks for the recommendation.

Will have to make a local adaptation: no such thing as block margarine here, so it'll be butter in all the recipes that call for marge.

And then there are those recipes that use lard. I have never in my life bought a block of lard. Just looking at the stuff feels dangerous! Anyway, looks like at some point I might just have to buy some.

[Florence Fennel]

We use lots of lard in Yorkshire - well I do in shortcrust pastry A popular slang name for someone a bit overweight here is 'Lardarse ' - that's lowered the tone even further