Items
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baking
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2020-05-20
Making My First Sourdough Starter
I decided to start making a sourdough starter a couple months into quarantine like just about everyone else. I had a fairly large stockpile of flour in my cupboards because I bake fairly often, so I didn't have to worry about dwindling supply at the supermarket too much. My grandma taught me how to bake from a pretty young age, and my mom made bread with an electric bread maker for years, but I'd never attempted my own loaf without a bread maker, let alone a sourdough starter. A starter always seemed like something out of reach and far too difficult for an inexperienced bread maker, but with armed with encouragement and tips from some friends via Discord, I set out to make my own. These are photos of my process, from my beginning mixture of flour and water to my first sourdough loaf (and my starter's permanent 'home'). I'm fairly proud of it. It took me about 2 weeks to get the starter to really start; I'm guessing in part because I only had all-purpose flour and not the suggested rye flour. There was a lot of troubleshooting involved before it really started to mature. It's been an interesting process, and I'm really glad I tried it. Starters are far more resilient than I had previous believed, and the bread is fantastic. It's been a somewhat calming respite from everything, even though I feel fairly selfish giving myself that with everything that's happening. -
2020-04-09
Plague Journal, Day 27: Battling CoronaBody
I'm keeping a Covid-19 journal. Here's the latest entry, discussing depression, Robert Caro, my closed tennis court, baking, and CoronaBody. -
2020-04-05
Plague Journal, Day 23: A Sumatran bus story
I'm keeping a Covid-19 journal. Today's entry, with more thoughts about my time in Indonesia, its parallels with New York City in CoronaWorld, and a bit about baking: -
2010-07-13
A Journal Entry of the Plague Year
I wrote a reflection of my experience in quarantine and what I learnt during this difficult time. -
2020-07-11
Virtual OC Fair
Finally found the perfect chocolate chip cookie! This was the year that I hoped would finally earn recognition in the Orange County Fair (California). Alas, it was not to be. How sad to get the email that the fair was being cancelled. But, like so many others, the fair decided to go virtual. While it's not the same thing, it was fun to pick a few pictures out and "enter" them online. We'll see if the online community likes the cookies and crafts. Seeing the cookies isn't the same as tasting them! Unique categories were created and included things like home office decor and bad hair! I entered Collin (age 6) in the improvising sports at home category - in May our family purchased a trampoline and set it up in the living room! This boy jumps non-stop. -
2020-06-16
Quarantine's Progression
This tweet encapsulates the mindsets of many people from the beginning of quarantine in March to the present day. I would describe the first stage as optimism/depression as the full reality of being stuck inside set it. Then came the phase of trying to learn productive skills or keeping busy; for many that meant taking up baking or cooking. Most recently, as restrictions have been eased people have poured into the streets to protest racial injustice. This item was added TAGS v6.1.9.1. I originally searched under the hashtag #coronavirus. Within that search, I have chosen to add the following tweet because it describes the emotional states that people have progressed through as quarantine has dragged on. -
2020-06-17
Peasant Life
Old history books are full of random pictures and quotations of what life was like in whatever the period in question was. It seems as though the average life of a normal person during the pandemic has consisted of: avoiding coronavirus, baking bread, and most recently revolting against systemic oppression. Seems as though the cycle is repeating itself. -
2020-04-20
In the Event of Lock Down: Bake
With the help of a special-made cake pan and recipe from a recent, pre-lockdown day-trip to Lindsborg, Kansas, this almond cake helped alleviate the stress and boredom of being stuck in-doors during the state's lockdown order. Northeastern JOTPY -
2020-05-08
Local Grain Supply and Curbside Pick-up Setup
Photograph taken while parked outside the Ottawa Valley Grain company waiting for our order to be delivered from inside the mill to our car. With the increase in interest in back-to-basics hobbies like baking (especially bread) it is near impossible to get any kind of flour in grocery stores or large online suppliers. While they too have been sold out at intervals, this company of local grain producers milling their own goods, has been offering large bags of a variety of flours during this time. The sign on the left reads "Ottawa Valley Grain/ ONLINE ORDER PICK UP HERE/ ONLINE ORDER PICK UP PARKING" followed by their phone number to call when you arrive to let them know you're there. The one on the right "Thank You/ Ottawa Valley Grain/ For Still Working/ During This Hard Time" -
2020-05-31
"Everyone Is Cooking Right Now. Except Me."
There are plenty of people who are exploring their culinary prowess for the first time, or maybe it's a life long obsession; either way, people are showing their skills. I'm a baker, I love serving food to others and making food that will be apart of other peoples memories. Flavors are like paints to me, with the right combination you can create a masterpiece. While I'm all for seeing people cooking and baking up a storm while in quarantine, I'm more like Josh Duboff right now. I can cook and I can bake, but am I? Not unless I'm being paid to do so. While people may feel this is the perfect time to work on self-improvement, me included, that work will not look the same for every person. Some people may be working hard just getting out of bed or going to bed in the first place. Food can be a stress release for many, but for others, its a stressor. For Duboff, it's not worth the stress to cook. For me, it's my job, not my hobby. The most I've cooked (unpaid) while in quarantine is irish-oatmeal and the occasional egg sandwich because it's easy, and I can do it while sitting. Yes, the classically trained CIA graduate is not cooking or baking while in quarantine. If it doesn't come from a box or a bag, it's not happening. This is other people's time to shine in the food world; someone else can take my seat while I go get more coffee. -
2020-05-31
The Bread Influencers
I've been a baker in some sense of the word since 2006. I could not have foretold a day when Instagram influencers would make thousands of dollars a day or charge $70.00 for a private bread baking lesson. I love making bread more than I love eating it. The skill it takes to create the perfect crumb structure takes years to master. The practice of creating the perfect ear with a lame seems endless, a perfect ear is worthy of celebration. With the coronavirus pandemic, people are slowing down and taking notice of this art and those who've mastered it. People want to know how to create it for themselves and I'm all for it. It's about time bread made a come back from the wicker basket on the sidelines. Just remember to leave some yeast and flour on the shelf for the next person. Submitted by Stephanie Berry, curatorial intern for Arizona State University, HST 580. #ASU #HST580 -
2020-05-31
Yeast Shortage due to Covid-19
With lots of time on our hands, people are turning to hobbies they have been putting off like baking. One of the hallmarks of being a good baker is making bread. This has created a shortage of yeast, which as the article points out, is a living ingredient that can only be rushed so much. Baking has it's seasons, and as a professional baker, you learn when to expect shortages of ingredients, and when orders for products will increase. Typically this is around the fall and into the Christmas season. With the coronavirus pandemic and many bakeries closed, people are baking like it is the Christmas season when most ingredient manufacturers have cut down their output to reflect the coming summer. The shortage of yeast is most likely why many people are turning to sourdough starters. However, the quickest way to get a starter started is by using dry yeast. Contributed by Stephanie Berry, curatorial intern for Arizona State University, HST 580. -
2020-05-26
Isolation Entertainment
A photo showing a slice of quince and apple pie and the set-up for the board game 'Wingspan,' both symbols of the happier moments of the pandemic for me. Staying at home has given me the opportunity to make ridiculous amounts of pie - something I've always wanted to do - and play ridiculous amounts of board game, which I've always loved. It's important to find things to enjoy right now, and these are some of mine. -
2020-05-21
I will learn to make bread
Meme image of black type on white background. "My favorite part of quarantine is that we were all forced to be alone with our thoughts for a little bit and everyone was like 'Absolutely not. I will learn to bake bread from scratch.'" #ASU #HST580 -
04/06/2020
Pasuaha Yang Oral History, 2020/04/06
I did a podcast based on my journey through the Coronavirus of the struggle I was dealing with my schoolwork. The whole process was complicated, I had some time where I was struggling with being motivated with my schoolwork. But I pushed through it. The podcast was beneficial because I was able to reflect on my day and talk freely about how I feel. Overall, it was a great experience. -
04/28/2020
Google Searches for Banana Bread - on the news
This is a screenshot of the Alan Kohler's finance report on the 7 o'clock news in Tasmania, Australia. Kohler ended a characteristically dire covid19 financial report with this graph showing a spike in Google searches for banana bread in Australia. Firstly, this gives an insight into everyday life for Australians cooped up at home and trying to stay entertained and feel productive. Since making banana bread is usually a way to use up overripe spotty brown bananas, it also speaks to the lack of fresh fruit and vegetables in households at the moment with everyone minimising their grocery trips. Secondly, it's a nice visual of the phenomenon of "lockdown trends" - like zoom parties, sourdough and seedlings, the more that people posted their freshly baked banana bread on social media, the more others felt inspired to do the same. I also think this item reflects the urge of media producers to find light in the darkness and remind viewers of the novelties of lockdown life. Finally, I think this screenshot shows the surrealism of life in Covid19, a time when Google searches for banana bread are discussed alongside plummeting stocks in a finance report on the evening news and with our newly developed Covid19 intuition this strangeness has become a normality. #HUM403 -
04/22/2020
Moments at Home
This short video, created using the app One Second Everday (1SE), is a collection of photographs each day taken during the initial weeks of the stay at home order in Boston. The images demonstrate the ways that life shifted during this time. For example, many people spent more time than ever inside, took up baking bread or cooking more elaborate meals, and began to wear homemade masks anytime they would leave the house. *A short video, created using the app One Second Everday (1SE), is a collection of photographs -
2020-05-06
Baking as a New Hobby
Being stuck in quarantine could be boring if you have nothing to do. I decided to start new things to keep myself occupied. Since being stuck at home is a new reality for now, I decided to start baking and cooking. Baking after a day of school at home makes me calm and it gets my mind off of other things that are happening. In the beginning I did mess up a couple of times while baking, but I got the hang of it and it makes being stuck at home so much better. -
2020-05-05
Brownies all day
Staying at home has given me a lot of time to bake many things and cook many things as well. One of my favorite things I've baked so far are my oreo brownies. You can simply get the recipe off google or youtube. All you do is make your brownie mix and pour half of it in the baking pan then place your oreos in it all over then add your remaining batter. its easy as that! I like to do all my dessert and food by myself because it makes me feel more accomplished that I did it by myself and I never need the help anyways. My mom goes and takes a walk for about an hour with my aunt every day and while they head out I get to baking, sometimes I do it when there home but I like to do it when its nice and quiet -
2020-04-30
A quiet time
A personal account -
2020-04-21
North Adams Community Quarantine Cookbook
Residents of North Adams, a small city in Western Massachusetts have begun compiling community recipes and kitchen hacks into a digital cookbook. From the organizer: "Think of this like a potluck, where you share your recipes and your friends can make your dish themselves. It's a way for us to stay connected in these socially distant times." -
2020-04-09
Make it Sweet
It's lemon sponge pudding. When life gives you lemons in quarantine, make pudding. -
04/09/2020
Make it Sweet
When life gives you lemons in quarantine, make lemon sponge pudding -
2020-04-09
The Week of Baking
This week I have done nothing but school work and bake. I have had so many reciepes that I have wanted to try for so long, and I finally have the time. They have all come out pretty good, except my sister burnt one batch of peanut butter cookies. This week the Stimulus package is supposed to be distributed, so we will see how long that takes. We also found out this week that there has been a federal addition to unemployment, which will help a lot of Americans keep their homes and vehicle payments on track. This is honestly turning into quite the financial disaster, especially if the government does not make good on their promise.