scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 26, 2015 11:08:31 GMT 10
Has anyone seen the news today? Looks like a far-left party with communist ties has won the Greek election... They campaigned on an anti-austerity platform. Scary times...
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scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
Likes: 344
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 22, 2015 20:40:53 GMT 10
Pretty cool! I'm not entirely convinced I would want to put something with a serrated cutting edge in my hair, though! Having said that... wonder if you could modify a pack of regular hair clips?
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scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
Likes: 344
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 21, 2015 13:42:37 GMT 10
Sourdough cinnamon buns! Why am I so big on baking? A few people (not on here) have said to me with all the baking I've been doing I must be getting pretty big... Actually, I'd say I'm losing weight! Here is why I think baking, especially baking bread, is a good skill for a prepper to have. You might be surprised to hear that it's not actually a skill I think will have that much value in the shortish term if things go bassackwards. I suspect that flour will be in short supply, so unless you are planning on growing your own wheat and milling it, knowing how to bake bread won't achieve much! ...However, I do think it will be a valuable skill to have in the event of an economic depression! I've always enjoyed baking, but until about midway through last year I still bought most of our bread. Then, my husband took a much lower paying job than he had had previously, and within two months of having taken it was injured and wound up on a very small workcover allowance for four months. Changes had to be made, because as it stood our household expenditures were rapidly outpacing our household income. For us, baking our bread at home costs maybe 1/3 of what it does to buy a nice loaf at the bakery. The same goes for lollies... they've been replaced by home-baked bickies, buns, etc., and I don't think anyone has really missed the difference! At Christmas time, instead of giving store-bought chocolates to our closes friends, etc, I gave them gingerbread and shortbread biscuits. Again, I don't think anyone noticed the difference. So why bake? Because your bank account will thank you.
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scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
Likes: 344
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 20, 2015 16:58:09 GMT 10
Looks like one emu egg could feed a family. Good to keep in mind!
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scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
Likes: 344
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 20, 2015 14:01:50 GMT 10
This article reminded me of a related topic my husband likes to rant about, which is what he calls the 'genization' of Australia, and the western world in general. It's ironic that at the same time we embrace multiculturalism we are losing our own unique cultures. Or, as dear hubby says, "If you're proud of being a (white) Australian, you must be a racist."
I actually blame television more than immigration... North Queensland, for example, has so many old, unique traditions, but they've been lost in the course of one generation because everyone wants to be like an American.
One example I can think of, as someone who has bar tended in Queensland and in Canada, is the various bar glass signals used by old Queenslanders... My favourite being (I think this was the signal, but if I'm getting it wrong, please let me know!) turning your bar glass upside down and setting it on top of a bill to signal that you challenge anyone in the bar to a fight, loser picking up the tab. Of course, I've never actually seen this signal in practice as bar fights seem to lead to criminal charges these days...
Would be interested to hear other examples of unique, Australian culture!
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scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
Likes: 344
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 15, 2015 12:54:00 GMT 10
And one more pic, this time of the ciabatta I made today. It is beautiful! Will definitely be adding this one to my repertoire. If anyone is interested in trying sourdough, I found another recipe that looks like it takes a lot less time. This one is from Generations of Bush Cooking, and my mother-in-law tells me she's used it many times and found it excellent. 2 cups of warm potato water (saved from cooking raw potatoes) 3 tbsp of sugar 1/2 tsp of salt 1 3/4 unsifted flour
Mix well, cover and set crock in a warm draught free spot. Allow the starter to work for 12 to 24 hours before using. This recipe makes 2 cups. (It also says you must never use a metal bowl, but I've no idea if that actually would make a difference)
to feed starter: add to original starter: 3/4 cup warm water 1 1/2 tbsp sugar 1/2 tsp of salt 7/8 cup of flour
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scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
Likes: 344
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 15, 2015 11:42:15 GMT 10
And here are a few of my most recent projects: These started out being crumpets, but I was having trouble with them sticking to the rings, so they wound up kind of sourdough pancakey: And here is my first attempt at bread, which I wound up baking late at night. Not fully satisfied (a bit burnt on the top, and I felt it came out a bit flat, amybe beacuse the starter was a little under-proofed), but it tastes lovely with some melted cheese!
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scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
Likes: 344
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 15, 2015 11:37:47 GMT 10
It's been almost a week since I posted a sourdough update... I have some sourdough ciabatta in the oven right now, so it seemed a good time to do an update! After I finally got the starter going properly, I continued to have a few problems that I am still working the kinks out of. My main problem has been working the timing of everything out properly... The instructions say to feed your starter 24 hours before you plan to use it, but I found that was way too long. I then tried feed it 12 hours before, and had the same problem: I fed it at 8:p.m., and then found when I got up the next morning that it had risen (I could see the residue on the jar) and then collapsed again while I was sleeping. I then tried feeding it in the morning and baking with it later in the day when it was at peak -- this wasn't ideal, though, as it turned into an all day ordeal and I was baking bread at 9:30 at night. Here is what I have finally settled on: I refrigerate it when I'm not using it -- this means that when I get it out and feed it the starter is at a much lower temperature. Also, the more you feed it, the longer it will take to get to that peak (make sense, right?) So, I get it out right before I head to bed, say 10:00p.m., and I feed it 100g of flour. Then, at 6:30a.m. it's at its peak. Here's what it looks like when it's ready to use: Attachments:
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scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
Likes: 344
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 13, 2015 6:30:59 GMT 10
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scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
Likes: 344
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 11, 2015 7:27:17 GMT 10
It looked like that back when I visited it in 2010! Beautiful. Still massive amounts of flies in spite of the rain, though!
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scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
Likes: 344
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 10, 2015 21:49:49 GMT 10
Thanks for giving me nightmares last night, overlord!
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scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
Likes: 344
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 10, 2015 21:43:46 GMT 10
Day 8: I haven't posted in a few days, because frankly I was getting a bit bummed by the complete lack of progress with my starter. But tonight: froth and a kind of boozy (the husband disagree and says it smells like a bakery) smell. So what changed? On day 7, not only was nothing happening, but the starter was growing a yucky hard crust (well, I guess that is kind of something happening, just not what I wanted!). The same thing had happened on day 6. I considered dumping it and starting again, but didn't. Instead, I scraped all the hardened gunk off the top and poured the rest in a bowl, then completely scrubbed the bottle clean and put some starter back in, as well as 15 g rye, 35 g white flour and 50 g water. I got up in the morning and had a look and nearly screamed in frustration. No action, and the crust was forming again. Grrrr. I sat back and had a little think. What was I doing wrong? Yes, I think the weather has been playing a part, but surely people in NQ have made starter before and the weather has always been a bit wonky. I decided to scrape the hardened stuff off, then looked at the starter and could see that it was just going to harden again. I took a little water, and poured it in, then stirred. Immediately had bubbles, but didn't want to be too excited as that could have just been the result of stirring... Anyhow, 12ish hours later, and like I said, hallelujah! We have movement! Scooped a heap out and put it in the compost and then added 30 g rye, 70 g white flour and around 115 g water (100 g was obviously not cutting it). Will have a look in the morning and may add more water again.
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scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
Likes: 344
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 9, 2015 16:07:55 GMT 10
Some of you may already know this, but for those who don't:
avocados are toxic to birds!
The husband was given a heap of overripe avocados yesterday, and chucked them to the chooks and ducks. So far, the adult chooks and ducks seem to be fine, but we have lost all but one duckling, and think we'll probably lose that one too. Husband is furious with himself... Never occurred to him that they might be toxic.
We have done some research (too late!), and thought I'd share the results:
"Ingestion of avocado (Persea americana) has been associated with myocardial necrosis in mammals and birds and with sterile mastitis in lactating mammals. Cattle, goats, horses, mice, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, sheep, budgerigars, canaries, cockatiels, ostriches, chickens, turkeys, and fish are susceptible. Caged birds appear more sensitive to the effects of avocado, while chickens and turkeys appear more resistant."
So there you go: keep your poultry, cattle, goats, horses, etc away from avocados. Apparently the leaves and bark can be quite toxic, too, so in the future we will be making sure there are no avocado trees in our paddocks, etc.
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scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
Likes: 344
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 8, 2015 9:50:11 GMT 10
When we first moved into this house, we kept our canned goods in an alcove adjacent the kitchen. Big mistake. Rain leaked in, and it was also quite hot. The tins got rusty, and when we opened some of the soups they were clumpy and congealed. Ugh!
The chooks were quite pleased, though! If you don't have or aren't comfortable with feed 'off' food to the chooks, your compost would probably be happy with the contribution!
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scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
Likes: 344
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 7, 2015 22:16:09 GMT 10
Day 5 (Jan 7, 2015): Got up this morning and saw what you see in the pics below. In short, very little. Oh no! Dumped most of it out, and added 70 g white flour, 30 g rye and 100 g water. At the end of the day, there were some more bubbles, though nothing major. (Forgot to take pics... Oops). Repeated the process again, though left a bit more in the jar when dumping in the compost. From my research this setback isn't that unusual, and may not actually be that much of a setback. Cool weather can make it go a bit dormant, but also apparently the massive action I saw in the first few days wasn't necessarily the bacteria that I want to be cultivating: that non-yeast bacteria has now died back, which is why there isn't as much movement as I had seen before. Hoping to see some major frothing in the next few days! Patience is not my strong suit... Attachments:
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scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
Likes: 344
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 7, 2015 17:01:53 GMT 10
A gun license, and learning to shoot, is on my to-do list for this year!
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scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
Likes: 344
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 6, 2015 22:35:28 GMT 10
Woke up this morning to cold, rainy weather. Very happy about that, but it did put a damper (baking humour, haha ) on the starter experiment. Here's a photo from around 8 a.m. after it had been sitting overnight, and another from 10:00 p.m. Decided not to touch it at all, today. Will refresh tomorrow no matter what it's doing. Attachments:
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scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
Likes: 344
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 6, 2015 10:09:41 GMT 10
Day 3 (Jan 5, 2015): As my starter seems to be developing quite quickly, I've stepped things up to every 12 hours. Looking good! Again, dumped most in the compost and added 100 g water, 30 g rye, 70 g white flour. Attachments:
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scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
Likes: 344
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 6, 2015 10:05:37 GMT 10
Day 3 (Jan 5, 2014): Heaps of bubbles; smells quite lovely. I've decided to skip ahead in the steps, as my climate seems to be speeding up the fermentation process. After taking these pics, I dumped most of the brew in the compost, leaving about 2 tablespoons of it in the bottom. Then added 100 g of water, 30 g of rye and 70 g of white flour. Attachments:
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scoutmum
Senior Member
North Queensland
Posts: 189
Likes: 344
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Post by scoutmum on Jan 4, 2015 19:53:00 GMT 10
Day 2 (Jan 4, 2015): I'm super excited! Already some bubbles forming... Must be that lovely NQ heat/humidity! Added another 15 g rye, 35 g white flour, 50 g water after taking these photos. Attachments:
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