The shelves have been empty for about 10 days already of flour, sugar, rice (did see some jasmine rice @ the $ store yesterday ), canned fruit except fro pineapple, & of course anything for disinfecting What am I going to do w/ 2 cans of pineapple chunks?:( Why daughter bought them I don’t know Yah I know PA upside down cake but I’m not a fan Besides I really don’t need any more sweets
The shelves have been empty for about 10 days already of flour, sugar, rice (did see some jasmine rice @ the $ store yesterday ), canned fruit except fro pineapple, & of course anything for disinfecting What am I going to do w/ 2 cans of pineapple chunks?:( Why daughter bought them I don’t know Yah I know PA upside down cake but I’m not a fan Besides I really don’t need any more sweets
MerMadeBakedGoods....ahh, you have Canadian cousins.
MBalaska....I usually have cake mixes on hand. But not this time. Oh well. And I too saw that video about the couple getting all that toilet paper. I scrolled through many of the comments. According to one of the commentators said this couple was publicly shamed, and that the couple donated the toilet paper. Don’t know if that is true.
And theresaf.....interesting you’re doing cooking videos. Sounds like fun.
Wow, we haven’t had any trouble getting flour, eggs, fresh fruit and veg. I can honestly say, I’ve never, ever heard of flour in a can!!! I got all of my order last Friday. Ordered online, drove to the grocery store, pulled into the designated loading area, employees put in my car trunk. I’m paying a bit more, cause we are avoiding Costco at all cost.
My church has a food market, and we serve a lot of families. They have been short, as have a couple of the food banks in my city. I donated money so they can keep there shelves stocked. Many haven’t been able to get the basics so they definitely need help.
Again, it is paying off to live way out in the country. I was fortunate enough to get one carton of eggs yesterday at the little Dollar Store near our house. Four of them were broken, that's why they were still available. They had just been delivered that morning, so were still very fresh and I was going to make a cake as soon as I got home, so it didn't matter to me that they were broken. I was going to break them anyway. We did already have one carton of eggs, but the cake took a whole dozen.
I have seven different kind of flour in my pantry plus semolina and cornmeal. Being a bread baker comes in handy! Honestly, we always have so much food (two refrigerators and a chest style freezer and a big pantry) on hand, we could stand a pretty one siege. The most critical thing for us is cat food. We buy about 200 cans a week, and sometimes it is hard to find it at the best of times, which this ain't.
We are still going out and walking every morning, which is a life saver, even when the weather is gloomy.
Oh, and I have six cake mixes. This is not me hoarding, I already had them. This is the way I always have food on hand.
Jchuck - yes, Canadian cousins!! My dad immigrated from Italy to British Columbia when he was 14 and after living with generous family members for a couple of years they finally had enough money to move into their own house in Guelph, Ontario.
My Mom’s family immigrated from Italy to New York, but since girls still didn’t go to college much when she was a teen, she accepted a scholarship to St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto - THats where she met my dad, who harassed her for years until she finally agreed to be his girlfriend. Romantic, huh? :)
She eventually dragged him back to New York, but I have aunts, uncles and cousins in Toronto still.
Where are you?
Well..Well MerMadeBakedGoods....how do like that. I’m in Burlington, On. “Technically” we’re part of Toronto, which I beg to differ, but Burlington is considered part of the GTA.....Greater Toronto Area. The GTA encompasses a large area. We’re probably an hour + from downtown Toronto. Which I would never drive into. We take the train. We often go into Square One shopping centre, which is in Mississauga. Also part of the GTA. That’s only 25-30 minutes away. Guelph is a mere 45-50 minutes away. One of my daughters best friends lives in Guelph, and my son played junior B hockey in Guelph. Drove my son back and forth to Guelph many, many times. Haven’t been back to Guelph for several years. It’s a beautiful city. I actually had a women’s conference booked with our women’s ministry in Guelph for the first weekend in April. Sadly, because of the coronavirus, the conference got cancelled. I was looking forward to going to Guelph again.
Me, too, Sandra....Me, too.
The food bank I go to always seems to sneak them into their boxes, even when I say "No thank you". I don't understand that reasoning at all. I mean, if I'm their to get a help with food for meals, do they really think I'm in the 'mood' for cake? Not to mention that many of the folks that are their are homeless. Are they gonna bake it on a rock? And I mean Totally No Disrespect. I am grateful for everything I get from the FB.
If it weren't for them, I would REALLY be hurting for pantry food right now. I used to joke about some of the different stuff I would come home with, and now I say Thank You!!!
And that goes out to the church, the donors, ALL of the volunteers, and the others I see there, sometimes week after week.
I can now say that now, they're not only helping out....But they are Saving some lives.
Peace!
Wow-- reading this thread really has soothed my mood. Its so lovely to listen (read) people just chatting and it sounds like you all have known each other a very long time. So, I hate to be the budinsky, but here I am!
I am in the Kansas City area and up until now the schools were all closed and we were told to stay home as much as possible. Beginning tomorrow we are in "shelter-in-place" mode. My husband is bringing EVERYTHING home from his graphic design studio, so its about to get very cozy:) Good thing we like each other!!!
I do have a question, and would love anyone's perspective... the grocery stores, restaurants, bakeries, etc are open on a carryout/delivery basis and I wondered how that would apply to home baking. I am licensed and create any "hazardous" desserts in a local bakery kitchen, but because of this virus, I cannot go in to that kitchen right now. I would like to keep up a presence (as well as provide a little sweet relief to home-bound folks) by selling sugar cookies and my gourmet popcorn-- both of these I can do at home. And I've always offered free delivery in my area. My question-- is this a good idea safety-wise for customers? I've read that its unlikely the virus will spread through food unless you sneeze or cough on it, and that packaging has never been an issue in spreading flu or colds. My husband and I (only two of us in the house) have been really careful the last few weeks and have kept people-contact at a minimum. It seems like it would be fine, but I would really hate to be that person who was reckless. What do you all think? It sounds like most of your orders have been canceled, but if a cake or cookie order came in would you feel comfortable taking it on (home bakers, not commercial)?
I know this is a long post, and I appreciate anyone shedding some light on this for me! Thank you and stay healthy!!
Hi Welcome to the Thread @Baker Beach
Yes, there are some people on this thread that do seem to know each other a long time and some that don't - I've gotten to know everyone a bit better through this thread so please be a "regular"! It's a great escape from the rest of the news!
I'm in suburban NY, Long Island, and as much as I'd even give away treats right now, I think people are just overly cautious, so I'm gonna stick with neighbors only for the moment. It's a confusing time and everyone is super worried. I wouldn't do it but I am interested in hearing what others have to say.
Theresa
Thanks, Theresaf, for responding!
It IS a scary and confusing time and its really difficult to know what to do. I am leaning towards your thinking, but wondered what other people are doing in case I was being crazily over cautious. Also, I guess I could contact my health department for guidance :)
If you are not accepting orders, are you doing anything on social media to keep up a presence, or are you mostly word of mouth? I'm trying to strategize some in case this thing goes on as long as I fear its going to. We are lucky enough to be semi-OK for awhile, but all my other friends who are small business owners are really going to be hurting. I have faith this will be over and in many cases good will actually come from it, but boy, it will be a rough road to OK.
Kathy
I don't bake to sell, it's not my work life. My work life has it's own issues. But I have an idea I'm kicking around with one of my work neighbors - a closed restaurant. They are not even doing pickups/deliveries at this time. I'm thinking about how I can offer my help to them when the situation changes -I live in the same town as my business. That will give me use of their commercial kitchen, a way to help my community and at some point a way to make a few bucks myself on an ongoing basis. I don't know if that is any help to you but that's my idea-in-progress. btw I post on Instagram frequently (my page is public not private) and tag my community so people see what I am doing. Maybe you can find reasons to post a baked good, a cheery message, a beautiful sunset/sunrise, even a tip people can use.
Welcome, Baker Beach! This site has been taken over by spam, but a few of us who enjoy the companionship are still hanging on. Some of us have been around for many years, others are fairly new, but all are welcome.
Where I live, far out in country in Middle Tennessee, we've had very limited contact with others for several weeks, so I would not be uncomfortable baking for others from my home. The delivery or pick up would be the tricky part, but can be worked out. I have been thinking about baking goodies for our medical professionals and first responders in the small town near by, but find treats that use few eggs, since they are in limited supply.
MBalaska, that is so true-- am also thinking of giving away for "moral support", but wonder if that is even safe to do.
Good morning BakerBeach….and everybody.....
I, too, have been wondering about making some kind of goodies for those that are staying out, working in dangerous situations, so that the rest of us can have some sort of 'Normal' life. This is a 'Baking' website, so it's only natural that that's one of the first things we think of to do.
I'm even wondering about taking something to the grocery store (all types of retail that are remaining open) just to show how I appreciate them, and to show that we Know they are putting themselves in danger.....for us. I can take stuff to my regular pharmacy, for I often do, especially during holidays. They probably would snatch it all up.
As for selling goodies...even small batches, or whatever....I wonder if you could tell prospective buyers that your items were made with the Utmost care for cleanliness and safety, and let them decide...as long as they Understand that. But again....what do I know...I don't do any of this for business. I just like to add my 2 cents worth whenever I have ideas. lol
Keep up the posts everybody....it's good entertainment.
Peace!
Welcome baker beach! As the others have said we are happy to see a new face:) Your ?s are interesting Many people have or soon will have financial problems so don’t know how much your offerings will help Sure I’d love to bake some goodies too but w/such limited ingredients it’s hard What could be used to replace eggs — flour etc needed for our work? It would help break the boredom helping not only others but ea of us:) Maybe others could chime in with some ideas helping all of us So very sad to say it didn’t occur to me that anything like that could be done I’m afraid such offerings would just be trashed Has anyone done anything like that & had it accepted?? It would us all out some
Thank you everyone for the warm welcome to this thread! My original question was about the safety of providing others with home baked items since I wasn't able to bake in the kitchen I sometimes rent. But you all have pointed out so many other things to consider during the crisis we are in ... availability of ingredients, donating, sensitivity to moods right now, how well my community is, etc. I'm thinking I may forgo trying to actually sell and just try to keep a presence with helpful Instagram posts (thanks, @theresaf!) -- maybe some baking funnies, baking tips and quotes and that sort of thing.
Thank you again, and I will definitely watch this site-- you guys are a lot of fun and we need that right now!
Another fellow Kansan? Yesss! Welcome Baker Beach, I'm in Atchison... a good hour driving from KC... glad to see another Kansas around... And yes, if you need social life this is your place, is a little messy at times with lovely spam popping everywhere in the site... But we even assemble a crew of loyal bumpers to clear the spam. Welcome to a community of bakers, cat owners, grannies, homeschoolers, spammers, homemakers, hard workers, sugar artists, etc, etc, etc. As you said, we are that lot of fun we all need in this difficult time! WEEEEEELCOMEEEEEE!
ReginaCoeliB -- Yes!! Mission, Kansas-- right on the state line! Been through Atchison many times. Very nice to meet you!
I did post this on my FB page, but for those of you who have not seen it, I received the best birthday present EVER from my sweet husband!
HAHAHA! I just saw your "how I learned to mind my own business" post, MBalaska! That is hilarious! Thanks for the laugh!
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