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Blogs > oneladybrijit > For What It's Worth!

Supermarket issues.  

oneladybrijit 66F
298 posts
6/1/2012 4:46 pm
Supermarket issues.

I used to buy horseradish, in the form of 'cream', from my local supermarket. First they diluted it, probably because it was now a different brand. Then they deleted the product, so I ended up trying to buy horseradish seeds and growing it. In the end, I stopped eating horseradish. I actually need it in my diet for health reasons. Because of this, I am working towards having my own garden with all of the things I need in it, instead of relying on a useless self-centred supermarket.

I used to buy my bread making flour from my local supermarket. I loved that brand at the time, and was really happy with the results, as it had taken time and learning to perfect my loaf to the standard that suited me. Today I either grind my own flour to make my own bread, so they have totally lost me as any kind of bread product customer, or I don't eat bread. A lot of the time, I don't eat it now, as making it takes time. I do go elsewhere for the alternatives as well.

I used to buy dehydrated (dried) peas and corn, and also dehydrated beans from the same supermarket, only they deleted both of these products. Now I just don't get that nutrition in my two minute noodles. If I eat them, I have to accept that the nutrition side is not going to happen, because the only way I will get those products, is if I make them for myself. Now there's a thought.

Why am I so angry today? Guess!

Yep, they have now deleted my favourite brand of plunger coffee, and that's not the upsetting part. No other coffee brand makes the two varieties I like. They happen to be chocolate macadamia, and roasted hazelnut.

As I start my day today, I am furious, as I realize this supermarket chain is totally selfish, self-centred, and self-serving. I am not saying that other supermarkets are not heading the same way. What I am saying is that this particular supermarket was the one I was both loyal and faithful to, as in I always went there, and didn't tend to go to other supermarkets at all.

Only they have crossed the line, and now I will be looking at never using that supermarket again. This may take a bit of work on my part, only their share holders are going to feel the loss of one customer over time, if not already, and I don't have to mention the particular supermarket online, because pretty much everyone in Australia knows that select supermarket.

There might be a "few others" who also walk away for their own reasons.

rm_travelguyoh 63M
12264 posts
6/2/2012 8:18 pm

 sometimes you just have to stand up for what you believe
some times the things that comes from between my ears makes me pause for reflection


oneladybrijit replies on 6/2/2012 9:40 pm:
Thank you

SirTeezalot 74M
21966 posts
6/3/2012 7:37 pm

 Well I dont think Australian supermarkets are so bad to be honest.

I just came up to Malaysia at the weekend to escape the freezing Australian winter for a few months and the supermarkets are far worse here. As you can imagine most of the stuff I consume is imported, about half is stuff I am familiar with from Australia and the other half half stuff I dare to try from Europe. But nothing stays on the shleves for long. It seems they only ever import one batch of something and then replace it withy something else when it runs out. So I always find myself gingerly trying new things. But when I do find something I really like, you can never find it again.

However, I dont know if you ever tried Bickfords Sarsaparilla. It is the only brand in Australia that dont taste like medicine. But it totally vanished from all supermarket shelves my part of Queensland about 3 years ago. Yet I can still buy it from most of the supermarkets I patronise in Malaysia.

As for bread flour, well I also have to make my own bread in Malaysia but I never buy flour from the supermarket. I suppose there is more of a DIY culture in Malaysia than in Australia (if you discount all the whitewings rubbish) so there are speciality bake shops around the backstreets of town where you can buy all kinds of flour and grains. I have toyed with the idea of baking my own bread in Australia too but the only bread flour I have seen, apart from ready mixes, is white. I have never seen wholewheat or rye or any other types in a supermarket. And I have never seen a bakeshop in my neck of the woods neither.

Maybe you need to cum and show me how to grind my own.
Sir Teezalot

WAR IS ABSURD


oneladybrijit replies on 6/4/2012 1:19 am:
Hello Sir Teez, Yes, I have tasted Bickford's Sarsparilla, and yes, I did like it.

I am guessing that over there it is normal practise to sell a product until it runs out and then put something new out, from the way you have described things. You might have to get really clever, buy, try, and race back and buy the rest of their stock, if you liked the product! I can see that really annoying me if I had to do that.

My bread making is a short story. A company over here promoted their bread-making flour as stone ground one the day, and I pursued the issue, discovering that this was really good flour. As a result, I ended up learning their way of making bread, and when I couldn't get their product anymore, moved over to the supermarket style, only I had already mentioned the stone ground thing to my sister. She in turn tracked down a machine, and now I don't buy flour anymore, just the right grains. The machine doesn't grind all grains, only the non-oily ones from memory, or perhaps the drier ones. It says in the instructions to grind all other grains in a blender, or a coffee grinder, not the machine. It only takes a minute or so to do enough for a bit of bread, so it's no hassle at all, just space consuming.

I learned to make a nice loaf of bread, only here it's so cold in winter, that unless it's a good day, I just use the bread making machine, so basically everything is somewhat automated, and there is very little input from me.

I do of course choose which ingredients I will use in this particular loaf, and which baking programme I will use, so it's not totally automated, as I do choose my process. In summer however, I might decide to make different shaped loaves or rolls etc, depending on my inclination at the time. I do feel lucky, as I feel that I know the whole process of making bread, and most people don't know as much as I do. Even though I know as much as I do, I am still researching the various types of raising agent, as some people are allergic to gluten, and others to other ingredients, so I am looking at the various alternatives, quantities in relation to flour, types of flour and whatever else I feel I want to learn about.

Because I can grind my own flour, I am trying at present to learn all the various processes that people in the old world took for granted, having passed the information down through the generations. I am talking about baking doughs, pasta, noodles, and any other flour products. With me, I just want to know how to. That could be because I feel like a failure in life, and am secretly hoping that these skills will somehow help me acquire an income to get me off the pension. I am not sure that will happen, and there is no harm in trying, whether I succeed or not.

I always enjoy reading your writings. Thank you.


SirTeezalot 74M
21966 posts
6/4/2012 10:09 pm

 Personally I am not a believer in turning a hobby into a business. I learnt the hard way that work and pleasure dont mix.

You eventually lose the passion for the hobby you previously enjoyed.

As an engineer I find bread making fascinating because it does seem more of an art than a science. But I have only just scraped the surface. I bet you could teach me a lot.

I was wondering about your comments about summer and winter. I take it you are referring to the time it takes for dough to rise when it is cold. Probably too cold to go naked to encourage the dough to rise.

In fact I use a machine in Malaysia because it is too bloody hot to do all that kneading although I still do pizza bases by hand because 5 minutes is enough.

But even in Summer beating my dough in Queensland is no sweat.

At the end of the day though, the difference is first of all knowing what is in the bread.......I understand commercial bakeries use all kinds of additives and excessive salt to achieve consistency....and secondly, the convenience......especially when you comfortable with leaving your dough in the fridge.
Sir Teezalot

WAR IS ABSURD


oneladybrijit replies on 6/6/2012 7:45 pm:
You leave your dough in the fridge??? Ummahhh! Sorry, that was my first reaction. I don't leave my dough in the fridge too often.

Ok, now that we are down into the depths of comments that are not likely to be read, I will share.

I met a lady once, who had worked in a bakery. She taught me to prepare the dough, grease the tin, and put the dough in the tin, so except for that initial knead, there is no more kneading at all. It's a bit hard to knead the dough, once your loaf is shaped. So if you like, I make my bread a bit like pizza, prepare the dough, throw it into/onto the tin/tray, with pizza, prepare the toppings and then add them, and by then the dough has risen a touch, just enough to make it pan, rather than crisp, and with bread, she taught me to turn the oven on, and leave the loaf tin on top to rise while the oven heats. (Oh, a proper bread tin, which you can buy second hand from a bakery, is quite heavy and therefore keeps the heat in nicely while the bread is rising. I was also taught to never wash the bread tin, and that's hard to handle when there are rats around, as cleanliness has a way of keeping them away. I do make sure things are sealed, as nothing could be much more offensive to me than finding droppings around the grain, flour, utensils or finished bread. I'd be emotionally sick.)

Leaving the loaf to rise on the oven with the door ajar was great when I did it with the electric oven, only with this gas oven, it seemed to dry the loaf out a bit more than I wanted. There were also issues with leaving the door ajar. I did try to get the technique right, as I always try, (very trying, this lady! ) and in this case failed, so I did give up. I found that when I put it on a sunny window sill, covered of course, the bread rises really nicely in about thirty minutes or so, and the oven is usually hot by this time, as I turned it on as soon as I put the bread on the sill.

At this stage, I bake the loaf, so it has only risen once, and prior to that, been kneaded once. I like it, as I don't have "baker's hands". Once upon a time, a teacher told me I had acid in my hands. I suspect this condition made my scones fail to rise nicely, my bread fail in the old days, my clay dry out too fast when making pottery, and cause similar problems with many things I tried.

So there is my way of making bread, excluding a few trite details, like using a metal spoon instead of a wooden spoon, just like I do with scones now, and keeping my handling of the dough to a minimum whatever I am doing. This saves time too!

I am no expert, even if to you I sound like one. I just do it my way, as with everything in my life, and as with most things, I do a heap of research of my own along the way, so when I do it, it nearly always turns out what I call perfect, and perfection is yet another topic.

As you don't seem to spend time in this little neck of the woods, you would not be likely to be aware that in winter, it can be foggy until two pm some winter days, and up to around eleven many others. If I want a loaf of bread, I think it's easier just to let the bread machine make it rise three times, and not worry about it at all. As long as the loaf works out tasty etc, I will forgive the ugly little hole in the bottom.

Ok, I just ran out of breath, so it's time to press the publish button!

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