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Our New Pastime

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I read an article the other day in which the CEO of King Arthur Flour said that baking has become the “new baseball” in this country.  Yeast sales are up 300% across the country compared to a year ago, and King Arthur has engaged an extra mill to assist in meeting the demand for its flour. There is enough flour to go around. The problem is that most of it is in 50 lb bags not suited to the average home baker. They are scrambling to get it into 5 lb bags and out to consumers.  People are baking out of panic, boredom, and as a way to obtain some comfort right now. I think there has been an increase in the purchase of vegetable seeds and plants for the same reason. I hope that people continue to bake and garden after this is all over.  I think we could use more national pastimes.

What would you like to see as “the new baseball”?  What are you doing for comfort these days? 

 

38 thoughts on “Our New Pastime”

  1. golf and guitar

    the rolling stones were on tv the other night playing you can’t always get what you want with mick keith charlie and keith each getting a different corner of the screen

    it appears the technology is there to jan online id like that. in my past experience you can’t do that because it’s like one of those bad phone or tv hookups where the three second hesitation between the person talking and the person hearing makes the response awkward. you can see the problem with online jamming. well it appears they solved it . my wednesday night guitar group was sad when the hot kicked out of their saturday nursing home deal now the whole thing is gone and that wednesday 7- midnight slot is sorely missed

    golf is a great thing to distract the mind maybe tennis
    mushroom hunting bird watching a capella landscape painting and portraits
    life is ready for a few new regulars
    maybe do your thing like linda does volunteering for tax assistance
    i can fix brakes and advise gardening

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    2. I’ve participated in some zoom attempts – singing and folk dancing, that are kind of frustrating, because on Zoom, at least, that lag time is still there. So we all have to mute except the leader, and we can only hear that person, not the whole group.

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  2. Yesterday’s happy discovery was a romcom series that has a South Korean woman literally falling out of the sky and landing on a North Korean special forces captain. They then fall for each other. It is a charming 16-show series, although you will grumble if you insist on plot plausibility. I’m about four shows in, loving it. Of course, North Korea is a scary country, and the series has scary moments, but it clearly signals that it isn’t going to take viewers to ugly places. I enjoyed Crazy Rich Asians and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, and I find Korea fascinating. This series is even more fun than the earlier Asian shows.

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    1. We watched a series called “The English Game” about the development of professional soccer in Great Britain. It was written by Julian Fellows of Downton Abbey. Unexpectedly, I love this series. Really interesting and engaging.

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      1. I watched Sweet Land last night — pretty sure I got the idea from the trail, but couldn’t remember who recommended it. Anyway whoever did, thank you.

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  3. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    I love to bake bread. I have plenty of yeast and wheat flour, but I don’t have any rye flour. That means I cannot bake my beloved Norwegian Rye. A slice of that is a meal in itself. So that is one comfort gone. Maybe I should order it online. I keep thinking it will show up in th store, since other shortages seem to be letting up now.

    Other comforts: dog walking, dog park trips, binge-watching Mary Tyler Moore shows, Hulu.

    Last week I had a heavy work schedule, all on-line. I got really sever screen fatigue resulting in neck and shoulder tension. I want a massage, which of course, is off-limits. That would be a wonderful comfort.

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    2. It takes a little hunting to find the Swany White site for online orders, but they are good to talk to on the phone. They have organic rye flour. You could get it in 50 lb bags if you wanted!

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      1. King Arthur had no rye flour today. 50 pounds is waaaaay too much! I was stuck with the Big Am. I am really weary of this online life🥱

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    4. Kelly and I both get knots in our necks. We try to rub each others necks, but the arthritis in my thumbs doesn’t help. So we ordered online one of those massager things that you put around your neck. It has heat and it has knobs that rotate and it’s *really* nice. Not cordless, but it does have a long 8′ cord.
      Course you can move it down to your back or shoulders or legs or wherever.
      I’d recommend it.
      I’m missing my chiropractor and their massage people too.

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  4. Zooming may become the new baseball if “stay at home” lasts for a long time. Golf course opens tomorrow so I’ll at least have that for a distraction a few times a week. I think reading is making a big comeback too. Of course, I’m biased that way. Reading never left for me.

    Chris in O-town

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  5. with netflix amazon and the others creating ball the new options it’s incredible the binge watching possibilities
    mind benders is not the name of the show about studying serial killers in the 70’d
    very interesting
    mind something
    then suits
    mozart in the jungle
    frankie and grace
    the crown
    the larry david one
    schitz creek
    and able to recall many movies shows concerts from the past
    very cool

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    2. I have always liked the band Genesis. They’re premiering concert videos on Saturdays at 2PM on their YouTube page. Last week was the first from a 1983 concert. This week will be a 1985 concert. I saw them in 1986 and it was one of the very first all moving light concert rigs and it BLEW. ME. AWAY. I have a poster in my office. Looking forward to the concert video. They’re available all week but filled with commercials.

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  6. OT: This morning I received an email purporting to be from Facebook and providing me with a code number I could use to reset my password. Now I know this is bogus and a phishing attempt because I don’t have a Facebook account but what made it insidious is that at the bottom was a message asking, if you didn’t request a password change, to report it to Facebook and providing a link. If I did have a Facebook account, I might have been sucked in.

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  7. Morning-
    I’m not sure we’re doing anything different for comfort, it’s more that we have TIME for the things we always tried to do. Kelly is getting more walks in and raking (I know, wrong time of year to rake, but she’s raking out the gravel I blow or push into the grass over winter) and I’m enjoying having more time to farm. And daughter is certainly enjoying having all this free time without mom and dad bossing her around and trying to make her go to bed or get moving in the mornings. I admit, it’s pretty nice.
    Shouldn’t I be outside farming now instead of blogging?? Yes, but this is actually ‘college’ time. Label it ‘Emails / communications’. 🙂

    I am enjoying “Escape to the Chateau” on PBS. Dick and Angel are restoring and remodeling a 19th century castle. Besides the millions of pounds it must be costing them, it’s just fun to watch. And think ‘Better them than me!’

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        1. I’ve never quite understood it, but where our house is seems to be the center of a vortex for leaves. We always have way more leaves than anyone else on our block and it doesn’t matter how much we rake in the fall, we always have lots of raking left in the spring as well. I have a separate line on my budget for leaf bags!!

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  8. Premium channels, HBO and the boys, are free right now. I scan through them once, twice a day. I have only seen three movies I would want to watch. I own all three.
    This morning Stranger than Fiction was on. The movie in which Harold brings Ana a bouquet of flours. (Yes, flours, as in baking.)

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  9. Our order from King Arthur arrived today, so now Husband has Baker’s Ammonia for Nordic flat breads and crisp breads. We ordered more than two weeks ago. Their order processing times are slower now. Sorry, Jacque. We got 3 lbs of rye flour in this order.

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  10. I guess I’d like to see all the outdoor stuff people are doing as the new normal. Walking, biking, more than usual gardening and yard work… Just read an update from a Mpls. friend whose daughter, for a variety of reasons, is enjoying their yard space for the first time – for one thing, she’s saturated with screen time, and now has time to be outside as it gets warmer.

    I am doing way more cooking. baking, and reading than usual, as I’ve mentioned, and have tried several good recipes. And trying to find ways to stay connected:
    – talking on the phone to far-flung friends.
    – taking group walks in spacious places
    – zooming for t’ai chi and workouts, and a book group; this is barely satisfying enough to keep doing it… “better than nothing”
    – keeping up with birthdays, etc., and sending written notes to people

    We just got back from our friend W’s birthday “party”. (He’s now in assisted living, and his aide helped him to get to a screened porch on his floor at the back of the building. Eight of us gathered in the parking lot just below with birthday signs and cupcakes (which we decided to save for afterward since we were wearing masks). His little cake and other cards/gifts were dropped off at the front entrance, and he’ll receive them after the fact.

    Tonight we will try out Facetime with step-son’s family in California – that should be a treat.

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  12. Nothing much seems to be happening here at the moment, so here’s a little video that I found pretty satisfying to watch:

    tim, hope you’re resting comfortably at home after today’s surgery.

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  13. I don’t have any new comfort ideas. Just the same old ones. Cats, books, music, food, coffee, wine, chocolate.

    If there isn’t any baseball, for me, there will be no new baseball. Only baseball is baseball, really.

    On the other hand, tracking COVID-19 statistics is the new football.

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