Ok so you all know there's a supermarket strike in So Cal.

I was running low on bread and didn't get out of the office to get to the
bread store in time. Plan 2, I'll just stop by TJ'S (Trader Joe's) on the
way home.

Zipped into the parking lot, found a spot, grabbed a hand basket just in
case I see more than the bread. I though it was a little funny 'cause there
were some gondolas (shelving units) in the parking lot.

The store was well decimated is too mild - no bread, no produce, excuse me
there were 2 bags of white mini pumpkins left, almost no dairy, and the
frozen foods were about 10% full or 90% empty. I guess I was not the only
one with Plan 2. The last time I saw stores like that was during the Cuban
Missile Crisis.
There were people (men) in the store with cell phones trying to describe
what the store looked like.

Ok, no big loss, hit the breadmaker when I get home I thought. A loaf of
French bread was warm and waiting when I got up this morning.


Anyone else?

Dimitri

I keep reading about the supermarket strikes. What is this like in CA? How
big of an effect is it having on the average Joe going to the market?

j
"Dimitri" wrote in message
m...
Ok so you all know there's a supermarket strike in So Cal.

I was running low on bread and didn't get out of the office to get to the
bread store in time. Plan 2, I'll just stop by TJ'S (Trader Joe's) on the
way home.

Zipped into the parking lot, found a spot, grabbed a hand basket just in
case I see more than the bread. I though it was a little funny 'cause
there
were some gondolas (shelving units) in the parking lot.

The store was well decimated is too mild - no bread, no produce, excuse me
there were 2 bags of white mini pumpkins left, almost no dairy, and the
frozen foods were about 10% full or 90% empty. I guess I was not the only
one with Plan 2. The last time I saw stores like that was during the
Cuban
Missile Crisis.
There were people (men) in the store with cell phones trying to describe
what the store looked like.

Ok, no big loss, hit the breadmaker when I get home I thought. A loaf of
French bread was warm and waiting when I got up this morning.


Anyone else?

Dimitri

In article Ctdjb.89828$k74.4268@lakeread05, "Julianne"
wrote:

I keep reading about the supermarket strikes. What is this like in CA? How
big of an effect is it having on the average Joe going to the market?


No effect. Nothing. Zip. I read about it in the paper just like you do.

It used to crack me up. There'd be an earthquake in Hollywood, and my MIL
would call up, all upset. Are we OK? Is anything broken? She had no
clue about geography, it was just California, and we lived in California.
The fact that Hollywood is 400 miles away meant nothing to her. People
don't often realize that California is almost a thousand miles north to
south, and about 250 miles wide. That's a big state.

But what really cracked me up was the big San Francisco earthquake of
1989. There were terrible hardships in SF after the quake. They ran out
of white stretch limos! All these network executives were in SF, and you
couldn't expect them to ride around in taxis, could you? They had to
import white stretch limos from as far away as Salt Lake City. What were
all these execs doing in SF? Well, that's where all the best hotels and
restaurants are! You couldn't expect them to go where the earthquake
actually happened, which was 100 miles south of SF, because not only were
the accommodations not as good, but they had an earthquake down there, and
there was a lot of damage. There wasn't much damage in SF, so the network
execs could ride in their white stretch limos between their hotels and the
restaurants.

--
Dan Abel
Sonoma State University
AIS

On Wed, 15 Oct 2003, Dan Abel wrote:

But what really cracked me up was the big San Francisco earthquake of
1989. There were terrible hardships in SF after the quake. They ran out
of white stretch limos! All these network executives were in SF, and you
couldn't expect them to ride around in taxis, could you? They had to
import white stretch limos from as far away as Salt Lake City. What were
all these execs doing in SF? Well, that's where all the best hotels and
restaurants are! You couldn't expect them to go where the earthquake
actually happened, which was 100 miles south of SF, because not only were
the accommodations not as good, but they had an earthquake down there, and
there was a lot of damage. There wasn't much damage in SF, so the network
execs could ride in their white stretch limos between their hotels and the
restaurants.

Not much damage in SF?? A freeway collapsed. Part of the Bay Bridge
collapsed. The Marina District was ablaze. Actual hardships. I didn't
quite understand what importing limos had to do with the earthquake in
your message, but I'm sure you couldn't have meant that there wasn't
much damamge in SF...

Jeneen

Jeneen Sommers indignantly wrote in message
after Dan
Abel typed:

But what really cracked me up was the big San Francisco
earthquake of 1989. There were terrible hardships in SF
after the quake. They ran out of white stretch limos!
All these network executives were in SF, and you couldn't
expect them to ride around in taxis, could you? They had to
import white stretch limos from as far away as Salt Lake City.
What were all these execs doing in SF? Well, that's where all
the best hotels and restaurants are! You couldn't expect them
to go where the earthquake actually happened, which was
100 miles south of SF, because not only were the
accommodations not as good, but they had an earthquake down
there, and there was a lot of damage. There wasn't much damage
in SF, so the network execs could ride in their white stretch limos
between their hotels and the restaurants.

Not much damage in SF?? A freeway collapsed. Part of the Bay Bridge
collapsed. The Marina District was ablaze. Actual hardships. I didn't
quite understand what importing limos had to do with the earthquake in
your message, but I'm sure you couldn't have meant that there wasn't
much damamge in SF...

SF wasn't the epicenter of the earthquake, either, anymore than San Jose is
a suburb of that pest hole. There were hardships throughout the Bay Area,
just none as spectacularly available to the camera crews on hand.

I read Dan's comments as our state's a big place and things that happen in
SoCal don't apply to us generally. (I.e.: When SoCal had their little
earthquake after [Loma Prieta], their freeway systems were back in working
order in record time, breaking time-completion projections by months rather
than years...)

The same applies to the grocery situation.

The Ranger

"Dimitri" wrote in message
m...
Ok so you all know there's a supermarket strike in So Cal.

I was running low on bread and didn't get out of the office to get to the
bread store in time. Plan 2, I'll just stop by TJ'S (Trader Joe's) on the
way home.

Zipped into the parking lot, found a spot, grabbed a hand basket just in
case I see more than the bread. I though it was a little funny 'cause
there
were some gondolas (shelving units) in the parking lot.

The store was well decimated is too mild - no bread, no produce, excuse me
there were 2 bags of white mini pumpkins left, almost no dairy, and the
frozen foods were about 10% full or 90% empty. I guess I was not the only
one with Plan 2. The last time I saw stores like that was during the
Cuban
Missile Crisis.
There were people (men) in the store with cell phones trying to describe
what the store looked like.

Ok, no big loss, hit the breadmaker when I get home I thought. A loaf of
French bread was warm and waiting when I got up this morning.


Anyone else?

Dimitri



No, just keeping my eyes peeled here in CT in case anyone here gets ideas to
walk out.....

Jack Labor

Dimitri wrote:

Ok so you all know there's a supermarket strike in So Cal.

I was running low on bread and didn't get out of the office to get to the
bread store in time. Plan 2, I'll just stop by TJ'S (Trader Joe's) on the
way home.

Zipped into the parking lot, found a spot, grabbed a hand basket just in
case I see more than the bread. I though it was a little funny 'cause there
were some gondolas (shelving units) in the parking lot.

The store was well decimated is too mild - no bread, no produce, excuse me
there were 2 bags of white mini pumpkins left, almost no dairy, and the
frozen foods were about 10% full or 90% empty. I guess I was not the only
one with Plan 2. The last time I saw stores like that was during the Cuban
Missile Crisis.
There were people (men) in the store with cell phones trying to describe
what the store looked like.

Ok, no big loss, hit the breadmaker when I get home I thought. A loaf of
French bread was warm and waiting when I got up this morning.


Anyone else?

Dimitri



I sympathize with you Dimitri, but, not having bought a loaf of bread in
several years, maybe now is the time to perfect your home baking skills.

Try this one first. It is quick and tasty, and can be used for
slathering on jam or butter, toasted and as a sandwich. With the
addition of cheese, herbs, garlic, etc, it is an entirely different
bread. Even cut it lengthwise and made some garlic bread.

After that, try this version of a baguette. It is taking over in
alt.bread.recipes. Very little work, and can be made to conform with
your schedule.


* Exported from MasterCook *

RUSTIC POTATO LOAF

Recipe By : Leslie Mackie, Macrina Bakery, Seattle
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Bread

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 1/4 pounds russet potatoes
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons dried yeast
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Spray bottle of water

Scrub potatoes thoroughly and cut into 1-inch chunks. Place potatoes and
1 teaspoon of the kosher salt in a medium saucepan and cover with water.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, or
until potatoes are tender when poked with a knife. Measure out 1/2 cup
of potato water and set aside. Drain potatoes in a colander and leave
them to cool and dry for 20 minutes.

Pour the 1/2 cup of lukewarm potato water into a small bowl and sprinkle
yeast over the top. Mix with a whisk until yeast is dissolved. Let stand
for 5 minutes.

Place drained and cooled potatoes in the bowl of your stand mixer. Using
the paddle attachment, mix on low speed for 1 minute to mash potatoes.
Add olive oil and mix for another minute. Add potato water and yeast
mixture and continue mixing until combined, 1 to 2 minutes. Switch to
the hook attachment and add flour and remaining 2 teaspoons of salt. Mix
briefly on low speed to start bringing ingredients together, then
increase speed to medium and mix for about 11 minutes. (If mixing by
hand, add flour and remaining salt and mix with a wooden spoon. Knead
with your hands for 10 to 15 minutes.) Dough will appear firm at first,
but will become wetter as mixing continues. Check for elasticity by
flouring your fingers and stretching some of the dough. Finished dough
should stretch about 2 inches without breaking.

Pull dough from bowl onto a floured surface and form into a ball. Place
ball in an oiled, medium bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough
proof in a warm room, 70 degrees, for about 45 minutes. Dough will
almost double in size.

Place dough on a floured surface and flatten it with your hands. Form
dough into a rectangle and, starting with a short end, roll dough away
from you into tight log. Stop rolling just before the log is sealed,
then flatten the remaining inch of dough with your fingers and dust it
with flour. This will prevent the loaf from fully sealing and will cause
the seam to open slightly while baking. Wrap loaf, seam side down, in a
floured dish towel and let proof at room temperature for 45 minutes.
Dough will rise slightly and feel spongy to the touch.

Place baking stone on center rack of oven and preheat to 400 degrees.

Carefully unwrap loaf and set it, seam side up, on a counter or baker's
peel. Moving quickly, transfer loaf to center of baking stone and
heavily mist inside of oven with a spray bottle of water. Bake for 45
minutes, misting oven once more after the first 5 minutes. Finished loaf
will be golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Let
cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
* Exported from MasterCook *

PAIN A L'ANCIENNE

Recipe By : Peter Reinhart, The Bread Bakers Apprentice
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Bread

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
6 cups unbleached bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 teaspoons instant yeast
2 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons ice-cold water (or more --
as needed)
Semolina flour or cornmeal -- for dusting

Combine the flour, salt, yeast and water in the bowl of the electric
mixer with the paddle attachment and mix for 2
minutes on low speed. Switch to the dough hook and mix for 5 to 6
minutes on medium speed. The dough should be sticky on the
bottom of the bowl, but it should release from the sides of the bowl. If
not, sprinkle in a small amount of flour until
this occurs (or dribble in water if the dough seems too stiff and clears
the bottom as well as the sides of the bowl).

Lightly oil a large bowl and immediately transfer the dough with a
spatula or bowl scraper dipped in water into the bowl. Mist the top
of the dough with spray oil and cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

Immediately place the bowl in the refrigerator and chill overnight, to
retard fermentation. The next day, check the dough to see if it has
risen in the refrigerator. It will probably be partially risen but not
doubled in size (the amount of rise will depend on how cold the
refrigerator is and how often the door was opened).

Leave the bowl of dough out at room temperature for about 2 to 3 hours
(or longer if necessary) to allow the dough to wake up, lose its chill,
and continue fermenting.

When the dough has doubled from its original prerefrigerated size,
liberally sprinkle the counter with bread flour (about 1/2 cup). Gently
transfer the dough to the floured counter with a plastic dough scraper
that has been dipped in cold water, dipping your hands as well to keep
the dough from sticking to you. Avoid punching down the dough as you
transfer it, to expel as little as possible of the carbon-dioxide gas
that has built up in the dough during fermentation.

If the dough is very wet, sprinkle more flour over the top as well as
under it. Dry your hands thoroughly and then dip them in flour. Roll the
dough gently in the sprinkled flour to coat it thoroughly,
simultaneously stretching it into an oblong about 8 inches long and 6
inches wide. If it is too sticky to handle, continue sprinkling flour
over it.

Dip a metal pastry scraper into cool water to keep it from sticking to
the dough, and cut the dough in half widthwise with the pastry scraper
by pressing it down through the dough until it severs it, then dipping
it again in the water and repeating this action until you have cut down
the full length of the dough. (Do not use this blade as a saw; use it as
a pincer, pinching the dough cleanly with each cut.) Let the dough relax
for 5 minutes.

Prepare the oven for hearth baking, making sure to have an empty steam
pan in place.

Preheat the oven to 500 F, or 550 F if your oven goes this high. Cover
the back of two 17-by-12-inch sheet pans with baking parchment and dust
with semolina flour or cornmeal.

Take one of the dough pieces and repeat the cutting action, again
cutting it in half . Then do the same with the remaining half. This
should give you 4 lengths.

Flour your hands and carefully lift one of the dough strips and transfer
it to an inverted parchment-lined pan, gently pulling it to the length
of the pan or to the length of your baking stone. If it springs back,
let it rest for 5 minutes and then gently pull it out again.

Place 3 strips on the pan, and then prepare another pan and repeat with
the remaining strips.

Score the dough strips as for traditional baguettes, slashing the tops
with 3 diagonal cuts. Because the dough is sticky, you may have to dip
the razor blade, serrated knife or scissors in water between each cut.
You may also omit the cuts if the dough isn't cooperating. I NORMALLY
USE THE SCISSORS TO MAKE THE CUTS.

Take one pan to the preheated oven and carefully slide the dough,
parchment and all, onto the baking stone (depending on the direction of
the stone, you may choose to slide the dough and parchment off the side
of the sheet pan instead of off the end); or bake directly on the sheet pan.

Make sure the pieces aren't touching (you can reach in and straighten
the parchment or the dough strips, if need be). Pour 1 cup of hot water
into the steam pan and close the door.

After 30 seconds, spray the oven walls with water and close the door.
Repeat twice more at 30-second intervals. After the final spray, reduce
the oven setting to 475 F and continue baking.

Meanwhile, dust the other pan of strips with flour, mist with spray oil,
and cover with a towel or plastic wrap. If you don't plan to bake these
strips within 1 hour, refrigerate the pan and bake later or the next day.

The bread should begin to turn golden brown within 8 or 9 minutes. If
the loaves are baking unevenly at this point, rotate them 180 degrees.
Continue baking 10 to 15 minutes more, or until the bread is a rich
golden brown and the internal temperature registers at least 205 F.

Transfer the hot breads to a cooling rack. They should feel very light,
almost airy, and will cool in about 20 minutes.

While these are cooling, you can bake the remaining loaves, remembering
to remove the parchment from the oven and turn the oven up to 500 F or
higher before baking the second round.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -





--
Alan

"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and
avoid the people, you might better stay home."
--James Michener

On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 14:58:44 GMT, "Dimitri"
wrote:

Ok so you all know there's a supermarket strike in So Cal.

I was running low on bread and didn't get out of the office to get to the
bread store in time. Plan 2, I'll just stop by TJ'S (Trader Joe's) on the
way home.

Zipped into the parking lot, found a spot, grabbed a hand basket just in
case I see more than the bread. I though it was a little funny 'cause there
were some gondolas (shelving units) in the parking lot.

The store was well decimated is too mild - no bread, no produce, excuse me
there were 2 bags of white mini pumpkins left, almost no dairy, and the
frozen foods were about 10% full or 90% empty. I guess I was not the only
one with Plan 2. The last time I saw stores like that was during the Cuban
Missile Crisis.
There were people (men) in the store with cell phones trying to describe
what the store looked like.

Ok, no big loss, hit the breadmaker when I get home I thought. A loaf of
French bread was warm and waiting when I got up this morning.


Anyone else?

I've heard the same thing about T.J.'s. They can't keep stuff on the
shelves.

So far, Stater Bros. has everything in good quantities. ..as does
Bristol Farms. I was at Bristol Farms at Fashion Island Thursday and
it was busier than normal, but well stocked.

I've heard that both Costco and Sam's Club are much busier than
normal, but haven't tried going to either yet.

None of the large ethnic markets have pickets, so I assume they are
doing ok too.

Debra

"Dimitri" wrote in message om...
Ok so you all know there's a supermarket strike in So Cal.

I was running low on bread and didn't get out of the office to get to the
bread store in time. Plan 2, I'll just stop by TJ'S (Trader Joe's) on the
way home.

Zipped into the parking lot, found a spot, grabbed a hand basket just in
case I see more than the bread. I though it was a little funny 'cause there
were some gondolas (shelving units) in the parking lot.

The store was well decimated is too mild - no bread, no produce, excuse me
there were 2 bags of white mini pumpkins left, almost no dairy, and the
frozen foods were about 10% full or 90% empty. I guess I was not the only
one with Plan 2. The last time I saw stores like that was during the Cuban
Missile Crisis.
There were people (men) in the store with cell phones trying to describe
what the store looked like.

Ok, no big loss, hit the breadmaker when I get home I thought. A loaf of
French bread was warm and waiting when I got up this morning.


Anyone else?

Dimitri

I was wondering if this would be a boon for TJ's. I'm glad to hear
that it is. Is Whole Foods striking?

A whole shitload of Californians are being forced to discover what a
*real* supermarket is. Bwahahahaha!

-L.

In article ,
Jeneen Sommers wrote:


On Wed, 15 Oct 2003, Dan Abel wrote:

But what really cracked me up was the big San Francisco earthquake of
1989. There were terrible hardships in SF after the quake. They ran out
of white stretch limos! All these network executives were in SF, and you
couldn't expect them to ride around in taxis, could you? They had to
import white stretch limos from as far away as Salt Lake City. What were
all these execs doing in SF? Well, that's where all the best hotels and
restaurants are! You couldn't expect them to go where the earthquake
actually happened, which was 100 miles south of SF, because not only were
the accommodations not as good, but they had an earthquake down there, and
there was a lot of damage. There wasn't much damage in SF, so the network
execs could ride in their white stretch limos between their hotels and the
restaurants.

Not much damage in SF?? A freeway collapsed. Part of the Bay Bridge
collapsed. The Marina District was ablaze. Actual hardships. I didn't
quite understand what importing limos had to do with the earthquake in
your message, but I'm sure you couldn't have meant that there wasn't
much damamge in SF...

The Bay Bridge collapsed bit and the Cypress Freeway are (were, in
Cypress' case) in Oakland. Not SF. But SF is much nicer to go around in
the limo than the Oakland slums, and all the network affiliates
have stations there (there is a foxtv station in Oakland), that
is, when the power got restored. Anyway it was a big production
to get over there from SF since the Bay Bridge (most direct route) was
out.

Mind you, San Jose has network affiliates and was closer to Ground Zero,
but it's not as nice for the visitor ;-).

The Marina fires were about it for the big damage in SF although some
people died South of Market due to unsecured masonry falling off
buildings.

ObFood: Cioppino, the real San Francisco Treat. Trader Joe's makes a
pretty good frozen version. My experience shopping TJ's is that it's wise
to ask what days they get their shipments since some days they are wiped
out (sunday evenings were kinda bare) although they might be more-so
in SoCal these days.

Charlotte