Coronavirus 2020 🤧

[William Lewis]

Instant Pot and an air frying table top oven. Oh and a sauce pan to make Kraft Mac N Cheese in. Don't need much else

 

[rayvonn]

Don’t worry the flour will appear back on the shelves soon enough. We’ve gone though all that here in Sydney, people realise that bread is not after all running out and that they can’t be bothered making the bread anymore themselves. Doesn’t take people too long to overcome these perception-reality gaps during these times.

 

[BrianS]

At least in Northern Virginia- getting most foods is not a problem.

Getting it on sale is. I told my wife and Daughter, "I bought these for you even though they were not on sale".

 

[Graham Moore]

the cartoonishly large jump in bread makers is a bit of a head scratcher.

It's partly the boredom factor; there are a lot of people with more time on their hands than they've had in years. Baking takes time and it's cheaper to make your own bread than to buy it. I do a bit of baking and a lot of cooking anyhow, so I'm not daunted by pulling out the mixing bowls and loaf pans. I may even pull out the bread maker to put it through its paces for fun.
Here's an easy recipe. Don't blame me if you gain weight from it!
Banana Bread

Ingredients

2 cups (250g) whole-wheat flour (spooned & leveled)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup (1 stick or 115g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1/3 cup (80g) plain yogurt or sour cream

2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 large ripe bananas)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

optional: 3/4 cup (100g) chopped pecans or walnuts (I use raisins. Ours is a nut-free kitchen)

Instructions

Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan or coat with nonstick spray. Set aside.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl.

Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.

On medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Beat in the yogurt, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract on medium speed until combined.

With the mixer running on low speed, slowly beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until no flour pockets remain. Do not overmix. Fold in the nuts, if using.

Spoon the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 60-65 minutes. Loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil after 30 minutes to help prevent the top and sides from getting too brown.

A toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf will come out clean when the bread is done. Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack.

 

[Richard]

A toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf will come out clean when the bread is done.

My dad used to say something similar when my mum was baking cakes. "Stick a knife in it," he'd say, "and if it comes out clean, stick all the others in too." This was before we got a dishwasher.

-R

 

[Djarum]

Actually, in the Vietnam app, you do not see the name of the person who is infected.

You just see an approximate location of where the person is, and you can stay clear of that area. Vietnam has remarkably few deaths, and even in urban areas as densely populated as NYC, there is little widespread infection.

NYC (and the USA) is a huge, mismanaged mess. With all the technology, medical sophistication, money and brainpower here, we are floundering around and not taking essential action. Heads should roll and criminal cases should be pursued against the incompetent morons in charge of this emergency response.

How can they NOT do any airport screening? Why are there no tests? Why do the hospitals have no protective gear? The list goes on. Insanity and stupidity.

Because the supplies can't magically appear. The whole world needs the same supplies and many of those supplies aren't manufactured here. Now that some are they still have to get FDA approved.

This is also a very regional issue. In my county of 400k we've only had about 30 total hospitalizations.

 

[BrianS]

If there are lessons that countries learn from this, more self-sufficiency for life-critical material should be high on the list.

Progress in CAD/CAM, CNC machines, solid printers, etc has cut "white board to manufacture" way down. The technology is there. Nothing motivates innovation like survival.

 

[M. Valdemar]

The NYC area cannot be equated to most other smaller urban or suburban areas in the USA. NYC has a huge number of problems that have not been intelligently addressed. Also, the demographics are far different than other areas of the country.

 

[BrianS]

I've lost two cousins in New York.

I cannot understand the decision making process of the leadership in New York City and New York State.

 

[Jonathan F/2]

I don't get people here in LA. Yesterday I went grocery shopping and considering the city is in quarantine, driving around the city is AWESOME right. In my local neighborhood people are lining up around the block to grocery shop. I drove 10-15 minutes towards the suburbs and there were no lines and fully stocked shelves! That 30-45 minutes standing in line can be used to drive to a less crowded location. Plus I like shopping in areas with less documented infections (which I track on the COVID-19 LA County tracker), mainly for peace of mind. When I was younger, I never liked waiting in line going into clubs unless I had an "in" with the manager or bouncer! Also I understand if people don't have cars, but most people in LA drive so it's not a big deal especially when the freeways are empty. With cheap gas right now, I'm really considering doing a canon ball loop around Los Angeles and record it. It might make for a cool fast time lapse Youtube video.

 

[Luke]

This brainiac totaled his $750,000 car thinking the empty streets were too tempting.

Driver wrecks $750G supercar on New York City street during coronavirus shutdown

Speeding becoming a problem on empty streets.

www.foxnews.com

.

 

[Graham Moore]

This brainiac totaled his $750,000 car thinking the empty streets were too tempting.

Driver wrecks $750G supercar on New York City street during coronavirus shutdown

Speeding becoming a problem on empty streets.

www.foxnews.com

.

I had to laugh at the first post in the 'Comments' section; the poster thinks $500K liability insurance is a lot! I carry $2M and that's standard where I live.

 

[Richard]

With few cars on the road, you'd have thought that speeding drivers would be more conspicuous than usual, and that police helicopters, patrols, CCTV etc would pick them up easily.

I've heard a few boy racers going like stink up the the highway near us, usually at night. It only takes one unmarked police car on the same stretch of road and it's a stiff fine and goodbye driving licence.

-R

 

[Jonathan F/2]

This brainiac totaled his $750,000 car thinking the empty streets were too tempting.

Driver wrecks $750G supercar on New York City street during coronavirus shutdown

Speeding becoming a problem on empty streets.

www.foxnews.com

.

I drive a Prius. The empty streets are only improving my gas mileage with less stop and go driving!

 

[christilou]

Does your Daughter's work have guidelines that may include having High-Risk individuals living under the same roof?
Where I am at: that would be a valid reason for not being called into work.

M. too funny. Yesterday when the family was Skyping, I did not join in and announced "That is so 60s". I prefer to be the disembodied voice.

It's very difficult to be seen not to shoulder some of the burden when other's are doing just that.

 

[christilou]

[Thinks, maybe as we work our way through the hoard of toilet paper, there'd be space to keep some big bottles of petrol under the stairs. You know, where we keep the candles and matches in case there's a power cut. Be a shame to miss out on the good price at the moment]

Kaboom!

 

[christilou]

There's so much conflicting information here. They just keep moving the goalposts

 

[tonyturley]

I live in one of the USA's more rural states, with about a dozen small cities and hundreds of small towns dotting the landscape. I just came back from driving 90 minutes each way to one of our rail trails for a bike ride. You wouldn't think we are in the middle of a crisis. Traffic was brisk at times. As M. Valdemar said, our demographics are very different, but I see a lot of people out and about. When the governor signed the "Stay at Home" executive order, there were numerous exceptions. One exclusion was outdoor recreation. I've been hesitant to travel very far from my home, but I've been really missing the longer bike rides, so I decided to give it a go. More than 15 miles of my ride was empty. It was starting to warm the last 5 miles, and I saw about half a dozen people walking, and gave them a wide berth. I'm glad I went. My sympathies to those of you who are truly locked in.

 

[BrianS]

It's very difficult to be seen not to shoulder some of the burden when other's are doing just that.

My work- you must want to come in and then get an approved exemption to come into work. Having a high-risk individual in the same household, or being 65+ years old yourself- the exemption will be denied. That solves the "peer-pressure" problem. This is a life-and-death situation. As a supervisor, knowing that a high-risk individual is in the same household- I would tell the person to stay home.

We know all about parents sending in sick kids to school in this house. Nikki was in the hospital for months because of one.

 

[Richard]

Since lockdown our local brewery has been making home deliveries of essential supplies, and today we decided to take advantage of the offer. Well, you've got to support local businesses at this time, haven't you?

-R