Awkward Wealth

[braumeister]

Probably more expensive than most would like, but I've used this for a few years now and can say that it does the job beautifully.

Long Covered Baker

[splitwdw]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeWras I've made bread the old fashioned way. It is a lot of work. I'd love to resurrect my grandmother's recipe, but it very clearly called for cake yeast. I believe it was key to her unique bread. This stuff is now impossible to find. Anyone know of sources for it? Today, I just use a bread machine, once a week. Better than nothing. And don't tell the gluten police. I actually add gluten to my mixture.

Why do you think it's a lot of work? I make bread a couple times a week once the weather gets cooler. I don't use a bread machine. Around here cake yeast is available starting in the Fall in a couple grocery stores and at all the health food stores. Look in the refrigeration area. My great grandmother loves it but I use dry yeast, regular and instant/rapid rise.

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnIntentionalRoad Sorry, that's not actually bread. That's bread-flavored food stuff.

As long as they keep putting fiber in it, I'll stay a regular customer.

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MooreBonds Does Aldi's have much on clearance by you? I've shopped 3 different area Aldi's near my house, and about the only thing I've ever seen on clearance have been the whole, bone-in hams after Easter and Christmas.

They used to have stuff on clearance all the time. Not so much recently. Maybe 1-2 worthwhile items in a given week.

[brewer12345]

Quote:

Originally Posted by splitwdw Why do you think it's a lot of work? I make bread a couple times a week once the weather gets cooler. I don't use a bread machine. Around here cake yeast is available starting in the Fall in a couple grocery stores and at all the health food stores. Look in the refrigeration area. My great grandmother loves it but I use dry yeast, regular and instant/rapid rise.

I am both lazy and cheap, so I buy a brick of dry yeast from Costco for under $10. I use it until like 6 months after the expiration date and I have yet to use the whole thing before tossing a fair amount and buying a new one. Dirt cheap, especially compared to what the little packets in the supermarket cost.

[calmloki]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brewer12345 I am both lazy and cheap, so I buy a brick of dry yeast from Costco for under $10. I use it until like 6 months after the expiration date and I have yet to use the whole thing before tossing a fair amount and buying a new one. Dirt cheap, especially compared to what the little packets in the supermarket cost.

Same down south, but keep it in the freezer and actually used up a block. Up north I buy a dab from the bulk foods isle for pennies and use that.

[dallas27]

Does anyone have a suggestions for unique ways to save money by using a paperclip? You know, so I can accrue wealth faster and feel awkward.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

[JoeWras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by splitwdw Why do you think it's a lot of work? I make bread a couple times a week once the weather gets cooler. I don't use a bread machine. Around here cake yeast is available starting in the Fall in a couple grocery stores and at all the health food stores. Look in the refrigeration area. My great grandmother loves it but I use dry yeast, regular and instant/rapid rise.

It is a lot of work because I still have a j*b (see OMY) and I don't have time to knead, proof, and bake. I just dump the ingredients into the machine in the morning, and come home to baked bread.

However, once I FIRE, I want to get back to real baking.

I've looked for the cake yeast in the fridge section and can never find it. Red Star's site says it doesn't come this far south. I dunno, maybe southerners don't use this stuff. It is still available up north. Perhaps I finally found the one thing I really miss moving south -- oh, and there are those Chicago style hot dogs too.

[splitwdw]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brewer12345 I am both lazy and cheap, so I buy a brick of dry yeast from Costco for under $10. I use it until like 6 months after the expiration date and I have yet to use the whole thing before tossing a fair amount and buying a new one. Dirt cheap, especially compared to what the little packets in the supermarket cost.

Quote:

Originally Posted by calmloki Same down south, but keep it in the freezer and actually used up a block. Up north I buy a dab from the bulk foods isle for pennies and use that.

Brewer, I buy the bulk packages from one of the warehouse clubs too.

Calmloki, I pour the bulk yeast package into a glass container and store on the fig door. Never had a package go bad either.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeWras It is a lot of work because I still have a j*b (see OMY) and I don't have time to knead, proof, and bake. I just dump the ingredients into the machine in the morning, and come home to baked bread. However, once I FIRE, I want to get back to real baking.

I still work full time also.

[clifp]

OMG reading (ok skimming) this thread, is causing me to wonder if there is a new episode of the Twilight zone. What happened to the nice forum folks..

Oh and I for the record at times I feel awkwardly wealthy with the Tesla. But it is such a conversation starter...

[Andre1969]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clifp OMG reading (ok skimming) this thread, is causing me to wonder if there is a new episode of the Twilight zone. What happened to the nice forum folks.. Oh and I for the record at times I feel awkwardly wealthy with the Tesla. But it is such a conversation starter...

Good thing you got a Tesla instead of a Fisker. Otherwise you'd have a fire starter as well!

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clifp OMG reading (ok skimming) this thread, is causing me to wonder if there is a new episode of the Twilight zone. What happened to the nice forum folks.. Oh and I for the record at times I feel awkwardly wealthy with the Tesla. But it is such a conversation starter...

What do you mean? Are you saying that people who make their own bread are not nice people?

And about expensive cars, they do not interest nor impress me, but I see no reason one would hold that against people who enjoy them.

[Andre1969]

here's a little "awkward wealth" story, or rather, false perception I guess. Back in 1999, once I was finally out of debt from my divorce and getting back on my feet, I bought my first brand-new car, a 2000 Dodge Intrepid. I took it to work that night to deliver pizzas in. When I parked, one of the little jail-baits that worked there was hanging out in front. She saw me get out of it and suddenly comes up running with her arms open and yells "Annnnndreeeeee!!!! Will you marry me?!"

Yet, when I drove the previous succession of beaters...a 1979 Newport, 1986 Monte Carlo, 1989 Gran Fury ex copcar, and occasionally my '68 Dart or Grandma's '85 LeSabre when one of the main cars was broken down, she wouldn't give me the time of day. Not that I WANTED her to give me the time of day, or anything else, that is...

Still, it's an interesting paradigm, or whatever fancy word you want to use. Driving one of the old beaters, I looked somewhat poor. But with the new car, I look successful, even if I'm now TRULY poor, to the tune of $2000 down and $347.66 per month!

I also had to explain to customers, when they saw me pull up in that new car, that no, I wasn't getting rich of tips and able to buy that thing, but the truth of the matter was that I was working a full time job but needed a second job to make ends meet, and was actually sacrificing my car to do it.

When I bought that car, I did a rough estimate, that it would save me around $150 or so per month just in gasoline, compared to the Gran Fury it replaced. And that was back when gas was only around $1.10-$1.25 per gallon for regular unleaded (the Gran Fury needed premium). It turned out to be perfect timing too, because no sooner did I buy that car, than gas prices started going up. It was delivered to me with a full tank of gas, but the first fill-up was around $1.40 per gallon, and it went up from there, and it wasn't long before it hit $2/gal.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andre1969 ... Still, it's an interesting paradigm, or whatever fancy word you want to use. Driving one of the old beaters, I looked somewhat poor. But with the new car, I look successful...

I will admit that while I pay little attention to fancy cars, beaten-up cars catch my attention more. So, while I do not spend too much money on cars, I would not drive one with dents or rusted fenders, the same way I would not wear clothes with holes in them (not knowingly anyway ).

[Andre1969]

My '79 Newport actually used to get a lot of attention, because of its color, a light cream color that Chrysler called "Cashmere". If I was on the highway, people would clear the passing lane for me, and even driving around town, people often made an effort to get out of the way. Well, one night when I came back from a delivery, an off-duty cop who hung out at the 7-Eleven a few doors down walked up and started up a conversation. He asked if it was an old Maryland state police car. I told him no, it was just an old car I rescued from the junkyard for $250. He told me that, back in the day, Maryland used a lot of Newports, and the almost-identical looking '80-81 Gran Fury, for police cars, and that their color was similar.

So, that explained it, I guess. Of course, it got worse once I started driving the '89 Gran Fury, which WAS a former sheriff's car from Richmond, VA. It didn't have the spotlight mounted on the windshield pillar, but it had the slotted copcar wheels with the little dog dish hubcaps, and just screamed "Unmarked police car". And it was new enough that there were still a few of these being used by local police forces.

There were a few times that I had trouble getting people come to the door for their pizza, because they'd look out in the driveway and see what they thought was an unmarked police car.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andre1969 ... There were a few times that I had trouble getting people come to the door for their pizza, because they'd look out in the driveway and see what they thought was an unmarked police car.

Delivering pizza to areas populated with bail jumpers is a hazardous duty and should pay more, I hope.

[Andre1969]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Delivering pizza to areas populated with bail jumpers is a hazardous duty and should pay more, I hope.

Our area was fairly safe, at the time at least. I don't think I'd want to do it nowadays though. The area is worse, but moreso than that, I swear drivers are much more reckless and entitled these days. Plus, I'm older now, and have more to lose.

[ArkTinkerer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andre1969 Our area was fairly safe, at the time at least. I don't think I'd want to do it nowadays though. The area is worse, but moreso than that, I swear drivers are much more reckless and entitled these days. Plus, I'm older now, and have more to lose.

Actually you have less to lose-- You have fewer years to live. You just realize you are not bullet proof and you realize how valuable that time is. As they say, youth is wasted on the young!

[Amethyst]

Jail bait = age 15 or younger, right? So, too young to have a job? I remember some guys hollering "Jail Bait" at me when I was about 13, and had to ask somebody what it meant.

Amethyst

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andre1969 hWhen I parked, one of the little jail-baits that worked there was hanging out in front. She saw me get out of it and suddenly comes up running with her arms open and yells "Annnnndreeeeee!!!! Will you marry me?!" Yet, when I drove the previous succession of beaters...a 1979 Newport, 1986 Monte Carlo, 1989 Gran Fury ex copcar, and occasionally my '68 Dart or Grandma's '85 LeSabre when one of the main cars was broken down, she wouldn't give me the time of day.

[Andre1969]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst Jail bait = age 15 or younger, right? So, too young to have a job? I remember some guys hollering "Jail Bait" at me when I was about 13, and had to ask somebody what it meant. Amethyst

Just out of curiosity, I looked it up online, and in Maryland, the age of consent is 16. So, technically, not jail bait. But still, I wasn't interested enough to bite!