Monday – Part 1 – Flour

I have joined a cult – in three parts – flour, warm water, and time.

What is a Wednesday anyways? Gender, Time, Pants, everything has no meaning unless something has a meaning. Welcome to my existential crisis iced with stoicism.Flour

Flour is a thing that I know exists and have purchased at some point in time in my life… the same bag has moved across states and towns. I think I needed it for something that is called a “recipe.” These “recipes” run the gamut between Ikea like instructions that are picture based to, “dump the stuff, stir it if you want, throw it in the hot thing, wait until you smell it,” and 1.3 oz of X, 1t of Y, 5 T of Z, 3 loosely packed cups of <some word I have never heard of>, added to a bowl in a specific order and then a verb I haven’t seen before, then more things, more verbs, more specifics. These so-called recipes sometimes require specific kinds of different types of said flour.

The cult gave me the silent stink eye when I mentioned the bag of flour in my freezer. Who knew that flour could be recalled, discontinued, or die? Evidently, it has a “shelf life” and flour should be kept, stored appropriately, and used quickly. Though one cult member did at least appreciate it being in the freezer so that bugs wouldn’t get in it! ??? I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was in the freezer because it is wrapped in the same rubber band as the package of sugar I also bought at the same time, years ago.

Basics, like flour, are essential.

The basics, call them staples, are needed when you need them, forgotten when you don’t need them. This makes the staples essential ingredients in a kitchen, but only for those that bake, cook, or perhaps conduct science experiments. To be essential means that it is in a container and temperature it needs to be ready to go when needed and is often needed. There are different kinds of flour derived from different kinds of plants, processed in different manners, and each does something specialized. There is also a basic or standard flour that is good enough (See what I did there) for almost all needs and requires more attention than just keeping it in the freezer for perhaps a decade or two. To be essential means you are ready to go when needed. Usually, you are needed more often than other things. Ingredients that are so commonly used that there is a space on the counter, precious real estate space so that the ingredient is accessible. These employees, I mean ingredients, often aren’t thought about when you use them regularly or when you don’t use them at all and yet are essential. (Did you see what I did there?)

For those playing the cult game at home – you will need this counter space, and the ingredients will move through your kitchen very fast – this is evidently called bread making. I mean bread baking.

Yes, this is like crochet vs. knitting.

Use new flour – old flour takes a long time to work if it ever does. Flour does an important trick that I think only flour can do – therefore essential if you are in need of that particular thing. Decide if you want fancy flour which is expensive or standard which is bland. Yes, you can also combine these together when baking – who knew?

Dry ingredients can be “sifted” together which makes things less lumpy later on… yes – the thing I have from my grandmother that has been a decoration in my kitchen since she passed away, actually has a job! Here I should invoke the great Alton Brown – everything should have more than one purpose – and evidently, this includes kitchen decorations.

An essential ingredient can easily be forgotten until it is needed and then nothing else can do what it does, and you will go through it quickly. Decide early if you want the standard or the fancy and know that you can combine the two – because it is essential. If this seems like a metaphor to medical staff, teachers, stockers, cashiers, first responders, cleaning staff, and others – it is and it is apt to also be forgotten in the freezer after this passes.