John Weiland

Nancy Reading wrote:......but porage is a whole different thread subject of course!

Like beginning with the spelling! LOL.... I've only ever seen 'porridge'  Do any other languages use some version or derivation of this word?

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:......But here I never saw groats made of oat (Avena sativa), only of buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum). Whole grains (not cut, rolled or anything) are sold in the good-food stores to, all species (oats, wheat, barley, rye, and buckwheat too) are available, but not in all stores. In larger stores in the cities there's more choice than in the small town where I live. Maybe there they have oat groats too ...

But now I have to ask within this thread if overnight soaking (room temperature) of the other small grains like wheat, barley, or even rice will soften the grain enough to eat directly..?  Or would it still need a brief cooking to render it edible (for human mandibles).  Thanks!....

Anne Miller wrote:......As with pie crust, keep the ingredient cold is the key.

Color me intrigued, Anne!......  What is the main outcome difference between cold ingredients and warmer ingredients for pie crust.  I admit in my laziness to softening the 'fat'....butter, margarine,or coconut oil....before combining it with the all-purpose flour.  Thanks!.....

Just a quick question before considering an answer:  Are you saying this dugout is large enough to support nesting geese and ducks?.....Like a quite large large stock pond?  Thanks....

Edited to add:   Not at this point a recommendation, but additional information to aid in decision making.  I was surprised to see citric acid once again emerge in the larger forum discussion.  Starting from here --  https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/antimicrobial-products-registered-disinfection-use-against-avian-influenza -- I tunneled into the list of registered anti-microbials, some of which have claims of efficacy against Avian influenza.  The rather large database found here -- https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/epas-registered-antimicrobial-products-effective-against-avian-influenza -- is heavily populated by the usual suspects, -- bleach, hydrogen peroxide, quaternary ammonium, etc.  But then it lists several registered products that are mostly 99% citric acid.  It is *possible* that having  some solutions of citric acid around not only to wipe away splash points on surfaces, but also as a pre-rinse of any veggies would greatly reduce some of the worries here.  Finally, although there would be additional costs involved and may provide information that you will have to make a judgement call with once received, this service at the University of Saskatchewan (can't recall just now if this is your province) might be able to do a sensitive test for presence of avian influenza, [ https://pdsinc.ca/services/molecular-diagnostics ] although you probably would have to work out a sampling procedure over the phone with them.  They appear to be more geared towards animal/livestock testing but clearly have influenza A in their testing.  If i'm wrong about the province, most of the major Uni's will have testing facilities like this. Hope this is of some help....

Just adding the actual Bill link here for those interested......

https://www.congress.gov/111/bills/s510/BILLS-111s510es.pdf

Megan Palmer wrote:Reconstituted dehydrated mushrooms and the liquid that the mushrooms were soaked in add a great flavour.

If any of your family don't like mushrooms, grind the mushrooms to a powder so you just get the flavour.

Yes, pretty much all of the vegetables already described, but as Megan notes, mushrooms add a great flavor.  In fact, mushroom buillon ooncentrate, either homemade or purchased, is a great marinade for vegan faux beef pieces to boost their flavor.  If there is much leftover from a very large stew, I will thicken with a bit of all purpose flour and use as filling for a pot pie.

Pete Podurgiel wrote:
In any case, knowing what I now know about MCA,  I would like to make my own magnesium citrate   ...any suggestions on where I might find true, food-grade citric acid?   Or can I just use lemon juice and add it to some magnesium carbonate?

It looks possibly like mixing citric acid with magnesium oxide might give you what you need.  Also, it takes a bit of digging through the search "naturally-sourced citric acid", but it appears some supplies get it from citrus fruit instead of from fermentation.   Magnesium oxide is avaliable from many suppliers it appears.  It looks like it's a direct exchange reaction with citric acid giving up 2 hydrogen atoms and the magnesium oxide giving up its oxygen to yield H2O and magnesium citrate.  But sleuth down a more technical description to be sure.

John F Dean wrote:...... And, no I did not offer hands on help.  I did not want to put myself in a position of being blamed for any damage.

Given the characters on hand, I would be worrying most about damage to my own body when said 2X4s came hurtling out from under spinning wheels.  Sounds like "judgement of the situation at hand" was not their strong suit......yet a learning experience for the visitors!  

Cécile Stelzer Johnson wrote:It bothers me that it was grandfathered in without a study. I couldn't hurt to go back and review how it came to be used in so many products, especially that we have so many more allergies and respiratory / inflammation problems in the gut than we used to.
I guess it would be interesting to figure out how much of this Aspergilla Niger is left in the Manufactured Citric Acid.

Although many products that come from microbial fermentation are not crystallized during final purification, citric acid is one for which crystals are produced for that purpose.   And that is a good thing since most crystals, from salt to table sugar, require a high level of purity for crystals to even form.  I have no number or criteria for what can be defined as "high level of purity", but the process of crystalization does remove a lot of impurities from the final product.  Although Aspergillus niger in its wild form may produce toxins that could have a detrimental effect on human health, most operations would use a strain or culture of the fungus that was deficient in toxin production for food safety reasons.

I have to chuckle to myself at how I've been missing out!...... I've only used it for perking up food.  With our terrible hard water, I have a toilet just begging for a "citric acid spa day".  LOL...

Deane and others who may already be using Tracfone....

Clearly things with cell phone providers can change rapidly, but a bit of experience of my own from managing my phone and my wife's phone.  Have liked Tracfone for many years for the plan shown below.  My first phone with Tracfone was a Nokia which then transitioned to a flip phone at some point.  Then a few years back, also dove into the smartphone world and got both wife and I a pair of iPhone 6s's.  Good news at the time:  No change in $99/365 days charge.  It gets more interesting when, after having some issues with connection from our rural abode, I traded up to an iPhone 12.  Not being immersed in the techie loop, I did not realize this automatically came with 5G capabilities.....and an apparent increase in price for the service???   At any rate, you can see that now in the image pasted below that the $99/365 days of service bargain price is now only available for flip phones.  So in way, "phone size matters" ;-/   ....in service plan price.  Someone please correct me if I'm wrong with this interpretation.  So that price shown below was just clipped from Tracfone's website a few minutes ago in case that cost make more sense for your needs and budget.  If more minutes are needed along the way, last time I up'd it was 400 minutes for $10....that may have changed by now.  Good luck!