Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Taking stock

We are luckily not a gluten-free household. We love our bread products. Crackers, buns, bread, breadsticks, cookies, cakes... Oh, those aren't bread products, but we love the sweet things made from wheat as well.

I went to Costco today and came home with the weight of my eldest in flour.

I needed white flour, but I use other types as well. In fact, we prefer our breads to have a mixture of whole wheat and white flour, and I've been baking other things with whole wheat as well. I'd better start doing more of it. I just can't go into Costco without buying other things and Rosa had told me about this whole wheat flour that I wanted to try.

Here are some interesting (to me) observations about these flours:

  • They are fairly local. I still think of southern Alberta as home sometimes.
  • That in itself is interesting. I'll never live there again, and I've lived here for more years that I ever lived there.


  • The packaging is almost 30 years old!


  • I was almost the same age as my firstborn when they printed this packaging. Did they just discover a pallet of it in the back of their warehouse?
  • I'm supporting the recycling efforts of the Ellison Milling Company by purchasing this bag.
  • Why is it more difficult to carry 44 pounds of flour than 44 pounds of little girl?
  • My other flours are much more expensive and both come out of province.
  • When I buy fruit, I consider BC local (as opposed to Washington), but in flour I would prefer it to be milled in the same province that grows it.
  • Our favourite bread flour is the most expensive stuff and comes from Ontario. I need to wean ourselves off of it.

That's it, that's all. That's all the thoughts I have in my head. I'm tired from hefting all that flour into the house. I need to rest now.

If I were the Pioneer Woman I would already have comments made to this post.

7 comments:

Rosa said...

lol! Sorry I took so long to comment then. :)
How in the world do you know the packaging is 30 years old?!

Evelyn in Canada said...

Because the package is celebrating Alberta's 75th birthday, 1905-1980. I was just finishing elementary school at the time and busy collecting stickers and buttons and balloons with that logo.

The Pioneer Woman comment came from Beth. She saw the "0 Comments" and had to comment on my lack of popularity!

Tamara Jansen said...

What?! You went to Costco but didn't buy a poinsettia? How could you?

Just teasing and happy baking!

Unknown said...

I found a local flour mill - Ellison, I think, actually! Ah, yes, I just looked them up in the Yellow Pages - they are on the West End: 1054 - 181 Street. I called, and you can go there and pick up a 20 kg bag of flour for $12.75 or thereabouts (I haven't been to pick any up yet, I'm working through my existing stash first).

If buying direct is better for the mill, maybe it's worth a trip!

Evelyn in Canada said...

I like that idea. Thanks! I have a friend who grinds her own flour as well, so I'll enquire about unground wheat too. It's got to be cheaper than going to Bosch.

Unknown said...

If you grind your own, I know that you can get oats from Namao Oat Milling (it is around $20 for a really big bag - can't remember exaclty now), and you can also buy people grade grain at the feed store in Spruce Grove (the one right by the grain elevator).

Evelyn in Canada said...

I don't grind my own flour yet, but one day I aspire to. I know that it's more nutricious, but I'd be swayed in that direction much sooner if I also though it would be cheaper. From Bosch it is WAY more expensive, so I can't do that.

Can you use oat flour interchangably with wheat? I rarely bake with oats. What's the incentive to do so?