Flour Mites

Might that be a mite?  Sure turned out to be. I had them in a nearly new bag of flour six months ago so this time I put the flour in sealable plastic containers. Didn't do any good so I just threw out two bags. I wanted to know how they showed up and from a lot of reading I find they are in the flour when you buy it. I guess that means use it fast but I haven't tried baking for a few months. Another article suggests freezing it for a few days after you buy it. Just went through my rice, beans, seeds and nuts but they look to be ok.

How Did They Get Into My Kitchen?

Both flour mites and weevils will have come into your kitchen through your flour or wheat products. A few bugs can lay many eggs, and if your products are being stored for a long time, these eggs can hatch and cause an infestation. Other factors, such as heat, can increase the reproduction rate of the pests, making the problem much worse.

Prevention

To prevent the problem reoccurring, store your products in clean airtight containers. You can even try some simple home remedies such as freezing the produce for a few days to kill any bugs present and prevent the eggs from hatching or adding a few bay leaves into your wheat products, which will act as a deterrent for the pests.

Rain and buggy bread

That really looks like rain to me but stick your head outside and it's a high overcast. What is over us now is not connected to Invest 98E further south which has a 90% chance of becoming a Tropical Storm latter today or tomorrow. The Eastern Pacific's last named storm was Ela but it ended up near Hawaii so we didn't notice it. Another storm using the letter D must have done the same thing. Guess that means this next storm will begin with an F.

According to the Weather Underground I am wrong about the names. There may be a Central Pacific area with a different set of names.

Tropical Depression Five-E formed Saturday morning and is currently located about 265 miles south-southeast of Acapulco, Mexico.

Tropical Depression Five-E is expected to strengthen into Tropical Storm Dolores possibly as soon as later Saturday and may strengthen into a hurricane next week.

On my last bread excursion I noticed little black specs in the wet flour and I picked them out as I saw them. Never saw any in the dry flour. Just in case this time I decided to sift the flour from a new bag and sifting is probably a good idea anyway. Sure enough at the bottom of each sift were 10 to 15 of these little critters and most were moving. Google "bugs in flour" and I found it's rather common and are called Weevils and Mites. They could have been in the flour at the store because I seem to remember a tiny flour leak when I bought them. 

On the other hand something was eating my Faba/Fava and Garbanzo/Guasanas beans a few months ago. I'd see little holes in the beans and powder in the bottom of the bag. Anything kept in plastic containers seems immune but plastic bags don't stop them.

My flour Mites

BTW - this try was another brick

I can finally call this bread

I spent the last 3-4 days with unsuccessful attempts to make bread. Wanted to stick with it rather than quit for a month like the last go round so decided on a totally new recipe. The main difference with this one was they said a packet of yeast rather than 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon like others. Still I had to almost double the amount of flower which I should have done with the others. Is it the temperature or humidity that make all bread recipes not work here ??

I'll spare you all the flat, wet piles of dough that didn't work and will only post the foto below that looks very much like Artisan no-knead bread I was trying for. Attractive but hard as a brick like my previous two.

The new recipe called for milk, I used yogurt ..... and shortening, I used olive oil. Also sugar and butter to butter the pans. A little fancier than Artisan bread that just uses flour, salt, yeast and water but I had to try something new. Anyway after adding about twice the called for amount of flower I could finally handle it and let it rise in a bowl. Then punch it down and knead it for 5 minutes. Divide it in two and put it in two buttered pans and let rise again. Pop into preheated oven at 375 for about 40 minutes. Not exactly Artisan/French bread style but still very good and I have one success to my name.

Attractive bricks

First rise

Left to rise in buttered pans

They have risen

Just out of the oven

Both I and neighbors were impressed

Real good with my home made humus