Lets keep this lighthearted.So after all the reports and madness, did we run out of toilet paper? There was also a rumour that we are going to be short on rice and sugar. I have never gotten to a store and not found sugar. Rice? No housebrand rice at my local Spar and Checkers a few days ago but plenty of other brands. Flour? Shortage at my local Spar during first week of lockdown. What surprised me was that every few weeks there seems to be a shortage of muffin mix. No shortage of bread. Well I suppose we all learnt that baking bread is not as difficult as we thought. Yeast was only in short supply the first week or 2.
Now PINEAPPLES. Last week in May they were R35. Last week R25 (which I still won't pay).
A 9 yr old relative asked his dad if 2 minute noodles helped in the fight against covid 19. His dad asked why. His reply: cos everytime you to the shop you come back with 2 min noodles.

Apart from alcohol and cigarettes that was banned,I never find anything really in short supply. If shop A was out it is normally available at shop B.

I bought pineapples for R10/each on Saturday at my local veggie shop. Seems the excess demand for pineapples have subsided! :-)

The biggest surprise was the petrol price drop. It amazes a person that we are so stuck in this economic "comedy", that we have no other option. Banks, municipal services....

Our "corner shop" sold Pineapples for R48 each at one stage. And they were small pineapples. This happened when all the supermarkets ran out of them.

I don't want to blow my own horn, but I am a good cook. I enjoy experimenting in the kitchen and I enjoy experimenting with different herbs and spices. What I never enjoyed was baking, nor was I ever any good at it. My baking used to flop 70% of the time.

I tried my hand at baking again during the lockdown. My skills on that department has definitely improved, but I still don't like it.

Other things I learnt is I still hate cleaning and I still hate gardening and I hate, hate, hate picking up dog shit. I appreciate the lady cleaning for me now more than ever. I continued to pay her full salary during the lockdown. In fact, I am contemplating on giving her a big fat raise soon.

On 2020-06-09 13:12:07 Blades said:


I tried my hand at baking again during the lockdown. My skills on that department has definitely improved, but I still don't like it.

I liked baking but havent done much in recent years. What I have learnt is what one can do with muffin mix. I concocted some really great cakes using muffin mix as a base. Pineapple upside down cake, Antie Marley's apple cake, Nadia's special choc ganache squares, lamingtons. Friends' kids would order weekly and were always surprised to see what I would concoct from muffin mix.
I haven't back to Spar since pineapples were R25 last week.