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Baskets and biscuits
Feb. 8th, 2017 08:23 pmThis evening, I felt so lucky to get to ride home and not get rained on. It has been an interesting winter for California in that department.
When I arrived home, I discovered that the next incarnation of the Jolly Roger basket has arrived.
It will be good to be picnic-ready again. The basket-maker added a couple of custom touches for me this time - the hinges are on the front, and the buckle to open and close the basket is on the left side near the handlebars. So now I can open the basket while I'm riding, and if I forget to latch it closed, the hood won't blow open. In addition to making myself some rain gaiters, I think I'm going to make a basket cover to help prolong the life of Basket 3.0. The Texas sun and rain aged Basket 2.0 quickly.
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Regarding biscuits - at some point while living in Texas, I got interested in digestive biscuits, and tried baking my own. I wanted a snack that wasn't too sweet. That led A, a British friend of mine, to introduce me to McVities Digestive Biscuits, especially the dark chocolate variety. I quickly became addicted because they have such a nice flavor and aren't too sweet, unlike most American cookies.
But there is a problem: they're made with palm oil. Given what I know about palm oil production, I just CANNOT support the current industry, especially given the merely superficial efforts to end the ongoing deforestation to plant palm plantations. I wish I could give palm oil a thumbs-up, because there are some signs that oil palms are a really productive fat source, especially compared to many other crops grown for oil. But I cannot, at this time.
Regardless - after a whole lot of looking, I've discovered that the McVities Rich Tea Biscuits contain only sunflower oil. Also, they are very tasty when topped with homemade chocolate-hazelnut spread (the name brand variety is far too sweet and also full of palm oil).
I'm not sure whether this is really a good discovery or not.
When I arrived home, I discovered that the next incarnation of the Jolly Roger basket has arrived.
It will be good to be picnic-ready again. The basket-maker added a couple of custom touches for me this time - the hinges are on the front, and the buckle to open and close the basket is on the left side near the handlebars. So now I can open the basket while I'm riding, and if I forget to latch it closed, the hood won't blow open. In addition to making myself some rain gaiters, I think I'm going to make a basket cover to help prolong the life of Basket 3.0. The Texas sun and rain aged Basket 2.0 quickly.
-
Regarding biscuits - at some point while living in Texas, I got interested in digestive biscuits, and tried baking my own. I wanted a snack that wasn't too sweet. That led A, a British friend of mine, to introduce me to McVities Digestive Biscuits, especially the dark chocolate variety. I quickly became addicted because they have such a nice flavor and aren't too sweet, unlike most American cookies.
But there is a problem: they're made with palm oil. Given what I know about palm oil production, I just CANNOT support the current industry, especially given the merely superficial efforts to end the ongoing deforestation to plant palm plantations. I wish I could give palm oil a thumbs-up, because there are some signs that oil palms are a really productive fat source, especially compared to many other crops grown for oil. But I cannot, at this time.
Regardless - after a whole lot of looking, I've discovered that the McVities Rich Tea Biscuits contain only sunflower oil. Also, they are very tasty when topped with homemade chocolate-hazelnut spread (the name brand variety is far too sweet and also full of palm oil).
I'm not sure whether this is really a good discovery or not.
