On Sunday, I baked two loaves of Oatmeal Bread. I adapted this recipe form Ron's Irish Porridge Bread, a recipe that a King Arthur customer gave to the company. I was worried that the dough was too wet, but I held off adding more than a smidge of flour, and the dough was easy to shape after the first rise, and it came out with great oven spring. I look forward to having it at lunch tomorrow as I enjoy the last of the Dester Indiana tomatoes with turkey bacon in sandwiches this week.

CWCdesign--If you have orange oil, you can add 1.8 to 1/4 tsp. and get the zest flavor. I may have some recipe ideas for you, but I will have to look tomorrow, as it is getting late. You can freeze the juice.

Between cooking and baking, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen on Monday. I baked Maple Cookies, a butter-free recipe I created that uses avocado oil. I used the Nordic Ware Autumn square stamps. The cookie stamps are somewhat disappointing in that the acorn just does not stamp well, and the pinecone is not great either. However, the maple leaf leaves a nice clean impression. Scott was having a rough day with sinus and vertigo issues, but the cookies certainly cheered him up. I also made dough for Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers, which I will bake at the end of the week.

Note on yesterday's Oatmeal Bread: I'm really pleased with taste and texture. I've made a note to myself not to add more flour.

CWCdesign--I checked my various recipes and they all call for orange zest along with the juice. That seems to be a fact of life for citrus recipes, and one that I find frustrating, as I always have a lot more juice than zest. However, if you have some orange oil (Boyajian makes one), 1/4 tsp. replaces the zest nicely.

Thanks BA - I'll have to get some orange oil - I hope Harris Teeter sells it. Glad to know I can freeze the juice.

CWCdesign--King Arthur sells this brand of orange oil. I've also seen them at Williams Sonoma. My current small box of orange, lemon, and lime came from T.J. Maxx, although I have not seen it there in a while. (Refrigerate once opened.)

I awoke too late on Friday morning to bake a new muffin recipe, so I had toast. I decided that for breakfast for the next few days that I would like something less sweet, so in the afternoon, I baked Pumpernickel Raisin Bread with Walnuts, a recipe that I created a couple of years ago from two recipes. I am looking forward to slices with my coffee tomorrow.

I made sourdough pan pizza on Saturday. Scott had confessed earlier that he does not care for my sauce, or rather, he could take it or leave it. I tried a different approach today. I did not use tomato sauce but put on the usual Canadian bacon, then added two vertically sliced yellow tomatoes from today's farmers market. They were not particularly juicy, and slicing them vertically helps the slices stay together. I then sprinkled on the 8 oz of mozzarella pieces that I had cut, before adding the mushrooms, red bell pepper (including a small one from our garden), green onion, Greek olives on my side, and Parmesan grated on top. It came out very well. I did have to bake it at 450 F for 18 minutes rather than 15 to get the crust browned and evaporate a bit of water. I let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting it. We have both put on four pounds since spring, so instead of cutting this half sheet pizza into 8 pieces, with each of us eating two for tonight's dinner, I cut it into six pieces, and we each had one, along with coleslaw. I usually felt stuffed with a quarter of the pizza, so reducing it to a sixth is good, and we will have an additional meal from it. Scott also liked it.