Search Results for '("C'

[BakerAunt]

On Monday, I baked my version of Ken Haedrich's Pumpkin Soda Bread from his cookbook, The Harvest Baker. I had baked it last year for the first time, with changes, and we like it a lot. I replaced 2 ½ cups of the AP flour with King Arthur's Irish Whole Meal Flour and used medium grind Bob's Red Mill cornmeal. I reduced the salt by half. I increased the pumpkin to 7.5 oz. I use part of an egg rather than just the egg yolk. I also replace 4 Tbs. butter with 4 Tbs. olive oil (last year used avocado oil) and add 2 Tbs. Bob's Red Mill milk powder. I baked the two loaves on a sheet pan, so the rise was not high. They are somewhat like giant drop biscuits. I might try them in 7 or 8-inch cake pans next time. I might also cut the buttermilk back slightly, However, the taste and texture are wonderful.

[chocomouse]

A number of states in the Northeast no longer allow stores to use plastic bags (yes, you can get small thin bags for produce, leaky meat). They must charge you for paper bags. It took a while to train everyone (yup, how many times did I walk out of the house, leaving my reusable bags by the door? I now store them in the trunk of my car.) to bring their own bags. We reused the plastic bags for a lot of things -- I miss them.

[Mike Nolan]

One of the real challenges for new bread bakers is becoming confident with the basics. I know someone who tried to make a complicated whole grain bread for her first bread, her results were less than what she was hoping for, though to me that was not unexpected and it took her a while to get up the courage to try again.

When she did try again, I suggested she try PaddyL's 'Clonmel Kitchen Double Crusty Bread', (recipe in the favorites tab here), and it was much more successful.

We had someone from Brazil staying with us for a while, I had him make the Austrian Malt bread while I watched, and he was pleased with the result. That recipe is also in the favorites tab here.

My son took up baking during the pandemic and was using the Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day book, which produces fairly good breads without huge investments in time. He's kind of backed off a bit since then, but he's also found a really good and fairly new bakery, their eclairs are some of the best I've had.

[BakerAunt]

I have heard of people who carry their own chopsticks.
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I started by using canvas bags in 1990 for grocery shopping. We later switched to some from World Wildlife Fund, as they stand up while being loaded (like paper sacks and unlike plastic bags), and I have a couple of REI ones that I have used for years. I also have some foldable ones--including a couple from King Arthur that my sister sent me for Christmas one year--that I can carry in my purse.

At the farmers' market, I bring some net bags for holding my produce. We use the plastic produce bags at the grocery, but those bags are reused by us.

Department stores are not fans of "bring your own bag," perhaps because of theft concerns.

Mike makes a good point about TSA. Aaron also makes good points about kosher utensils.

Most "street food"--the original "to go" food--developed so as not to require utensils.

[aaronatthedoublef]

There was also a story from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) about a tax on plastic utensils in Israel causing problems for the Orthodox Jewish community.

Sealed utensils are the only way to guarantee the forks and knives are kosher unless, like BA describes, you carry your own set with you. I have used corn starch utensils in the past that worked as well as plastic. I am not sure how they would break down. And we've rented apartments where the kitchen was kosher. For someone not raised knowing the rules it is very challenging to understand.

The reusable bags appear not to be as green as they are supposed to be based on what goes into making them. But the cheapest ones I use - here they are from Target - actually get used the most by us. Of course we also reuse all the plastic bags that come into our house.

[BakerAunt]

In the medieval and Renaissance period in England--and probably throughout Europe, people carried an eating knife with them. (Such knives, with embroidered sheathes were often wedding gifts.) I'm not sure if that extended to spoons; forks, of course, were a latecomer to the culinary dining scene.

In our time, there are "camp" eating utensils that could easily be carried, and some manufacturers make them for eating from establishments that would otherwise give the diner plastic utensils. I have two sets for traveling with interchangeable spoon and fork tops.

We forget that so much of what we discard--shopping bags, utensils, cups--were once expensive and can be so again. Our local grocery still gives us a nickel off for each reusable bag we bring that is needed to bag our purchase.

[Mike Nolan]

There's an article on the Times of London website (probably behind their paywall) talking about plans by the end of 2023 to ban disposable plastic tableware in the UK.

I'll be interested to learn what they replace them with. It's hard to imagine wooden forks or knives that will work decently and are cheap enough to provide with a take-out meal.

There are compostable plastics, but I think they're far from quickly compostable and may require high-temperature treatment to break them down. Our Lomi composter has a setting that is supposed to work with compostable plastics, but I've tried it a couple of times and was not impressed.

[Mike Nolan]

The fryer is a common source of cross-contamination. Few restaurants maintain separate fryers for different types of food to avoid cross-contamination. I've heard of some restaurants that maintain a gluten-free area of the kitchen, with separate appliances, but even that's no guarantee against cross-contamination.

With my wife's garlic allergy, even the grill isn't safe unless it's been scrubbed down. There's a PepperJax near us (cheese steaks), they use garlic in their seasoning salt, but will scrape down and wash the grill, re-glove and use clean utensils if I order something for my wife there. It probably isn't 100% secure against cross-contamination, but it is sufficient for her needs.

[cwcdesign]

We recently went to a local seafood restaurant - we were thinking about ordering fried okra - and it dawned on me that it might be fried in the same oil as the shrimp (my newest allergy) - I asked the server and he said yes and that I would also want to avoid the fried fish (which I was thinking about) and the French fries. He recommended any of the grilled fish - I had a blackened Mahi sandwich which was delicious. Anyway, it might not have mattered but I'm glad I didn't take any chances - I'm not carrying around an epi-pen for no reason!

[Mike Nolan]

Any planned (or unplanned) baking?

[Mike Nolan]

Cats and dogs both have excellent hearing and senses of smell. If we open a can of tuna fish, our cat shows up in the kitchen within minutes, she loves the water the tuna is packed in.

My son has 4 cats now, and all they have to do is shake the treat container slightly and all 4 will show up, including the one who mostly hides out in the basement.

When our granddaughter was here for the holidays, she was going through cat withdrawal because our cat wouldn't sit on her lap. I think she just wouldn't sit still long enough in the right chair. The cat finally did climb up on our son's lap once, but only after he had sat in Diane's recliner for an hour or so. (She generally won't climb up on my lap unless she either wants to be fed or Diane is unavailable, like after she's gone to bed, since this cat is not allowed in the bedroom.)

When they got home, David told us that our granddaughter spent the first several hours curled up with several of their cats.

[BakerAunt]

Aaron--that explains why in Secrets of a Jewish Baker, the author says to make sure that the egg wash does not get into the space between the braids. Next time I try baking challah, I will see about getting the pull-apart texture. I wonder if part of it is using all egg yolks. I'm usually short of the five my recipe specifies, so I substitute in a whole egg. Of course, I am now substituting in some white whole wheat flour to get more wholegrain.

I may have more yolks with which to experiment. We really liked the Zimtsterne (cinnamon star) cookies that I baked this past holiday season, and each recipe calls for two egg whites. I used the star cookie cutter, but I think that I could use a snowflake or a heart cookie cutter just as easily.

I prefer the Bob's Red Mill bread flour to the King Arthur bread flour; for me it gives a better rise. I find that I can use more whole grain flour when I use the BRM.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Challah is supposed to be a pull-apart bread. My mom always wanted to slice the challah but my dad's preference (and the pre-COVID tradition I know) was to pull off a piece, take some, and then pass it around the table. and we followed suit. I've done that at much larger tables with more people. After Sabbath services the kids (mostly the boys :-)) will do that to the challahs our temple puts out. The texture is supposed to be long and feather when it pulls apart.

BA - six strands is REALLY hard. I have gone to my challah book to re-learn four strand. I have not seen many people except some professionals make six strands except for crazy people like us.

Once I get my four strand I will start back on six.

My goal is to make 12 challahs a week to give away. Not there yet...

[Mike Nolan]

We've never had a dog, so I've never had to consider making dog treats, I wonder what changes would have to be made to recipes to make them more dog-friendly and safe? (Obviously, no raisins, maybe lower in salt and sugars? I know cats don't have taste buds that sense sweetness, do dogs?)

There's a vendor at the Sunday farmer's market who specializes in dog treats and has had allowed people to nibble on them as well. I've not tried one.

[BakerAunt]

I considered trying to bake a panettone, but if I were going to use that much butter, I would have baked my Swedish Almond Ring (provided I could locate a can of good almond paste).

Mike's comment about the limitations on our baking that result from the people we love reminded me of a bit of a blow-up my husband and I had yesterday. I was talking about baking another batch of biscotti, when he asked if I could bake something he could also feed to the dog. I momentarily lost it. As I explained, after an emphatic no that rattled him, I already have limitations based on my health need to limit saturated fat, and limitations based on his inability to tolerate onion, cooked tomatoes, various kinds of beans, and some spices. I will NOT add the dog into the mix just because he and she enjoy having dessert together.

I may need to take up baking dog biscuits.