Search Results for '("C'

[Mike Nolan]

Looks like it got posted correctly.

Some people think part-skim mozzarella melts better. We prefer whole milk mozzarella, but it is hard to find. Sams sells it in 5 pound bags, shredded, but doesn't always have it in stock. I rebag it into 8 ounce portions and freeze most of them.

In the last year or two Sams has discontinued a number of products we buy there, and it looks like another of them just got disco'd At this rate, the next time our renewal comes up later this year, it may not be worth renewing. (I emailed them about it, and I got a very canned response.)

[Mike Nolan]

Most first-line tech support people don't seem to know much more about their equipment than I do, sometimes not even that much. Yeah, they've got a log book of suggested fixes, beyond that they're often not much help.

If you can get the incident raised to second-level support, you're more likely to be talking to someone who knows the product, but sometimes you have to get to the third-level support before you're talking to the real experts.

Back when I was running Oracle software, I ran into an install problem that got accelerated all the way to the Oracle development team, and the NCR Unix operating system development team got involved as well. It took us something like six weeks and several sets of software install releases to get it fixed, and then it turned out to be an NCR issue not an Oracle one.

This turned out to be an issue they'd been trying to solve for months. I got pretty good treatment from both Oracle and NCR support teams after that, or at least I didn't have to spend time convincing the first-level support teams I knew what I was talking about. (Both companies gave me support codes that got me to the second-level support quickly.)

My wife recently spent over an hour on the phone to Apple trying to solve a problem we're having with our mini-homepods, with no progress. Apple support has never impressed me.

[cwcdesign]

last night we had leftover homemade pizza. Tonight I made a chef's salad with homemade thousand island dressing. the salads greens are a mix of leftover spinach, Bibb and cilantro that I'm adding a small head of romaine to. Mix ins are turkey, ham and Swiss from the deli, cucumbers, carrots, tomato and hearts of palm (those were on sale).

[Mike Nolan]

We talked about a number of options, but wound up just getting takeout (onion rings, chili and cinnamon rolls.)

[BakerAunt]

You are certainly spoiling your husband in a birthday week of treats, Joan!

I cut open our second Pumpkin-Spaghetti Squash hybrid from our garden. It has lasted well. It had a very hard shell, so it took some effort to get it cut into halves, so that I could roast it. This is the one that started out green (see 2021 Garden Thread), then slowly ripened in late August and early September. My husband cut it from the vine sometime in October. I will use 2 cups of it in bread I plan to bake tomorrow, and I froze a 2-cup and an 11.4 oz. container. My plan is to use it solely in sandwich breads, as it is fairly bland.

[Mike Nolan]

These days you have to be pretty flexible in your meal and menu planning, constantly asking yourself two questions:

1. Can I find the ingredient(s) I need?
2. Can I afford the ingredient(s) I need?

[cwcdesign]

Yesterday, I made a slow cooker carrot & chickpea tagging. It was a little bland, but Will doctored up the leftovers so we will eat some and freeze some. Last night we had it with couscous and sautéed baby boy choi. Not sure what I'll have for my greens with it tonight.

Tomorrow Will will make pizza (he has a friend visiting for a couple of days) with his sourdough crust and homemade pizza sauce made with tomatoes frozen from the garden last summer. He likes to make several smaller ones with different toppings - a cheese, BBQ chicken and vegetarian.

Happy Birthday to your husband, Joan!

[Mike Nolan]

I'm starting the planning for Super Bowl Sunday, even though it'll only be the two of us I want something that will be self-serve and ready well ahead of kickoff.

I'm planning to heat up half of a sliced ham (leaving half of it cold because my wife prefers it that way), plus either baked beans or potatoes au gratin, whichever I'm in the mood for on Sunday.

I'll defrost some pre-sliced marbled rye bread, and I should have some salad, though the Aerogarden seems to be past its peak on this crop.

Not much planned in the way of game munchies.

[Mike Nolan]

I see about a dozen emails from King Arthur with 'bake of the week' or 'bakes of the week' in the text. The first of them was Pan de Muerto in late October, the most recent the coconut cake recipe on Feb 3rd, though it is using some kind of logo ('bake of the week' in a circle) rather than just in the body of the email.

[BakerAunt]

In January, I received an email from King Arthur with its "Bake of the Week," which in this case was a recipe for Rye Chocolate Coffeecake. It looked good, but the 4 Tbs. of butter in the topping and the 4 Tbs. in the cake gave me pause, as I try only to include healthier fats in what I eat. After looking the recipe over yet again today, I decided that I could device a healthier version, so I baked it on Wednesday afternoon. For the topping, I kept 1 Tbs. of the butter, which I melted and mixed it with 2 1/2 Tbs. avocado oil. That is my usual substitution for streusels; it gives the butter flavor, but the rest of the fat comes from the neutral avocado oil. For the cake itself, I increased the oil to 1/3 cup and used olive oil (which goes extremely well with chocolate), then added enough buttermilk to make a half cup. I also added 1 Tbs. milk powder to the dry ingredients. I changed the mixing directions. I whisked together all the wet ingredients, then used a cake whisk and spatula to stir in the combined dry ingredients. My other change was to cut the salt from 3/4 to 1/2 tsp. I baked it for 39 minutes, until the tester came out clean. We had some for dessert tonight. It is not an overly sweet cake, slightly crumbly and with intense chocolate taste we both enjoy.

I have not received other "bake of the week" emails from King Arthur, so perhaps it was a marketing experiment?

[BakerAunt]

My husband roasted a turkey for us on Wednesday. I made muddled mashed potatoes (yellow potatoes with the skins) and gravy from the turkey drippings, and we had leftover coleslaw as well.

[BakerAunt]

We have a turkey thawing (since last Tuesday!) that was not ready to roast for Tuesday dinner, so I made my healthier rendition of my mom's hamburger stroganoff, which we had over a mixture of brown rice and mixed wild rice. We also had microwaved frozen peas.

[BakerAunt]

On Monday, I baked "Six-Grain Honey Sourdough Boule," from a recent King Arthur catalogue. The recipe is on their website as a Whole Grain Sourdough Boule; the only difference is the six-grain blend in place of the Harvest Grains and the addition of 2 Tbs. honey. I altered the recipe in that I added 3 Tbs. special dry milk and 2 Tbs. flax meal. I also cut the salt from 2 1/2 to 1 1/2 tsp. (KABC does love its salt!) I mixed it on the dough cycle of the bread machine and needed to add 2 Tbs. more water. The dough rose well both times. Instead of a boule, I shaped it into a long roll and baked it in my Emile Henry long baker. The catalogue recipe is baked in the bread bowl, but I think that it would be too much dough for the bread bowl. If I ever bake it as a boule, I will use my Emile Henry ceramic Dutch Oven with lid. I followed the website instructions for baking 40 minutes with the top, and an additional 10 minutes without. The loaf looks great and suitably impressed my husband. I look forward to slicing it at lunch tomorrow.

I have only tried the six-grain blend in one other recipe and was not overly impressed, so I am curious as to how the blend will taste in this bread. It was a good day to have the oven going, as the temperature never rose much above the low 20F. I have now figured out that the top of the wine rack, in which I store rolling pins, that sits on the counter, is right under one of the heater vents. It makes an excellent location for raising dough.

[RiversideLen]

I made a pound cake from a box mix. I added 3/4 dried fruit to it (KA fruitcake mix). It came out nice but I could have put in more fruit.

[chocomouse]

Joan, they are good! Use whatever dough you would typically use for sweet rolls. For the filling, mix 3 ounces of cream cheese, 1 egg, about 1/3 cup of sugar, and some vanilla. I also added 2 tablespoons of flour because I was afraid it would be too runny. Spread this over the rolled out dough (about 15 x 24") and then sprinkle about a cup of blueberries over it. Roll up and slice into 12 rolls. Bake. Spread with a cream cheese frosting/glaze while they are still warm from the oven.