I made peach jam on Wednesday and canned six 4 oz. jars and one 8-oz. jar. I use the peach jam in the glaze on my turkey loaf, so it made sense to can it in the small jars. I am running out of 8 oz., jars, and I used up all available 4 oz. ones. I had bought six peaches at the farmer’s market (how the vendor sells them), and it turned out that I was short what I needed for the lower-sugar peach jam, so I had to stop and run to the local store. The peaches there were not ripe enough, so I bought a bag of frozen peaches and defrosted them, but they were still rather tough to smash for the jam. However, I got it done.
For Wednesday night dinner, I roasted a chicken. I made a pasta salad, following the general recipe at Olive Tomato for the Greek salad with rotini. I used cucumber, green onion, a purple bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, black olives, feta, and seasoned the olive oil and red wine vinegar dressing with 3 tsp. of Penzey’s Sandwich Sprinkle blend. I had been craving pasta salad, and it was delicious. I knew it would not work for my husband’s stomach, however, so I cooked some bulgur in the broth I got from cooking the chicken neck (sometimes it is included and sometimes not), and I made gravy with the chicken drippings. He was happy. We also had microwaved green beans from our garden. There are plenty of leftovers for the next few days.
I had a leftover burger on a fresh baked bun with some sweet and hot sauteed peppers from my garden and a microwaved ear of corn a neighbor had given me from his farm (a retired firefighter, he bought a farm a few years ago as a weekend getaway).
For about five years, I have wanted to try the recipe for Oat Bran Bread in Peter Reinhart’s Brother Juniper’s Bread Book (pp.102-104). He developed it for an American Heart Association annual cooking demonstration, back when oat bran was the new healthy ingredient. I hesitated to try it because with 8 cups high gluten flour and 2 cups oat bran and ½ cup wheat bran, it is not a high fiber bread, and I prefer more wholegrains. On Tuesday, I decided to see if I could develop a more wholegrain version. I used four cups of Bob’s Red Mill whole wheat flour in place of that much of the bread flour. I replaced the wheat bran with flax meal. I used 1 cup high-gluten flour and needed just 2 cups of BRM bread flour instead of four. I reduced the honey, the yeast, and the salt. I doubled the buttermilk and reduced the water to compensate. The bread used a lot of yeast. I cut it to 4 ½ tsp. and I cut the honey to 5 Tbs. I reduced the salt by a third. The first rise took less than 45 minutes. The second rise was also fast at 35 minutes. (The house temperature is 76F.) The bread registered 193F after 43 minutes. These are two big loaves (9x5 pans). I will freeze one, and we will slice the other at lunch tomorrow.
I made chicken fajitas and fried cabbage. It's my first time ever cooking or eating fried cabbage! I very much dislike cooked cabbage, but I have 6 huge heads of it (some I will give away). I liked it cooked this way! As did my husband. My only complaint is that is has a lot more fat (bacon and butter) than I usually eat, so hoping my tummy doesn't rebel. Next time, I will cut back on the bacon (but hopefully retain all the flavor) and cut the butter in half.
I'm feeling a bit angry about the situation we are in now. For over a year, I (and many others) followed the recommendations of the CDC. I went grocery shopping every other week, I went to most medical appointments (cancelled one and did one by phone). I didn't see my children or grandchildren. I saw only my husband, my sister a couple of times, and my niece standing in an empty parking lot. I wore a mask (and I have breathing issues), used hand sanitizer and social distancing when I did go out. I got both doses of Moderna, as soon as I could sign up. Some people (a lot of people?) did not. So I am back to wearing a mask, avoiding crowds, etc. I (and many others who "followed the rules") are having a lot of the joy taken out of our lives because some will not play by the rules. I'm whining, I know, sorry, but we suffer because of those people.
I'm not so sure a 70% goal, or ANY specific percentage goal, is all that relevant any more. (And note, that number did NOT come from the epidemiologists!) The Delta variant is said to be 5 times more communicable than the earlier variants, and while the vaccine seems to have some effectiveness against it, both in terms of preventing and ameliorating infections, there seems to be a growing concern that vaccinated people can be spreading a virus they don't know they've got.
I expect before the end of the year we'll start seeing programs to get booster shots to fully vaccinated people (that's already beginning in other countries), and that may become an 'every six months' sort of thing for some years to come.
Mike, it was a dangerous place for me, for a while, especially when I drove by daily going to work. But I've learned (and, by now, I already own most everything they have!). Their items are expensive, and most can be found for less elsewhere; such as USA pans, even the ones they say are exclusive to KABC. Their "basic" flours are cheaper at the grocery stores. However, it is nice to have instant access to some of the "specialty" baking needs, pumpernickel, their Super 10 Blend, etc.
We were so hopeful near the end of the previous thread (Covid-19: The Next Six Months). We had our vaccinations and had thought we could ditch our masks. Now the masks are returning, and even the vaccinated can still catch and transmit the Delta variant. As I said on that thread, it is time for a part 3. Sigh.
It's deja vu all over again, as Yogi Berra would say. So, here is a new thread where we can continue to chronicle our experiences.
We have family coming here in September--my stepdaughter from California, and my younger stepson, and possibly his girlfriend, from Colorado. We think that we can do that safely, as everyone is vaccinated. However, my husband's cousins reunion is in October. We had to cancel it two years ago due to the virus and lost our deposit. We thought it would be safe to have this year, since everyone is vaccinated. I hope that we do not have to cancel--and lose our deposit--yet again.
I made brownies from a box mix, with the addition of a half cup of oats and half cup of additional milk (for the oats), which is my usual way of making them. I wanted to put a white chocolate ganache on it for the contrast in color as well as the taste. I have tried to make white chocolate ganache before but without success, it would always come out to runny so I would add powdered sugar and cocoa to it and turn it into a pretty tasty chocolate frosting. I saw a video on youtube in which she said for white chocolate to use only 1/3 or maybe even 1/4 of cream by weight of the chocolate. So I took a 12 ounce bag (340 grams) of mini white chocolate chips, put it in a glass bowl and microwaved it for one minute to get it started, then I added 85 grams (1/4 by weight) of hot half and half (just below boiling) and stirred it in. I let it set on the counter for a while and it still looked runny so I put it in the fridge for a while. When I took it out, it was perfect, nice and thick like a frosting. I whipped it and then topped the brownies. Turned out great.
I put some semolina and durum flours in my KAB shopping cart last week with some plastic storage bags (I really like their bags) and waited hoping that a free shipping offer would pop up. I waited a couple of days and no offer so I placed the order. This morning I received 2 emails from KAB, one, my order has shipped, two, free shipping is being offered now. Of course it is.
On Sunday evening, I baked my adaptation of Carole Walter’s “Blueberry Crumb Pie.” I used my buttermilk oil crust that I parbaked first. I have had some issues with the pie being too watery, so I added an extra tsp. of tapioca to the filling. (The blueberries we pick at a local farm have the most wonderful taste, but they also tend to have more water.) I used just ½ Tbs. of butter to dot the pie before adding the streusel, which I made with 1 Tbs. butter and 2 Tbs. avocado oil. I also used white whole wheat flour in the streusel. I experimented and baked at 375F convection rather than 400F regular oven. The pie is tented with foil for the first 45 minutes, then finished for ten minutes without to allow the streusel to brown.
Convection appears to have worked very well. When I removed the foil after 45 minutes, the pie only needed another 5 minutes, as it was bubbling, and the streusel was browned.
I'm thinking I might buy an electric slicer so I can get more even slices, especially good when you want thin slices for Italian Beef. I've looked at a couple online, they get mediocre reviews because they tend to have plastic gears and other load-bearing parts in them that can break. (I went through that problem with stick blenders.)
If I lived as far north as you do, chocomouse, I'd want a greenhouse to extend the growing season. When we were in Scotland back in 2006 (near Glascow), many houses had a small glass greenhouse in the back yard, maybe about 6 x 8.
To go with leftover soup for dinner, I baked the Scottish Style Scones (Barley) that I modified considerably from a recipe that appeared in a special Scotland issue of Bon Appetit. (The recipe is posted here at Nebraska Kitchen.) I used avocado rather than canola as the 1 Tbs. of oil this time. I baked the six and one small seventh one in the countertop convection oven. I put the rack to the middle position and did not lower the temperature. I baked for 15 minutes. While these will never be as light as a biscuit, they are a nice healthy alternative. I will have the two that are left for breakfast tomorrow with some of my jam.
Other than my five 4th of July plants, which are one of the earliest varieties available, I think I've gotten 2 Rutgers, 1 Brandywine and 1 Italian heirloom from the other 19 plants. I think by next weekend we may be getting ripe fruit on another dozen or so plants. The Amish Paste tomatoes have a nice crop going, but none are showing color yet. They are determinate and tend to be an 'all at once' variety, big pear tomatoes that make great sauce.
We've gotten 2 or 3 eggplants and there should be a few more shortly. (My wife doesn't really like to eat eggplant, except occasionally in ratatouille, but she likes to watch it grow, so we have two plants and will probably give nearly all of it away.)
