Search Results for '("C'

[Mike Nolan]

The KA was a wedding present, actually. It has held up very well.

I've never made chocolate covered cherries before, but I've made fondant and we made several types of covered chocolates in Chocolate School.

I plan to make some of them using a little invertase (it helps liquefy the filling) and some without, they should still partially liquefy, becomimg more of a soft cream filling.

I will also be making some chocolate batons to put in chocolate croissants and making a bunch of chocolates for our granddaughter's Advent calendar.

[Mike Nolan]

I made two pounds of fondant today, in preparation for making a batch of chocolate covered cherries early next week. (I"m also going to make some ones that have some juice from the cherries in the fondant but no cherry, because my wife likes the semi-liquid center that tastes of cherry but not the cherry itself.)

If you've never made confectioner's fondant (not the stuff used to decorate cakes), it is kind of fun to cream it and watch it turn from a pale yellow liquid to a white almost powdery solid as you work it.

It is basically the same process as making fudge on a marble, you pour it on the marble straight from the pan and let it cool undisturbed for several minutes, then you work it so that you control the crystal size in the sugar as it crystallizes, you want smaller crystals because that makes for a creamy fudge or fondant.

I've got a book on candymaking that says you can cream fondant in a mixer, but I'd be afraid it'd burn out the motor or strip the gears in my 48 year old KA.

[BakerAunt]

On Tuesday, I made another batch of yogurt.

For Tuesday's dinner, I roasted three bone-in chicken breasts. I rubbed them with some olive oil and sprinkled with Penzey’s poultry seasoning. I roasted at 425F for 45 minutes, using the roast setting on my oven. They were a little dry, so I should have checked them sooner.

We had it with a new recipe, Mark Bittman’s “Pasta with Winter Squash and Tomatoes.” I used a butternut squash from the farmers’ market, and cut up 2 cups of our tomatoes that have finished ripening in the house. I used ½ tsp. Penzey’s dried shallots, as it is difficult to get fresh ones where I live, and I also deleted the red pepper flakes (a no-go for my husband). I added dried parsley and Parmesan. I used whole wheat pasta. We liked it, and I will make it again. The last green beans from our garden rounded out the dinner. (I know that I have said last green beans a couple of times, but now that there has been a freeze, these really are the last.)

[RiversideLen]

On Sunday I made a batch of my sandwich buns. I had a little pie dough left over from the other day (92 grams) so I decided to make a mini blueberry pie. I had to roll it out real thin to cover the pan, I barely made it. I just guessed as to how much sugar and flour to use in it. I baked it at 375 for 45 minutes, it looks like it baked up ok.
I still have some apple/blueberry pie so I won't sample the mini pie for another day or two.

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[Mike Nolan]

Sprinkled on top. Chicagoans disagree as to whether you want the bright yellow mustard or a stone-ground mustard. (Some hot dog places offer both.)

Personally, I prefer grilled onions over raw unions, but they're a bit of work to make so I seldom have them at home.

Ketchup is on the menu as a test, if you order your Chicago hot dog with ketchup they know you're not REALLY from Chicago!

Ideally you would use Vienna all-beef hot dogs, but any all-beef hot dog will generally suffice.

[Mike Nolan]

I don't want to pay for a handful of streaming services, cutting the cable often turns out to be more expensive IMHO (and you still have to have high speed Internet from SOMEONE to use it.)

[aaronatthedoublef]

This is really interesting.

I know how to treat my starter to generate the smell/taste I like.

For example - feeding it twice a day gives it a nice sweet, boozey smell. That matters more than how much I feed it.

Also we were just away for the weekend and it came out of the refrigerator and has shown a lot of growth after its first feeding.

But the length of my rise also affects the flavor. Keeping something if the refrigerator for more or less time greatly affects the flavor of the final product.

My main sourdough bread is lean with no added sugar. I usually give the sponge about 12 hours and then 24 for the dough in the refrigerator with several stretches/kneads over several hours at room temp followed by a final couple hour rise after it's been shaped in the oven with the oven light on.

I might try to let it rise longer in the refrigerator (it doesn't really rise much there) and also try a shorter rise on the counter. What I like about rises in the refrigerator and in the oven is that the temp is more controlled than on the counter which can be as high as 77 in the summer and as low as 64 in the winter.

[Mike Nolan]

Raisins, rum, sour cream, nuts...apple pie is always good. Just keep those raisins away from your dogs!

There's just one piece of last week's strudel left, my wife was asking about whether I could make a smaller strudel since there's just the two of us, but this one is going fast enough I don't see that as necessary. (I thought it could have used just a little more dough relative to the amount of filling, one more layer, perhaps. Maybe I can stretch the next one out a bit more.)

[dachshundlady]

My moms vinaigrette is my fave. Nothing fancy of course, she used the proportions on the Good Seasons shaker cruet(vinegar, water, oil). Then she added garlic salt and oregano. On the salad itself she always sprinkled celery salt, which is a most underrated ingredient. It’s also great in macaroni and potato salads.
Cheers, MaryAnn aka dachshundlady

[cwcdesign]

We (I use that word loosely - one of us) created raised beds for our fall plantings - we decided to direct sow starting September 1st. We had some cool weather - mostly cool weather crops - but then we had lots of rain and it got hot and humid again. We've had some issues with bugs on our leaves so we are down to one zucchini and are replanting other seeds. We did put some Spinosid (spelling) last night, so we shall see - it is organic and if you use it at night it won't hurt the bees - next time, we're going to start seeds indoors and have hearty transplants. Gardening down here is so different from up North!

[Mike Nolan]

A few years back pumpkin pie puree was pretty scarce in the stores here in Lincoln, I've seen plenty of it this fall. I'm not fond of pumpkin pie, my wife sometimes makes crust-less pumpkin pie (ie, just the filling)

[Mike Nolan]

I have the 4x4x13 pan, plus a much smaller one that I haven't used yet.

I'm using a variant on the Austrian Malt bread recipe for the full-sized Pullman pan:

Pre-ferment:

6 1/2 ounces semolina
6 1/2 ounces bread flour
12 ounces lukewarm water
1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar

Stir and allow to sit for 60-90 minutes, it should be very bubbly by then.

Add:

6 1/2 ounces semolina
6 1/2 ounces bread flour
(It helps to add this flour in several steps to avoid a flour cloud.)

4 tablespoons Carnation malted milk powder
2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons melted butter
1-2 ounces cool water

Knead until it passes the windowpane test. Dough should be slightly tacky but not sticky.

Bulk rise 60 to 90 minutes
Shape and put in greased Pullman pan
Allow to rise for at least 60 minutes. (I leave the lid off for the first 45 minutes, putting the lid on when I start the oven pre-heating.)

Preheat oven to 375.

Bake for 15 minutes, rotate, bake for another 10 minutes, then remove lid and bake for 10-15 minutes until internal temperature is 200 or higher.

Remove from pan and cool completely before slicing.

I wind up cutting it into 3 parts and freezing at least two of them, as with just two of us that's a lot of bread.

[BakerAunt]

On Sunday, I made my Scottish Style Scones (Barley) recipe to go with the beef stew we have for dinner.

[Mike Nolan]

One of the reasons I bought the stainless steel work table (at Sams) is so that I'd have some dedicated space that I (hopefully) won't clutter up. It's on wheels so I can move it out of the way if needed, it also makes cleaning up under it easier. I probably need to get some more light in that area, I've got a lamp from Ikea I could assemble and use. Our kitchen is VERY well lit, by design.

With the wheels on the surface is about 39 inches off the ground, which is actually about the right height for me, our kitchen work surfaces are 33 and 36 inches high (they were sized for my wife, who is much shorter), I wind up bending over more than I should.

[cwcdesign]

Reporting back from the trenches:
Back in May, I read that the reason there was so much of the higher end beef available is that the restaurants who normally buy most of it weren't buying because they were either closed or cut way back. Sort of like the fact that the toilet paper companies had so much commercial toilet paper which wasn't being use.

August usually slows down after school starts but this year was different since a lot of people didn't go back so we were really busy - it continued on after Labor Day and even October has been nuts - supposedly, the resort has had it's best October ever - our hours are usually cut back but not this year.

As to masks, we still require them in the store - more and more people are wearing them after learning that they can help - we still have folks who believer it will disappear the day after the election. I have a co-worker who is intimidated to speak to a non-wearer - not me! Sometimes, they'll say all I want is a cup of coffee; I don't have a mask - I'll tell them we have them for sale and I'm sorry but they need one. They'll complain going out the door and then come back with one on. But if you are in the next town on the mainland or in our village, most people don't wear them. I still haven't been in the supermarket, Sam's or Target - I do curbside from all of them.

I've heard there's a canned pumpkin shortage - we've planted sugar pumpkins (late) so hopefully will have some by late November, December.

My brother and SIL (from Mass) came September 11th after driving down, dropping my niece off at college (where they seem to be doing a really good job), visiting her dad in Vero where his girlfriend said our mom did not die of COVID (we should show her the death certificate) and then came here for 2 nights - they stayed at our Inn where they gave them a room on the first floor, we buried my Mom in the Columbarium Saturday morning with my sister there via FaceTime. We will have her celebration of life service whenever the time comes that we are allowed to meet in the church.
They had been cautious the whole time and were tested 4 days after they got home and they were and are negative.

I did leave town 2 weeks ago to visit a friend in Hilton Head (her son is the one with the CDC and said we were fine to be together). Hilton Head has a LAW that says you are required to wear a mask in public places - restaurants, hotel lobbies, stores and outdoor venues that are crowded. They have wonderful signs to remind people and the staff are all great about it. We ate outside, very distance - I took photos of all their signs and when I got back my local friends all said they wished we could do that.