What are you Baking the Week of January 1, 2023?

[aaronatthedoublef]

Choc, happy birthday to your husband!

It's funny how panettone has become a thing. There was a NY Times article about that I think Mike pointed to over on the BBGA. I would add the link but the way past the paywall was to search for NY Times panettone article. We used to only be able to buy them at Christmas and now we can find them year-round. We've found some good, mass produced ones. A couple Italian friends, a Piemontese and a Venetian, swore by Trader Joe's so that is what we usually buy. None of my baker friends make it because it is too much of a pain and has some very expensive ingredients. The Christmas morning bread-cake here tends to be stollen and even those can be tricky. I remember Matt shaking his head about a batch that came out beautifully and he had no idea what he had done differently to make them better.

BA - you could probably modify your biscotti to make it for your dog and your husband. If any baked good comes close to a dog biscuit it is an overbaked biscotto. Add some extra flour and salt to toughen it up, bake them an extra 15 minutes, maybe leave the oven door open some to let out some moisture and there you have it.

[BakerAunt]

Your challah is beautiful, Aaron. Maybe Violet will develop a taste for it when she is older.

My husband has a sweet tooth, so biscotti without sugar are not his idea of a treat. I think he was referring to the nuts and dried fruit in most of my biscotti. It did occur to me last night that I can bake the pumpkin biscotti, which do not have fruit or nuts.

I would say our dog is a bit spoiled, although her opinion is that she is rightly valued, and that part is also true. When we first got her at 14 mos., she had clearly had negative experiences with some male, so we addressed that, on advice from a trainer, by making my husband the one who feeds her. I only occasionally will do so. She will eat her kibble once he puts a little something on it: a bit of yogurt in the morning, a bit of bread at lunch, or a bit of whatever we are having at dinner. She has also latched onto the concept of dessert, which we have after doing the dinner dishes, and tea, which my husband has late in the afternoon. No matter where she is in the house, she can hear him, even if he is only moving toward a Tupperware container and comes running, sits, and looks up expectantly.

I will do some looking around at dog biscuit recipes.

[aaronatthedoublef]

BA - I use three whole eggs in my challah, usually large, ~145g. But yesterday I used medium because that's what we had. I added a little water to bring it up to 145.

Your dog sounds very funny. Make the biscotti and dip your husband's in chocolate or sprinkle with sparkling sugar.

I thought I had it tough here!

[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.

[Mike Nolan]

The Challah Prince's recipes use egg yolk rather than whole egg, it makes for a somewhat darker finish, I think I prefer the whole egg one. I've started putting a pinch of salt in egg before using it as a wash, I think it helps break up the viscosity of the egg and make it spread more evenly.

[chocomouse]

I made burger buns today, subbing 1.5 cups of whole wheat flour and adding generous shakes of garlic and onion powder.

[Joan Simpson]

Aaron your Challah looks really good to me.

[Author]

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