What are you Baking the Week of June 15, 2025?

Home Forums Baking — Breads and Rolls What are you Baking the Week of June 15, 2025?

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 17 total)
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  • #46550
    Mike Nolan
    Keymaster

      Probably no baking here today, supposed to hit 93, cooler on Tuesday, so maybe I'll bake then. Still researching recipe for sumac muffins.

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      #46551
      skeptic7
      Participant

        I was very fortunate to run into strawberries at the Farmer's market. Very red and ripe, probably too ripe but I made a batch of pancakes for about 2/3 of the box and they were wonderful. I piled my pancakes with strawberries. Yum. I'll have to make some more pancakes and force myself to finish the strawberries. Maybe I'll try strawberries and icecream on pancakes.

        #46557
        BakerAunt
        Participant

          That sounds wonderful, Sceptic. My husband and I have also been enjoying fresh strawberries this past week, and yesterday, I bought another quart. The Amish lady selling them said that they are the last that she has, so it was a short season. Thus, I won't be making strawberry jam this year. We will just enjoy eating them.

          #46565
          BakerAunt
          Participant

            At the farmers market on Saturday, a favored vendor had golden beets, with lovely greens tops. Golden beets are my favorite, so I bought the four she had, which is how I found myself on Monday baking my Roasted Beets, Greens, and Greek Cheese flatbread for a late lunch. My husband is not fond of beets, so I make it for myself and do not have to worry about using onions. I adapted this recipe from Ken Haedrich's The Harvest Baker. It was my best rendition of the recipe yet, in part because I cut the baking time from 24 to 20 minutes. I have leftovers for three more lunches.

            #46566
            Italiancook
            Participant

              BakerAunt, I believe Kroger is one of the groceries you shop. If so, does your Kroger have a banana shortage? My online Kroger has a limit of 2 bunches of bananas. The site says there's a shortage. Last year, I read two or three articles about an upcoming banana shortage because of disease. The articles didn't lead me to believe it'd happen this soon. Do you or any other posters know anything about this?

              Joan, with all your friends giving you bananas for bread, I'm thinking there's no banana shortage in your area. Is that right or wrong?

              #46567
              Mike Nolan
              Keymaster

                Probably more of a local supply chain issue, I've not seen any signs of a nationwide banana shortage yet. There is a fungal disease (a strain of fusarium wilt labeledTR4, also called Panama Disease) that will eventually wipe out most of the Cavendish banana plants, like an earlier strain, TR1, did with the Gros Michel in the 50's, but it will likely take another 10-20 years. I don't know if they've settled on a new variety to replace it, and it takes something like 5-10 years for a banana plantation to get fully productive banana plants from new stock.

                There may be better mitigation efforts in place than in the 50's, since Gros Michel was wiped out quite quickly once TR1 was widespread, though TR4 has been around for over 30 years already. I've seen some reports of trying to breed fungal resistance into Cavendish, but since banana plants are mainly reproduced by cloning, that's not a very simple or quick strategy. Cloning is also the reason TR4 is a world-wide problem, just like it was for the Gros Michel.

                About two years ago I read an article about using gene splicing to add fusarium resistance to the Cavendish banana from fusarium resistant tomatoes, but the anti-GMO folks were quick to pick up on that and I don't know if that project is still ongoing.

                The 1920's Broadway tune "Yes we have no bananas" was written about banana shortages from the early years of the TR1 plague on the Gros Michel banana.

                #46571
                Joan Simpson
                Participant

                  No banana shortage on my end.

                  #46572
                  BakerAunt
                  Participant

                    Italian Cook--We usually buy our bananas at the local grocery where they are 69 cents per pound, but 29 cents per pound when they are starting to get a little brown. We prefer the latter. Aldi's sells them for about 49 cents per pound. I do not usually buy them at Kroger, so I have not looked at the price there. So, we are not seeing a shortage of bananas in our area.

                    #46574
                    Italiancook
                    Participant

                      Thanks, Joan and BakerAunt for weighing in on the banana shortage at my store. Mike, I appreciate the good information you posted on bananas.

                      #46583
                      BakerAunt
                      Participant

                        On Wednesday, I baked my version of Soft Barley Cookies, adapted from the recipe in King Arthur's Whole Grain Baking to use avocado oil in place of butter and nonfat Greek yogurt in place of sour cream.

                        #46584
                        Mike Nolan
                        Keymaster

                          We have 3 days of 100+ weather in the forecast, kicking off summer with a sizzle.

                          Probably won't be doing a lot of baking those days. I might try making a batch of sumac muffins tonight, though.

                          #46586
                          Joan Simpson
                          Participant

                            Mike I'd never heard of sumac muffins only sumac I'd heard of was the one kin to poison ivy, Googled them 😏learned something new. I made a Gooey Butter Cake like bars for the poker game tomorrow and a Sour Cream Pound Cake for my friends Saturday.

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                            #46589
                            BakerAunt
                            Participant

                              Those desserts look delicious, Joan. I had the same reaction, a year or so ago, about sumac, as you did, since my husband tells me to beware of the poison sumac in his woods. When I started seeing it pop up in recipes, I too had to go do some research.

                              #46598
                              BakerAunt
                              Participant

                                Like where many of you here at Nebraska Kitchen live, our area is about to go into high heat and humidity for the next five days or longer. So, I stayed up late on Friday night and baked Oatmeal Date muffins for breakfast and three loaves of my Whole Wheat Oat Bran Bread. I chose this recipe because it makes three loaves, which will let me freeze two. I still have cracker dough in the refrigerator, so we may have to bite the bullet and use the air conditioning in a day or so.

                                #46599
                                Mike Nolan
                                Keymaster

                                  Oops, I put the sumac muffins post in the wrong category. Too hard to move. :sigh:

                                  We both liked this first batch, though more sumac may be needed. I deliberately put in only 3 ounces of honey when the recipe called for 4, but we don't think it desperately needs more sweetness. I might try adding a little cinnamon. I've also got some za'atar on order, I know it's used more in flatbreads, but I might try splitting a batch, some with za'atar, some with cinnamon.

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