[aaronatthedoublef]

We have Breville microwave. I do not like the display which is hard to read unless right next to it and the control buttons are all behind the door. It performs reasonably well but not any better than the Sears one it replaced which was a third the price.

I would love a smaller, counter top oven. We have two in the range but they are both full size. It would great to have a smaller option.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Yesterday Violet and I made shortbread cutouts. Would have worked better if we'd chilled the dough but we didn't have time before she had to go back online for class. And then I had to hide a couple because Violet wants them for Santa and cookies are demolished in our house. I am as bad as the boys!

This morning I made another batch of BA's crackers! I've started adding Penzy's Greek spice mix. It's pretty good. I like the mix of garlic and oregano.

I have my sourdough rising. I came up with a new way to create a warming box. The oven with just the light isn't warm because the light is a small LED. But, I have two pizza stones. If I warm up one and put it in the bottom of a cold oven it gives it a nice temp. I haven't measured it because I do not have any oven thermometers.

For the pan loaves I'm just doing a second rise. For the boule I'm going to let it rise as a round and then shape it and give it another rise before I put it in the oven.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Yesterday I made BA's crackers and then Violet and I made our first batch of cookies. We are in the clear for Covid which is good news. We made my mom's molasses cookie recipe which is soft and spreads but Violet wanted to make them in shapes so we cut out gingerbread girls. Violet was planning on leaving some for Santa and I started laughing. Anyway, there are no cookies left this morning. We made two dozen and each was a couple ounces.

I assured Violet we would make more cookies.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Spacing will be different for different pastas as well. Gnoochi will be different from lasagna from ravioli.

My mom embraced shake n bake as well but she also used corn flakes and even Jays potato chips!

• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by aaronatthedoublef.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Pretty neat. And I know it's called "discard" but does anyone really discard some of their starter?

Has anyone ever used starter as a batter for frying? Coat chicken in starter and fry it? I found this online.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks everyone. I am cautiously optimistic.

Atlas Obscura has a St. Lucia's Day baking story today!

[aaronatthedoublef]

My mom used Log Cabin. She would sometimes also make her own which was usually either sugar or corn syrup in water, boiled down a bit. Mom probably had some kind of maple flavoring that she would add. We were three fast eating boys who may have noticed the difference but did not slow down enough to care.

I made BA's crackers yesterday. We were going to start cookie making last weekend but a call came from the school that Violet had been exposed to someone with Covid-19. We won't start baking for others until we're all in the clear.

[aaronatthedoublef]

For Donut Day I made not one but two kinds of donuts to make everyone happy. I had baked chocolate donut batter in the freezer so I thawed it out and baked them. I made pate' a choux and fried that, filled them with jelly, and sprinkled them with extra fine granulated sugar.

It was fun. I used to make choux all the time but haven't made it in years. And I needed to dig out my pastry bag and tips to fill them. Lots of stuff I have not tried in forever. When we lived in Seattle Kate had several French friends and always had me make them profiteroles which was terrifying.

Keeping the oil at the right temp for frying donuts is the big challenge. I'm wondering if a sous vide would work with oil. The sweet spot seems to be between 365-375.

Friday I made sourdough sandwich bread. I tried a few different things and the bread is different. But I changed too many things at once so I do not know what had which affect. Oh well, I'll make more!

[aaronatthedoublef]

Mike points to a book as not being for "beginners". I pulled out one of my oldest baking books to make pate' a choux yesterday. The owner of a Seattle cook shop in Seattle gave me to review. My response was "this is not for beginners". The instructions are sparse and it assumes knowledge and confidence.

It's not at all like a KAF recipe let alone one of their blogs. But I do like the chef's choux because it uses some milk and some water. I remember mixing his recipe with some elements of the recipe in the "Dessert Circus" - much better French baking for beginners because I liked it. Jacques Torres is much more accessible and gives advice like "mix the flour mixture until it stops steaming before adding the eggs" and "add the eggs one at a time and you may not need to add all the eggs". None of this is in the other book and I guess it's assumed the baker will know.

I'm glad I have them both.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks for the words of encouragement about the potato buns! But I won't give up. I measure by weight. It called for 43 g of potato flakes or flour. I may try them again this weekend.

There are two main ethnic groups of Jews - eastern European and Mediterranean and Middle Eastern. Latkes or potato pancakes are traditional for eastern European Jews. Mediterranean/Middle Eastern Jews have sufganiyot which are jelly doughnuts so they are a very traditional Hanukkah treat which is why I created Donut Day. Hanukkah is a great holiday that features gambling - what did you think a dreidel is? - and fried food!

Violet wants chocolate donuts which are easy. I have batter sitting in the freezer and all I need to do is let it thaw. Henry wants Spanish style yeasted donuts which would be more authentic but are much more work.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I have always used bread flour or patent flour to make scones, it has just been KAF flour. This flour has about the same protein. I found this description at a site called Breadtopia. I wonder if there is more wheat germ and that is what my wife is tasting. It would make the scones less bad.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks Mike. It is, indeed, Deb Wink. I love her site.

I know what you mean about Rose Levy Beranbaum. The white velvet cake recipe my family loves calls for 4.5 large egg whites. That's annoying (and the extra half doesn't hurt). At the same time her buttercream recipe leaves out some important timing. I had two batches break on me before I called my cake boss in a panic as I was making it for a friend's wedding cake. She told me to wait longer before adding the butter and that the color would change... And it's worked ever since even though I rarely make real buttercream. So she is fussy where it is not helpful and omits an extra sentence where it could desperately be used.

I am not going to buy myself any books any more. I just started reading "Sourdough: or Lois and Her Adventures in the Underground Market" and it turns out my wife bought me a copy as a present not knowing I had it...

[aaronatthedoublef]

I've made white velvet cake from the Cake Bible for my son's birthday. We had white icing. Sadly Violet was in a funk (and may even have been mad at me) and did not want to help. It was less fun but went faster.

I made scones for my family and another family whose dad was celebrating his 50th. I used the new bread flour I'd ordered from the small local place and my wife noticed the difference and did not like it. The bread flour is bolted but I have not looked up what that means yet and they do not explain it well on the site. My wife said the scones were too wheaty and less luxurious.

I made a batch of KAF potato buns for the first time. The recipe seems to not have enough liquid. By the time I added the flour and potato flakes (couldn't potato flour except on order) and dry milk the recipe is about 50% hydration. I either need to add more liquid or mix it in my mixer or both. Using my hands did not get it done so I need to do a better job mixing. They were not bun like at all and did not rise very well.

I made a batch of BAs crackers. I really like the whole wheat. I am not sure if it is because it is stone ground or because of the milling process but I can see bit of bran compared to the KAF whole wheat.

I have my sourdough loaf rising in the pans and will bake that later.

Saturday is Donut Day - a made up Jewish holiday that I started when before Violet was born and the boys were little. The first Saturday of Hanukkah is Donut Day. Now though, they want me to make them and they cannot agree on baked, yeasted, or cake. I have created a monster!

[aaronatthedoublef]

I haven't seen a book on sourdough but I also haven't looked. For science Mike pointed me towards an article by a woman who is a microbiologist that was amazing. It had pictures but the text was pretty dense so I am not sure how it would be for Will. I cannot remember her name but it was fascinating.

It seems like starters are like kids - figure out what you want to do and then find the expert to say it is "right". I think those of us with starters here all have different ones and we all produce results we like. I would play around more and try some other things but I've reached the limit of my wife's patience with the two jars on the kitchen counter!

I was reading about an Italian starter that is more solid, like dough. Mine is 100% hydrated and more like batter. I arrived at that by trial and error and figuring out what my family liked.

And I still cannot get my batards to hold their shape! 🙁 But they are eaten...

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made scones yesterday. Only thing I've baked by myself because I was up early and my helper was still asleep.

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