[aaronatthedoublef]

Walmart by ne - and I have two within a five mile radius - are useless for baking, mostly. There are no KAF or Bob's Red Mill products although they do offer the powdered buttermilk I like for at least $.50 less than anyone else. The least expensive option appears to be order from Walmart. I can either pick it up with no delivery charge or if I order more than $50 the delivery is free. It's also faster if I do in-store pickup.

We have two Whole Foods, a Big Y, a Target, and a Stop&Shop all within a few miles so there are plenty of places to go but very little stocked. Kind of a shame.

BA, not sure if this will work for you but our stores only stock 3% evaporated milk. When I used it for pumpkin pies I never worried because we have those once a year. When I started using it to make macaroni and cheese I began cutting it with skim milk. I use about 50/50 skim to evaporated. My wife and daughter actually like the result better as it is "lighter".

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

[aaronatthedoublef]

As jarring as this was for the dairies Dean actually was pretty upright about this in ending contracts with 90 days notice and continuing to pay their bills. What has usually happened in the Northeast (and in bankruptcies in general) is that a business will continue to purchase from suppliers and just not pay their bills then eliminate or greatly reduce the debt when they file.

The Walmart stores by us are selling their own brand, Great Value, and then one, well known national brand in the three stores by me.

There are even companies that create "special entities" that have no assets but do the purchasing. They then put the special entity into bankruptcy but it has no assets for creditors to attach and so the creditors are left holding the bag.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Re-reading my last post it seems kind of mean. Sorry for that.

Milk is going through an interesting moment as many are declaring it "bad" for a variety of reasons.

Butter went through it's "bad for you" moment years ago and people started substituting margarine that it turns out was actually worse for you. And after the whole non-fat movement we now are told that a certain amount of fat, even "bad" fat is necessary.

The more things change the more they stay the same.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Is it butter? Or is it Land O'Lakes butter? I go through quite a bit and I quit using LOL because it is over twice as expensive as Trader Joe's and Whole Foods store brand. It is even more expensive than the organic store brand. And without being appreciably better. I am not sure why it is so much more but it is.

As for milk, my kids drink their share.

And as for plant-based alternatives, there was a funny article that I cannot find now where a beef rancher said "where would your organic, plant-based farms be without my manure".

[aaronatthedoublef]

I have used marble slabs for candy and chocolate making and I've heard it's good for pastry but never tried that.

The contractor who did not want to put marble in for the counter said (as Mike says) that it stains and his hard to maintain. He also said it cracked easier than I would have thought. He put in granite - which was exotic out in Seattle back then - and then I had a 12 foot long, unfinished butcher block island that I loved. The cabinets were natural cherry and the floors were beech. I loved that kitchen. It had great work triangles.

Our kitchen here is also granite with a smaller butcher block island that is finished. I'd prefer unfinished but I didn't have a say. Still, good work triangles and the island here has a sink in the middle which is handy. We're plumbed for a pot filler but it would require drilling holes through the cabinets and as the sink is just across from the range it wouldn't add much utility for the cabinet space we'd lose.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Wow Len! Those are beautiful!

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made chocolate chip cookies on Sunday. It was a last minute request from my daughter so I did not have time to let the butter soften. I did soften some in the microwave but the cookies did not spread in the oven. Kind of interesting.

Not sure if I'll go into the restaurant to bake this week. My wife is going out of town so going in at 3 am won't work.

[aaronatthedoublef]

We redecorated our kitchen and now it has NO CLOCKS except the tiny one of the microwave that is usually too dark to read. A minor nit compared to what you're raising but it drives me nuts.

How do you all feel about marble counters? I wanted one once and my contractor said it was too soft for a counter and he would happily supply me with a slab of marble to put on the counter and use instead.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I adapted my brownie recipe from my mom's old recipe and Rosie's recipe from Rosie's bakery which was in Chestnut Hill outside of Boston when I lived there. Rosie would put her chocolate frosting on these - pretty rich made with semi sweet chocolate, evaporated milk, and sugar. I made these for a friend for her birthday and then for her family for various occasions. I even adapted it into a wedding cake for her wedding. The wedding cake had whipped cream instead of frosting. I tend to make them without frosting as my wife thinks that puts them too over the top. And speaking of Rosie's I found an old blog post about her whole grain, olive oil, chocolate chip cookiesblog post about her whole grain, olive oil, chocolate chip cookiesblog post about her whole grain, olive oil, chocolate chip cookies. They sound good but unfortunately there is no recipe. Still I thought it might inspire BA as she is always looking for recipes with whole grains and without butter.

I was also thinking a little more about mixes and thought about all the discussions we've had about finding ingredients and how it is becoming harder and more expensive every day to keep my pantry stocked without breaking the bank. It would be so much easier and probably less expensive to buy a box of something when I want to bake it.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by aaronatthedoublef.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Would this work on the top crust on a pie?

[aaronatthedoublef]

Nothing wrong with a mix, especially if you're short on ingredients and short on time. I have everything I need for most of what I want to so who needs a mix. But if your pantry is not stocked it's simpler, cheaper, and faster to buy a box.

But canned frosting... 😉

My English muffins make very nice rolls they just aren't English muffins. It's a soft dough but they definitely don't need rings. I bet I could have kept them flat if I'd put a sheet pan on top but the texture would still be different.

I had a great icing recipe for brownies but I'll have to see if I can find it.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I can give away most breads but rye is hard for some reason. Yes, it would be nice if I could ship you all stuff to taste.

I baked the English muffins I made dough for yesterday but without griddling them first (is griddling a verb?) they turned into rolls. I will talk to the chef and see if they have a griddle I can use. Or has anyone ever baked English muffins without cooking them on the griddle first.

I made brownies but burned them. Didn't account for the speed of a convection oven. So I tossed the brownies. I might go in tomorrow morning to bake some more.

I was going to make pizza dough but I didn't feel like cleaning up again so I'll make it now.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Good idea. I need to find people to give it away to until I start selling it (going to start selling bread locally, online). It will help me to have feedback.

Thanks

[aaronatthedoublef]

I'll throw turbinado into the mix. It's just spun and dried and much cheaper than demerara in Hartford.

Martha could also mean cane as opposed to beet.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Joan, you also do not need to punch the pizza dough back down. I do a long rise on my pizza dough and it always doubles in size then falls back a bit. This happens with most of my yeast doughs when I let them rise for 12 or more hours. If I knead them the yeast seems to come back and I get good second rise if I need it and good oven spring as well.

My son - the only one beside me who eats rye bread - finally tasted the rye bread I made last week. He prefers the bread flour/clear flour mix to the all clear flour. It was "less dense". And it's still not stale so that's good to. I have to find someone to take some loaves off my hands.

This morning I put up dough for English muffins. They are currently rising in the garage and I'll take them back in and bake them tomorrow. I usually griddle them and finish them in the oven but this place does not have a griddle and I cannot figure out how to make the induction cook top work and I am not sure if it would work with a sheet pan even if I figured it out. Last week I was trying to use it to melt chocolate and I couldn't boil water. I stuck the chocolate in the oven which worked fine.

I haven't decided what I will make while I wait for the English muffins during their second rise I may make brownies again but it's also time to start making my mom's molasses cookies so I may do that.

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