[BakerAunt]

I made sourdough pan pizza on Saturday. Scott had confessed earlier that he does not care for my sauce, or rather, he could take it or leave it. I tried a different approach today. I did not use tomato sauce but put on the usual Canadian bacon, then added two vertically sliced yellow tomatoes from today's farmers market. They were not particularly juicy, and slicing them vertically helps the slices stay together. I then sprinkled on the 8 oz of mozzarella pieces that I had cut, before adding the mushrooms, red bell pepper (including a small one from our garden), green onion, Greek olives on my side, and Parmesan grated on top. It came out very well. I did have to bake it at 450 F for 18 minutes rather than 15 to get the crust browned and evaporate a bit of water. I let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting it. We have both put on four pounds since spring, so instead of cutting this half sheet pizza into 8 pieces, with each of us eating two for tonight's dinner, I cut it into six pieces, and we each had one, along with coleslaw. I usually felt stuffed with a quarter of the pizza, so reducing it to a sixth is good, and we will have an additional meal from it. Scott also liked it.

[BakerAunt]

I made a large buttermilk coleslaw on Saturday, using a green cabbage and a red cabbage that I bought a while back at the farmers market. They kept well in the refrigerator, since I wrapped them tightly in saran. I also added carrots, which makes it extra colorful. We arrived too late at the farmers market today to get salad mix and spinach. They had someone show up earlier and buy every package they had. So, it is good that we have coleslaw for the week.

[BakerAunt]

CWCdesign--King Arthur sells this brand of orange oil. I've also seen them at Williams Sonoma. My current small box of orange, lemon, and lime came from T.J. Maxx, although I have not seen it there in a while. (Refrigerate once opened.)

I awoke too late on Friday morning to bake a new muffin recipe, so I had toast. I decided that for breakfast for the next few days that I would like something less sweet, so in the afternoon, I baked Pumpernickel Raisin Bread with Walnuts, a recipe that I created a couple of years ago from two recipes. I am looking forward to slices with my coffee tomorrow.

[BakerAunt]

I'm glad to hear that your finger has healed, Navlys, and that your husband now understands that food does not magically appear.

I made clam chowder for lunch on Friday and will have it for two more lunches. For dinner, we had large salads with pieces of roast turkey on top.

[BakerAunt]

Your friend, and her dachshund, are lucky to have you, Joan. I'm glad all was well.

For dinner on Thursday, I roasted a half turkey breast, which I drizzled with olive oil and Penzey's Northwoods seasoning. I will use a lighter hand next time with the seasoning as it was too salty. I also roasted chunks of honey nut squash and microwaved frozen peas.

[BakerAunt]

We finished the Turkey Spaghetti Squash casserole tonight, along with some microwaved fresh broccoli. We had a drizzly day, so I enjoyed taking it easy after my last three days in the kitchen.

[BakerAunt]

CWCdesign--that ridiculous direction is right up there with directions in some recipes to put the garlic in early. It tends to burn before the other ingredients are sauteed. (I will briefly add them at the start to olive oi before throwing in tomatoes, but that is the only time.)

[BakerAunt]

CWCdesign--I checked my various recipes and they all call for orange zest along with the juice. That seems to be a fact of life for citrus recipes, and one that I find frustrating, as I always have a lot more juice than zest. However, if you have some orange oil (Boyajian makes one), 1/4 tsp. replaces the zest nicely.

[BakerAunt]

I began Tuesday by baking a half recipe of Rory's Irish Scones that appeared in King Arthur's The Baking Sheet. These are somewhat like little biscuits, but they use just buttermilk and a half teaspoon of oil. I made them with half white whole wheat pastry flour and half King Arthur AP flour. It is a quick recipe. I cut them larger, so it made 16.

I also baked Pumpkin Butter Cinnamon bars, which is really a cake, another King Arthur recipe that came to me long ago in an email. (I miss those days.) It uses either apple butter or pumpkin butter, and I had a jar of pumpkin butter that needs to be used, so pumpkin it was. I have reworked the essay to use avocado oil rather than butter, and I used ¾ cup white whole wheat pastry flour and ½ cup King Arthur AP. I made my own glaze by replacing the butter and water with 1 ½ Tbs. of evaporated milk.

My last project, after we returned this afternoon from getting our Covid vaccine, was to make Maple Granola. I should be able to eat some of it after Friday when I get the permanent crown on my tooth.

[BakerAunt]

We-reran last night's dinner, but with microwaved frozen peas as the vegetable.

[BakerAunt]

CWCdesign--If you have orange oil, you can add 1.8 to 1/4 tsp. and get the zest flavor. I may have some recipe ideas for you, but I will have to look tomorrow, as it is getting late. You can freeze the juice.

Between cooking and baking, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen on Monday. I baked Maple Cookies, a butter-free recipe I created that uses avocado oil. I used the Nordic Ware Autumn square stamps. The cookie stamps are somewhat disappointing in that the acorn just does not stamp well, and the pinecone is not great either. However, the maple leaf leaves a nice clean impression. Scott was having a rough day with sinus and vertigo issues, but the cookies certainly cheered him up. I also made dough for Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers, which I will bake at the end of the week.

Note on yesterday's Oatmeal Bread: I'm really pleased with taste and texture. I've made a note to myself not to add more flour.

[BakerAunt]

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen on Monday. I made yogurt in the morning. In the afternoon, I roasted a spaghetti squash, which I then used to make Turkey and Spaghetti Squash Casserole, a kind of faux lasagna. Scott does not do well with Italian spices, so I have been experimenting. This time, I used Penzey's Northwoods seasoning, since I had an open sample, and the flavor is great. I had previously used it to season a bone-in turkey breast and some chicken breasts. We had some of the casserole with microwaved fresh broccoli.

[BakerAunt]

On Sunday, I baked two loaves of Oatmeal Bread. I adapted this recipe form Ron's Irish Porridge Bread, a recipe that a King Arthur customer gave to the company. I was worried that the dough was too wet, but I held off adding more than a smidge of flour, and the dough was easy to shape after the first rise, and it came out with great oven spring. I look forward to having it at lunch tomorrow as I enjoy the last of the Dester Indiana tomatoes with turkey bacon in sandwiches this week.

[BakerAunt]

I made more salsa with cucumbers on Sunday to eat with tortilla chips. I am using up more of the yellowed pickling cucumbers. We grew two varieties, and we will not do this one again. I skin the cucumbers, scoop out the seeds and chop them up to add to the salsa. I bought the restaurant-style tortilla chips, and they are much better than the regular ones. They are slightly thicker and have more corn flavor.

For dinner, we had the last of the pecan coated pork along with large salads.

[BakerAunt]

We had the rest of the chicken and bulgur for dinner on Saturday, and I caramelized yellow zucchini chunks in olive oil to go with it.

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