[BakerAunt]

For dinner on Saturday, I made an entrée with 8 oz. whole wheat rotini pasta, which I added to sauteed sliced carrots, celery, green onion, mushrooms, and spinach, along with a large can of fire-roasted tomatoes, and the rest of the roasted chicken breast meat.

As a side dish, I roasted a 2 ½ lb. delicata squash that I have had for over a month, using a recipe that the vendor texted to me. The recipe called for coating a large, rimmed baking sheet with olive oil (I went ahead and lined my pan first with parchment paper), then sprinkling grated Parmesan and garlic atop it. I cut the Parmesan down to 2 oz, but reserved ¼ cup as stated. I did not use fresh garlic because it would burn. Instead, I sprinkled a teaspoon of garlic powder over the Parmesan. Half moon rings of the squash, cut ¾ inch thick, are then laid on the Parmesan bed. The tops are rubbed with a bit more olive oil, then the rest of the Parmesan is sprinkled on top. It bakes at 425 F for 30 minutes, but I probably should have pulled it out at 25, since some of the Parmesan overbrowned. This delicata squash recipe came out better than my previous attempt, and from what I read online, high heat for a shorter period of time is ideal. The skin was still a little chewy but acceptable. I do not know if the chewiness is because it has been lying around for a month or because it is large. The original recipe called for a 1 ½ lb. squash. I also wonder if it used the commercial Kraft Parmesan, since there is no way that 1/3 cup freshly grated is 1 ½ oz.

[BakerAunt]

The holiday season is never easy for retail workers, CWCdesign. Hang in there.

I made spaghetti squash and mushroom quiche on Friday afternoon. I will have it for lunches, beginning tomorrow. I used 100 g of pastry flour and 140 grams of whole wheat pastry flour in the crust.

For dinner, I made Crispy Oven Fish and Chips with Dill Tartar Sauce. We also had microwaved fresh broccoli.

[BakerAunt]

I love my intricate Bundt pans, but even with The Grease, they can be hard to clean. I found that I was not using my specialty pans as much, but I want to use them, so I broke down and bought the Vegalene spray that King Arthur sells, and which is used on lots of baking shows. On Thursday, I pulled out my intricate Nordic Ware autumn wreath pan and baked my adaptation of their recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Cake. My version replaces butter with avocado oil and uses part whole wheat pastry flour, with the addition of flax meal and milk powder. The cake came right out of the pan, and the clean-up was a breeze. Vegalene spray is much better than the sprays sold in grocery stores. The cake will rest overnight, and we will begin slicing it for dessert tomorrow night.

[BakerAunt]

We had more of the roast chicken breast and finished the leftover roasted cubed sweet potatoes and honey nut squash. We also had microwaved fresh broccoli from the farmers market, which is so much better than what we get in the store.

[BakerAunt]

We finished the last of the Turkey, Mushroom, and Kale lasagna for dinner tonight.

[BakerAunt]

We got a good deal on bone-in chicken breasts at the local grocery today, but they needed to be roasted today, so I changed dinner plans. To go with the chicken, we had the last honey nut squash roasted as cubes and microwaved fresh broccoli.

[BakerAunt]

On Tuesday, I baked another recipe from Sarah Leah Chase's Year Around Cookbook (Nantucket Open House Cookbook, which is one of the two included in this joint volume), Cranberry Harvest Muffins. I replaced AP flour with whole wheat flour and 1 cup of melted butter with ½ cup of canola oil. I added 2 Tbs. milk powder and 2 Tbs. flax meal. I replaced the milk with buttermilk. I halved the white and brown sugars. I did not use her spices, which were 1 Tbs. cinnamon and 2 tsp. ground ginger. Instead, I used 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. allspice, and ¼ tsp. cloves. I could not find dried Calimyrna figs, so I followed an online suggestion to use dried Turkish figs instead. I am pleased with how the recipe turned out. The spices are just right, nicely complementing the fruit. I made one unintentional change. I planned to reduce the baking powder from 1 Tbs. to 2 tsp. However, I accidentally put in 2 tsp. of baking soda because I was thinking about something other than the task at hand. The baking soda was already in the flour, so I had to proceed. I put in ½ tsp. of baking powder (which should have been the baking soda amount) and deleted the salt. The muffins came out fine, but next time I will do it the right way. The recipe said it yields 20 muffins. I made 6 large muffins and 10 small muffins. I think it would make close to two dozen. I will freeze the large muffins for future breakfasts. Even Scott, who is not a cranberry fan likes the muffins.

[BakerAunt]

It is good to hear from you again, Aaron. I was wondering how your baking is going, since you had not posted for a while. Yes, mixers do a better job kneading dough. I was a holdout until about 15 years ago when I got my stand mixer, and suddenly, my bread rose higher and was lighter, and I made less of a mess in the kitchen. That's why, before we lived here, I bought the used bread machine for kneading while the stand mixer was at home. Then I discovered the bread machine was great for the small kneading jobs my mixer was not so good at. So, one discovery leads to another.

That is great that Violet is still baking with you.

[BakerAunt]

I made yogurt on Monday.

We had more of the Turkey, Mushroom, and Kale Lasagna. Thanks for the information about spinach having more water, Mike. Scott and I agree that when kale is available, I will use it in this recipe.

[BakerAunt]

I baked Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers on Monday from dough I made last week.

[BakerAunt]

Dinner on Sunday night was Turkey, Mushroom, and Kale Lasagna. The recipe calls for spinach, but the vendor had such nice kale at the farmers market that I used it instead. I also included two of our red bell peppers that have ripened inside. I think the lasagna worked better with the kale than with the frozen spinach, in that it firmed up faster. We both like this variation on the recipe.

[BakerAunt]

For dinner, we had the remaining two pecan coated pork slices with roasted honey nut squash chunks, the rest of the applesauce, and microwaved frozen mixed vegetables.

[BakerAunt]

I baked a crumb-topped apple pie on Friday evening, using the original Winesap apples. I made the crust with half whole wheat pastry flour and half regular pastry flour, instead of just a third of the whole wheat pastry flour. Eventually, I want to see if I can make the crust with only whole wheat pastry flour, since Bob's Red Mill has stopped selling either kind of pastry flour. I do have another source for the whole wheat pastry flour, and I have plenty of it on hand. I am pleased with how the apples in the filling baked, although we will not slice for a taste until tomorrow. I now know the ask for original Winesaps, not "traditional," which is what I got last year and found do not make good pies as they do not soften very much.

Saturday note: We sliced the pie for afternoon tea (for Scott) and coffee (for me). It is delicious and exactly as I remember a Winesap apple pie should be.

[BakerAunt]

We repeated the pecan coated pork slices from last night, but I roasted sweet potato chunks to go with it, and we had microwaved broccoli, as well as more of the applesauce.

[BakerAunt]

Yum, yum, Joan!

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