[BakerAunt]

I made yogurt on Saturday.

[BakerAunt]

We arrived home early Friday afternoon from my husband's cousins' family reunion in Michigan. I had nothing in the freezer for dinner, but we had some leftover grilled lamb that one cousin cooked at the reunion that no one wanted to take home, so we did. I used it in a brown and mixed wild rice stir-fry with celery, red bell pepper, small yellow squashes, and a bit of kale. We had microwaved broccoli as well.

I have only had lamb twice before, once some of a roasted leg, and the other time in a creamy sauce served over noodles. The latter was made by a Russian student couple at the church I attended when we lived in Lubbock. I think the grilled lamb was the best, but it is not a meat that I would seek out or invest in learning how to cook, as I can take it or leave it.

[BakerAunt]

We were at my husband's cousins' reunion this week. The two pumpkin pies I took were well received. On Wednesday evening, I put together two pans of cinnamon rolls and parked them in the refrigerator overnight. I baked and glazed them the next morning. About five of the twenty-four made it back home with us, but only because some people had to leave a day early. I have been asked to bake both the pumpkin pies and the cinnamon rolls again.

Because there were so many of us in attendance, my husband, the dog, and I were in a separate little cabin a five-minute walk from the main house. One advantage was that it had its own small kitchen. The little gas stove worked perfectly. I had taken along an oven thermometer, and the oven is accurate. That was not the case with the double oven in the main house, both of which gave the bakers and cooks fits. The food came out delicious, but that was due to their skill.

We stopped by South Bend on the way home today, so that I could do some shopping. I stocked up on our favorite dill pickles at Big Lots, along with some Bob's Red Mill items. I also found a lovely (independent?) grocery store called Fresh Thyme that had BRM whole wheat pastry and BRM pastry flour. I was getting low on pastry flour, so these two five-pound bags should get me through pie season without having to mail order. If the car had not been so packed, I might have bought some of the great fresh fruit and vegetables from local farms. Our other stop was T.J. Maxx for maple syrup, vanilla, pasta, and a few kitchen items.

[BakerAunt]

I just completed baking my second pumpkin pie. Ever since I began baking these pies in my Wolf oven, I have had a spot on the surface of each pie which is small but opens up as it cooks and bubbles. It's about the size of a dime. I never had this issue when baking the pies in a variety of other ovens. It's not the fan because I do not bake pumpkin pies with the convection setting. It happens near the end of the 10-minute initial bake at 425F. After that, I reduce the temperature to 350F for the remaining 11 minutes. My process is the same--parbaked crust and filling heated on the stove before it is put into the pie crust.

Any ideas what might be happening? It does not affect the pie in taste or texture, but I would prefer a top without the spot. Perhaps I should reduce the temperature for the initial 10 minutes from 425F to 400F?

[BakerAunt]

Chocomouse--the honey nut squashes are sweet, and they are very much like the butternut squash. I will be more specific after we start eating these. I had trouble finding butternut squashes last year, so I do not have a clear memory of the difference. The honey nuts can range in size. The first two my husband picked are quite small, but some are about double that size.

I've not cooked buttercup squash. I'll have to try one from the farmers' market.

[BakerAunt]

On Sunday, I baked my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers.

I am also in the process of baking two pumpkin pies for my husband's cousins' reunion.

Earlier in the day, I premeasured ingredients for two pans of cinnamon rolls, which I will bake there for breakfast one morning, using my older bread machine.

[BakerAunt]

We had leftover pizza.

[BakerAunt]

I made my half-sheet sourdough pan pizza for dinner on Saturday. Instead of cooking up canned tomatoes, or fresh ones, for sauce, I used the rest of a tube of tomato paste, which I mixed with water and 1/4 tsp. garlic powder. I added the usual toppings of Canadian bacon, mozzarella, mushrooms, red bell pepper (from our garden), and green onions, but I also halved cherry tomatoes from our garden and put those on as well. I added black olives to my half, then grated Parmesan over it and baked. The nice thing about the sourdough crust (regular flour, semolina, durum and rye) is that it holds up to lots of topping.

[BakerAunt]

Mike--We do need to have the Health Department test it, so we limit what we are using it for right now.

[BakerAunt]

We had the rest of the beef stew.

The pump for the new well was installed today, and we are now connected to the well. We had to run the water for a while before it was clear. It has been a LONG month.

[BakerAunt]

To go with beef stew for dinner, I made the Scottish Scones with half whole wheat pastry flour and half regular pastry flour. I like this recipe, as it makes eight, which are very much like biscuits and uses just 1 Tbs. sugar and 1 Tbs. oil. I baked it in the countertop convection oven, dropping the temperature to 400F and situating the pan on the upper rack I usually use for re-heating, and that worked very well. The little oven also does not heat up the house.

[BakerAunt]

I made beef stew on Wednesday, not because it was cold, as the weather was muggy with temperatures in the upper 80s, but because we got a good deal on lean stew meat at the local grocery yesterday.

[BakerAunt]

Re: Contractors. This one is for you CWCdesign:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/comics/rhymes-with-orange-by-hilary-price/ss-AA124sMY?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=6bac907df4df4037a8362fd3ac861b39#image=1

We are STILL trying to get the renovations finished on our garage apartment/Annex that started over a year ago. While the interior just has a few minor jobs, the exterior is dragging, as we only get the contractors a couple of times per month.

[BakerAunt]

I had just perfected galettes four years ago when my doctor presented me with my cholesterol numbers. Sigh. I had a great, part buckwheat crust that was so good with peach filling and ice cream. These days, I make my buttermilk oil (half olive, half canola) pastry crust (part pastry flour and part whole wheat pastry flour), and since that crust has to be partly baked before the filling is added, I fit it into a ceramic tart/quiche dish. While it is not exactly a galette, it lets me have the experience. I'm planning to bake a tomato/zucchini one today or tomorrow.

Aaron--maybe start a thread under discussions about cookware that works on induction? That would make the information easier to find again.

[BakerAunt]

The tomato plant we got from the farmers market has finished producing. Those tomatoes would not necessarily win beauty contests, but the flavor was so sweet and so excellent. I had my last turkey bacon tomato sandwich today. The Gurney tomatoes are starting to ripen, and I hope to use them in some cooking. I doubt that there will be enough to freeze for sauce.

Our cherry tomato plant has started producing lots of cherry tomatoes.

My husband picked the first two little honey-nut squashes. We have another six on their way to ripening, and two that if the weather holds might eventually ripen. One of the Gurney seeds produced large squashes that resemble butternuts but have somewhat longer curved necks. Two of those are well on their way to being ripe. Whether the other three will ripe in time remains to be seen.

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