[BakerAunt]

I baked my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers on Tuesday from dough that I had in the refrigerator.

Aaron--I buy the malted wheat flakes from King Arthur, which has some recipes that use them. I need to order some more. My husband and I like the flavor. They can be used in oat bread recipes in place of oats.

For some reason, I am thinking that they are a British item, but I could be wrong.

[BakerAunt]

When I freeze tomatoes, I cook them with a bit of olive oil and some minced garlic. If I plan to use it as sauce, I do not cook it until it is moderately thick. If I plan to use it for pizza sauce, I cook as much water out of it as I can. I have to forgo the onion in deference to my husband. As for the red bell peppers, I have plenty of uses for that crop without freezing, or perhaps I should say, we cannot fit enough pepper plants into the garden!

[BakerAunt]

Dinner on Tuesday was the Crispy Oven Baked Fish and Chips. We also had microwaved fresh broccoli from the farmers' market.

[BakerAunt]

We ran out of bread on Monday, and I wanted to move past my usual four recipes. I took the recipe I had worked out for Sunflower Oat Wheat Bread and altered it to use 1 cup of Harvest Grains and the last malted wheat flakes (1/4 cup). I baked it as two 9x5 large loaves, which are now cooling. One we will begin slicing at lunch tomorrow, and the other I will freeze for later.

[BakerAunt]

There was only enough bread for my husband's lunch today, so I rummaged in the refrigerator for a throw-together lunch. I started with olive oil in a small sauté pan to which I added garlic. After a minute, I added a large cut-up tomato from the garden that needed to be used, and then some onion. After cooking for a bit, I added a 1/2 teaspoon of Penzey's Tuscan Sunset, about a half cup of leftover potato water, then the leftover freekeh from a couple of nights ago. I added some kale and let it wilt before adding a small can of chicken. After a little pepper, I put it in a bowl and grated Parmesan over it.

[BakerAunt]

I use the technique in The Food Lab for cooking dried beans, and my beans come out perfectly now. That means salting the water in which they soak, draining it and rinsing the beans, then salting the water in which they cook. So, all those years of being told that salt should not be added to beans until they get soft was not accurate.

[BakerAunt]

I was going to bake bread today but got distracted with other matters, so it is on the agenda for tomorrow. We had temperatures that reached the upper 70s--not the 80s originally predicted--but it was humid. We were blessed with a good rain between 6 and 7 this evening that popped up out of nowhere, as it was not even on the radar my husband had been watching.

[BakerAunt]

On Sunday, I made black-eyed peas, which I mixed with brown rice, sauteed celery and red bell pepper, 1 Tbs. dehydrated onion, 1/2 tsp. thyme, black pepper, fresh parsley, and a package of chopped ham.

[BakerAunt]

CWCdesign--that's a great example of using what you have on hand and streamlining the process!

Our Saturday night dinner is Salmon and Couscous with Dill. We had microwaved fresh green beans from the garden.

[BakerAunt]

Joan--Here's how I roasted them:

Trim off where the beet meets the root. Trim off most of the skinny tail. Take a large piece of aluminum foil, drizzle some olive oil in the middle, place beets in center, and sprinkle with 2 Tbs. water. Close the foil to make a packet. Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake in pre-heated oven at 400F for 50-75 minutes. The time depends on how large the beets are. They are done when pieced easily with a small sharp knife.

Remove from oven, open the foil, and allow to cool a bit. I use dry paper towels to rub off the skin (try to keep my fingers from changing color!). The beets can then be sliced.

As Len notes, if the beet greens are not wilted, they are nutritious and great to eat. When I buy good ones at the farmers' market, I immediately remove the green from the beets and store them separately in a bag in the refrigerator vegetable drawer.

It was a revelation when I made that Roasted Beet, Spinach [Beet Greens!], and Feta Cheese Flatbread, riffing off of Ken Haedrich's recipe.

[BakerAunt]

Friday night dinner was the last of the turkey-zucchini meatloaf, microwaved fresh broccoli from the farmers' market, and muddled mashed potatoes, using kennebec potatoes from the farmers' market. I leave the skins on and cut them into chunks, then cook in boiling water for about 20 minutes until tender. I drain, saving the water, then I coarsely mash the potatoes, then toss with a bit of avocado oil, a bit of salt, and a bit of potato water.

[BakerAunt]

My kitchen does not have the wall space for a foldaway anything. I'm still vexed that the cabinetry is not more useful. I keep trying, but I wish my husband had acceded to my desire for open shelving in the back area. His rationale is that because we are on a lake, where the front of the house is, people enter at the back from the street, and the shelves would be on view.

However, we have an Annex--the new name for the apartment over the garage--that we are having renovated and will use as an extension of our house. (Our contractor works in fits and starts, so we are waiting for the window trim and then the siding, and a couple of little jobs inside.) The Annex has a small kitchen, with an electric stove and refrigerator, and more importantly, my beloved kitchen table with the kind of faux wood top that was popular in the 1950s. I remember dying Easter eggs on it as a child with my siblings. When I was single and bought my house, one non-negotiable was a kitchen that would accommodate the kitchen table. I've rolled a lot of dough on it and set out racks and racks for cookies.

To live where my husband wanted to live, in a house we could afford, I had to accept a smaller kitchen (improved when we remodeled although still small), but the Annex makes up for it, even though it alone still does not give me the storage I need. I do my jam making over there, since I can leave out my equipment between batches, and I'm planning to try pasta making over there. The sheeter looks small enough, and easy enough to set up that it would work on that table.

Of course, the sheeter is just a dream, especially since we must have a new well drilled, and while not as costly as we had feared, it is still a hefty price tag. We are being ultraconservative with water until then. We have applied for the permit, and now we wait to be put on the company's schedule.

[BakerAunt]

Joan--I had never touched a raw beet until last year. I was surprised how easy they are to roast in foil in the oven, then use a paper towel to rub off the skin. I was even more surprised by how wonderful they taste.

[BakerAunt]

Joan--What a thoughtful gift for your friend. Love and baking is excellent medicine!

I have been working on an oil-based version of a recipe for Muesli Cookies that came from Bob’s Red Mill and uses their Old Country Style Muesli. I baked it about six weeks ago, and decided it needs more muesli, so I increased it to 1 1/2-cups and let the dough rest 15 minutes before scooping. I also added 1 Tbs. flax meal this time. It also helped to space them with twelve to a large baking sheet, which kept the separated on the sheet with 12 but the one with 13 had a bit of touching that I cut loose after removing from the oven. I am pleased with the size. We will have a couple for dessert tonight.

[BakerAunt]

Aaron--What are the Webstaurant's store's shipping prices? I was looking there recently, and they do not tell you until you have put the items in the basket and entered the credit card. (I despise that system.) I know that they have a membership that for a price ($99 per month) gives free shipping. Way too high for regular people.

I was looking at catering bags at Webstaurant. I am thinking of taking one or two pumpkin pies to my husband's family reunion in September. It is only about a 90-minute drive, but I think that pumpkin pie needs to be kept cold. I'm trying to decide which size would fit pie containers with 9-inch pies inside.

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