[BakerAunt]

Aaron--yes, an emptier nest can curtail the baking. I hope the project to get people to bake their own challah is successful, but I agree that when one is an expert, it is irritating to have one's expertise ignored. One possible problem with the current plan is that a lot of people need help with the actual baking.

We used the last of the bread today. Given the cooler temperatures, I baked my variation of the Pompanoosuc Porridge Bread from an old King Arthur recipe. (It's no longer on their site, as they stopped selling the porridge.) I bake it in a 12 x 4 x 2 ½-inch Kitchen Aid loaf pan, which makes for narrower but taller slices. It is too much dough for the King Arthur bread bowl, but not quite enough to fill the Emile Henry long baker.

I used maple syrup for the sweetener this time.

[BakerAunt]

Monday night's dinner was Turkey-Zucchini Loaf with Peach-Dijon Mustard Glaze, more of our potatoes cut into chunks, tossed in olive oil, and roasted, and the rest of the Green Bean, Cherry Tomato, and Feta Salad.

[BakerAunt]

I had my last turkey bacon-tomato sandwich for lunch today. We only have a few tomatoes left.

Sunday night's dinner for us will be the rest of the chicken salad, either plain or as an open-faced sandwich, and more of the green bean, cherry tomato, and Greek cheese salad.

I had planned on making spaghetti squash "lasagna," but the spaghetti squash I was planning to use had gone bad from a break in the shell. I'm not sure if it were an insect or damage. I put it out in the yard to see if the chipmunks will eat the seeds.

[BakerAunt]

I'm wondering about doing a group challenge here at Nebraska Kitchen where a couple of times a year or so, we each grab a cookbook that has been sitting on our shelves and cook or bake a recipe from it that is new to us, even if we do some modifications of it.

[BakerAunt]

That bread looks so good, Joan!

[BakerAunt]

Thanks, Len. I'll have to check it out.

I have some older cookbooks that belonged to my husband's mother and grandmother. One has recipes for cooking pigeons. I will pass on that one!

[BakerAunt]

My husband managed to harvest another pound of green beans, and I used the rest of our cherry tomatoes as well as some I bought last week at the farmers market to make our favorite green bean, cherry tomato, and Greek cheese salad. I found a frozen container of black-eyed peas in the freezer, so I added those as well. We had it with open-faced chicken salad sandwiches.

[BakerAunt]

There was a half bag of peanut butter chips in the refrigerator with an expiration date of 2015. I tasted one, and they are fine. To use them up, I went internet recipe hunting for a no-butter peanut butter chip cookie. I found "Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (Without Butter or Margarine" from Miriam Pascal at OvertimeCook.com which I thought had possibilities.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies {Without Butter or Margarine}

Although she says not to use natural peanut butter, I used Santa Cruz naturally crunchy and reduced the oil from 2/4 to 2/3 cups to compensate. I also used white whole wheat flour and added 2 Tbs. Bob's Red Mill milk powder. She used ¾ each of chocolate chips and peanut butter chips but notes that just one type of chips could be used. I used the scan 1 cup that I had on hand. The recipe said to use a "medium" scoop, which is not helpful. I used a Zeroll #30, which is probably larger than that medium, as I ended up with 32 rather than four dozen, so she probably used a smaller scoop. Of course, we love larger cookies. I baked the first tray of a dozen for 12 minutes, and they were perfect. I baked the second tray, also a dozen, for 10 minutes, and they were slightly overdone. I baked the third tray of nine for 9 minutes, and they were perfect. Scott had a warm one from the second batch and gave them a thumbs up. I had one at teatime, and seconded his vote. I will be baking these again. They would be delicious without any peanut butter or chocolate chips.

[BakerAunt]

For dinner on Friday, I used the rest of the roasted chicken breast to make chicken salad. We had it on open-faced sandwiches, using slices of the Chewy Semolina Rye Bread I baked earlier in the week. I used dark rather than medium rye when I baked it, so it is a firm bread, which is perfect for this kind of open-faced sandwich. We had microwaved fresh broccoli on the side.

[BakerAunt]

I usually stir it back in, but then I use 2 cups for crackers, and feed it. My best bread was after I had fed it for crackers, then for pizza, then baked bread.

I'm just grateful that we can refrigerate our starters.

[BakerAunt]

I made yogurt on Thursday.

Dinner was more of the roasted chicken breast and the rest of the farro-vegetable stir-fry.

[BakerAunt]

I'll make a note about the honeybells, Joan. I've seen them when we vacationed in Florida.

On Wednesday, I baked my adaptation of the King Arthur recipe for Butterscotch Apple Sweet Rolls. I made the filling last year and froze it. I let it thaw for a few days in the refrigerator, then put the sweet rolls together this afternoon. We each had one for dessert tonight. My recipe cuts the saturated fat by replacing butter with avocado oil and sour cream with nonfat Greek yogurt (I cannot find low-fat nearby). I continued to tweak the recipe this time by increasing the 2 Tbs. of avocado oil that I substituted for butter in the rolls to 3 Tbs. I also added an additional tablespoon of water. I reduced the sugar from ½ cup to 1/3 cup but added 2 Tbs. honey. I tried replacing some of the sugar with honey in my cinnamon rolls, and it seems to keep them softer longer. I also make the rolls half whole wheat flour, so that is probably why I needed a bit more water. I reduced the glaze by using just ¾ cup of powdered sugar rather than 1 cup. With that filling the glaze needs to be kept to a minimum.

[BakerAunt]

Mike is correct: the dill is more pronounced after two days. I'm enjoying my pickles!

We had leftover roasted chicken breast and farro stir-fry for dinner on Wednesday.

[BakerAunt]

Happy Anniversary, Mike and Diane!

[BakerAunt]

Update on the pickles: I could taste the dill flavor more today. I really like their crunchiness!

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