[BakerAunt]

One of my nephews (vaccinated but not yet boosted) tested positive for Covid after coming into contact with one or two people at his work who tested positive for it. He was and continues to be asymptomatic, but he visited his parents before he knew about his co-worker, so then they had to be tested. My sister, who had received her booster nine days earlier, continues to test negative. However, my brother-in-law tested positive, had trouble breathing, and had to be hospitalized for treatment. (He's home now.) He had been dragging his feet on getting the booster, even though he was eligible before she was. After hearing her story, several of my sister's friends immediately made appointments to get their booster shots.

Moral: Boosters are not optional.

[BakerAunt]

I finished my Thursday in the kitchen by making the dough and shaping cinnamon rolls to refrigerate overnight and bake for Christmas Eve breakfast.

A big thank you to Italian Cook for giving me the link to Frank and Sal. I ordered the candied citron on Monday, and it arrived today--free shipping UPS.

[BakerAunt]

Chocomouse--I had wondered if that was your base recipe for your rye bread. I used to bake it a lot, usually with a mix of dark rye and medium rye and to use the deli rye flavoring. I note that the new recipe from KABC says 1 Tbs. mustard seed or regular mustard. I wonder if that is a mistake, since I don't think one would use the same amount of mustard seed as prepared mustard. I cut it to 1 tsp. I may adjust carraway, dill seed, and mustard seed next time depending on the taste.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks for posting the link, Mike. I am not sure that I would have the patience to make these cookies. Of course, the butter content gives me an excuse not to do so. I've also never had matcha so do not know if I would like them. I chuckled at one poster who commented that when she makes these cookies, she will have her guests watch the video before serving the cookies so that her effort will be appreciated!

Thanks for looking up the hearth pan. I figure at some point they will be available again. I'd prefer shiny ones to the dark finish ones that I have, although they did ok with this bread.

I wonder if someone could start a cooking store co-op. REI got its start many years ago when a guy was searching for a decent ice axe. He found one in Europe, and then all his friends wanted one as well. A co-op was born. Of course, that would be hard to get going these days.

[BakerAunt]

My Pumpernickel Rye Bread looks very nice. It is 4 1/2 inches tall, which is what I like in a wider sandwich bread. I am looking forward to slicing it for ham sandwiches tomorrow on Christmas Eve.

I have felt we are cookie deprived. When does a gal of Swedish and German descent only have a single kind of cookie in the house at Christmas? Sacrilege! I looked at the biscotti recipe that Joan posted, then went online to find a printable version. However, I stumbled across another one at MyRecipes that did not use oil and decided to bake it.

https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/cranberry-pistachio-biscotti

I made only a few changes: I used half white whole wheat flour, added 2 Tbs. Bob's Red Mill milk powder, added 1/4 tsp. orange oil, and did not use salt, since the pistachios I had were salted. I mixed the dough with a dough whisk, added the cranberries (I microwaved these with 2 Tbs. water to rehydrate) and chopped pistachios, then switched at the end to a bowl scraper to bring the dough together. I divided it in half and put each half on a baking sheet lined with parchment. I used a piece of saran around my hands to shape the sticky dough into two logs. I did not use the egg wash, but I did sprinkle the tops of the logs with a sanding sugar that is a mix of red, green, and white. The logs are now cooling before I slice them for the second bake.

Added note: The biscotti are tasty. I would cut back the orange oil to 1/8 tsp. next time. Of course, I had a warm one. Perhaps the orange will be less intense after they cool

[BakerAunt]

posted in wrong thread

[BakerAunt]

I'm experimenting with a Pumpernickel Rye Bread with pickle juice from the German pickles that I use in my potato salad. I have a recipe from KAF for Sandwich Rye Bread. I looked at the KABC website, and that recipe has been replaced by one with the same title. The new recipe is scaled for an 8x4 or 5x9 pan, as KABC no longer carries the hearth pan the original recipe employs. It also uses pickle juice and in addition to caraway seed uses dill seed and mustard seed. I have used the two recipes to make my own. We shall see what happens. I had some concern about the pickle juice's saltiness and the yeast. I used my bread machine for the kneading. I proofed the yeast for 10 minutes, then put it into the bread machine, put the flour mixture on top, then added the pickle juice once the machine started mixing. I then added olive oil. The dough looks good. I will see how well it is rising after an hour.

[BakerAunt]

I thought of you, Joan, when I was making the turnip greens soup. I was going to make the greens and the turnips separately, but my husband was uncertain about eating something he had never eaten before, so I made the soup just for me. Turnips and turnip greens are a super health food, so I am going to incorporate them into my diet when I find turnips and greens as nice as those I found last week.

[BakerAunt]

When I went to the farmers market last Saturday, one of the vendors had beautiful bunches of turnips, by which I mean that the greens were also excellent. I had to buy a bunch, then came home and looked for internet recipes. I settled on Turnip Soup with Turnip Greens from Molly Watson at thespruceeats.com

I made the recipe for lunch on Wednesday. It is a mild soup, even with the onion and garlic. I deliberately did not add other ingredients this time because I wanted to taste the turnip greens and turnips. It would be good with some ham added, and the recipe does say optional bacon or pancetta. I could also see it with black-eyed peas or navy beans.

Wednesday night dinner was the Crispy Oven Fried Fish and Chips with Dill Sauce, along with leftover coleslaw.

[BakerAunt]

Skeptic--almost any place beats Williams-Sonoma these days. They no longer have free shipping unless one is a member of their $90 a year club. (I do not order THAT much from them.) I loved the restaurant store in Lubbock and had to be stern with myself.

Yes, you deserve quality bakeware while stuck away from home, and the good part is that you can take it home with you--the souvenirs that keep on giving!

[BakerAunt]

I baked a new recipe, Honey Oatmeal Rolls that KABC recently developed. I made some adjustments: 3 Tbs. avocado oil rather than 4 Tbs. butter, 1 cup plus 2 Tbs. white whole wheat flour in place of that much bread flour, buttermilk in place of 1 cup water, and 1/3 cup water rather than milk. I also cut the yeast from 2 1/2 tsp. to 2 1/4 tsp and the salt from 1 1/2 tsp. to just 1 tsp. and added 2 Tbs. special dried milk. I shaped these as 16 rolls in a 9x9 pan. (Of course, the batteries in the scale had to be replaced mid-dough division, which meant struggling with the plastic around the lithium batteries meant to keep children--and perhaps adults--from opening them.) We had the rolls with dinner tonight and agreed this recipe is a keeper. I like the white whole wheat here because it allows the oat flavor to emerge; regular whole wheat would obscure it.

[BakerAunt]

I made yogurt on Monday. I was able to order yogurt jars from Lehman's that will work in my yogurt maker, so I can now do six jars again rather than the five I did last time. I had to buy a replacement set of eight, so that will help me get ahead on making another batch of yogurt a day or two ahead of when I need to do so.

Dinner on Monday was beef stew. I bought a pound of stew meat from Armor beef that sells at our local farmer's market (antibiotic and hormone free) for $6.50, only a little more than what I would have to pay at the local grocery and of higher quality. I put potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms into the stew, along with dehydrated onion and my usual seasonings. I add frozen peas near the end before thickening it with ClearJel. It is delicious.

[BakerAunt]

What a great store, Italian Cook. I went ahead and ordered the candied citron so that I have it for next year. Although it was more expensive, the free shipping makes up for that.

Also, thanks, Mike! I will make a note of the Sheridan Fruit Co. for investigation.

I am not near a Whole Foods. I'm not sure that I have ever seen citrons in any store. Years ago, one of my friends had a house with a citron tree, but I never explored candying it.

[BakerAunt]

A covered clay or pottery baker keeps the steam inside, but the instructions say to remove the lid part way through the baking--usually about 10 minutes before the end. Doing so produces a crisper outside crust and softer interior.

[BakerAunt]

On Sunday, I baked Pfeffernusse. I used the last 1/2 cup of citron from a supply I bought about six years ago. The citron was hard, but I revived it by putting it in a small bowl with a little water, covering with saran, and microwaving for a minute. I then let it stand. Of the cookies I associate with Christmas (the others are sugar cookies and shortbread) pfeffernusse are the least unhealthy, with just a stick of butter for the 37. They are also the cookie I most associate with Christmas and my childhood because a relative used to mail them to us. (I asked who it was when I got older and was looking for a recipe, but my mother did not recall other than it was someone on my father's side.) As usual, I ordered the King Arthur non-melting sugar, but it did not work as well this year; the sugar was not adhering to the warm cookies, and I was pressing it on with my hands. I wonder if KABC changed the formulation.

If I am to make these cookies next year, I do not know where I would find candied citron. King Arthur used to sell lovely European, small-diced citron, but they stopped carrying it years ago. When I first baked these cookies I used the citron from the grocery, but what King Arthur sold was far superior to it. Now, I do not even see it at the grocery in the fall.

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