[BakerAunt]

To go with soup on Sunday, I baked my complete re-imagining of KABC’s Dutch Oven Dinner Rolls, baked in my Emile Henry ceramic Dutch oven, and served warm with the soup.

This week's baking plans include a pumpkin pie and that Pumpkin Walnut Rye Bread from the Rye Baker blog.

As it is only my husband, me, and the dog, a single dessert will do, and that rye bread makes excellent sandwiches.

[BakerAunt]

I giggled over the Washington Post turkey article, CWCdesign. Of course, we think nothing of roasting turkey several times a year in our house. Thanks for posting the link here.

Sunday was chilly, so it was a good day to be in the kitchen. I made a batch of applesauce from the bag of seconds we bought on our orchard trip. The combination of Doud Greening and Ida Red is excellent. The batch made from a 5 lb. combination needed only ½ cup sugar. I froze this batch. I will make another later this week to go with Thanksgiving dinner.

I made yogurt.

For Sunday dinner, I made a large pot of soup, using the Bob’s Red Mill Vegi-Soup combo (red and brown lentils, green and yellow split peas, some barley), along with my homemade broth, celery, carrots, a mostly red bell pepper from one of our pots, garlic, a pound of mushrooms, ground turkey, rehydrated dried onion, Penzey’s Ozark seasoning, and kale (added at end), then 1 Tbs. red wine vinegar and a bit of freshly ground pepper. I am hoping the soup will see us through Wednesday, so that I can put my efforts toward Thanksgiving preparations.

[BakerAunt]

For dinner on Saturday night, we had roasted sweet potato cubes, breaded chicken breast, and microwaved fresh broccoli, which came from the organic growers at the Farmers’ Market this morning. For the chicken breast, I toasted the Panko at 375F for 7 minutes before using it to coat the chicken. I started the sweet potatoes 30 minutes early, at 375F, then stirred them on the sheet, before returning them to the oven and adding the separate baking sheet with the chicken breast. Next time, I will roast the sweet potato cubes at 350F, as they were a bit blackened on the bottom, although still tasty. We also had the last of the applesauce I made last week.

[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook--I'm pretty sure that Cass would tell you to use all King Arthur unbleached rather than use any bleached Gold Medal in this bread.

Bleached flour is good for shortbread but not for bread.

[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook: Cass called today, and he had some thoughts about your Portuguese bread recipe that he asked me to pass along.

1. He thought that the King Arthur unbleached flour would work well. He also thought a mixture of half Gold Medal AP and the King Arthur AP would work, perhaps better. He said it is a matter of extensibility for the fough.

2. The recipe has a hydration of 75%, so it will be like working with ciabatta dough. He was not certain you would want to mix it without a stand mixer, as it will be a gloppy mess, and you will likely be tempted to add in too much additional flour.

3. He thought this recipe would work better with a biga. He suggested that you look at the King Arthur site, as they have included information on using them. The biga is an overnight "starter." It will help when you try shaping the bread.

4. Be prepared for the bread to spread out and be flat like a pancake. You might want to think about baking it in a pan so that the sides will be contained.

He also said you can get a similar kind of bread, maybe with less pain, by baking a French or Italian style loaf.

I took notes as CaSS talked to me about your bread recipe on the phone, so I hope that I have correctly communicated his suggestions.

He also had a serving suggestion--the way his mother did it: Instead of dipping the bread in olive oil, toast just one 1/4-inch slice, one side of the bread only, but do not let it turn amber or tan, just a bit crispy. Drizzle 1-2 tsp. olive oil over the toasted bread, then toast again until it is a bit crisp, not brown. Use a pepper mill to put a bit of pepper over it. Eat and enjoy!

[BakerAunt]

My husband and I both enjoyed our slices of pie after lunch. I bake with the skins on the apple, and they were not intrusive. Northern Spy is more tart than Winesap, and I used a bit more sugar in the filling, but it has a lovely light taste. I would definitely bake pies with Northern Spy again. While I was worried about the height of the pie when I took it out last night, it had subsided to a regular level this morning.

I'm not sure that most markets sell good apples for pie baking or applesauce. I have bought Jonathans a the local grocery in the past, but the rest that they sell are not baking apples.

[BakerAunt]

Skeptic--When we were still living in Texas, and our now Indiana home was the "vacation" place, I had a set of the essentials there. That was easy in that we had kitchen items from my husband's parents' home that we had saved. I supplemented with trips to the local thrift store. I also bought some knives for there, since the ones his parents had were not so great. When I got better baking sheets for the home kitchen, I brought the older ones here. I bought a few metal mixing bowls from T.J. Maxx, so that I would have the sizes I needed. So, I would say, first take stock of what is there, then make a list of what are essentials for you.

Now that we live here, and sometimes do extended trips, I have a bin in which I put cooking items that can travel. It has measuring cups, measuring spoons, a liquid measure. It also has a case with knives and a sharpener, as most vacation places do not have sharp knives. I haven't done a lot of baking on our winter trips to Florida (and we won't be going this year again due to the still active Covid-19 issues), but I told my husband that next time we go, I want to take the smaller bread machine, as we could not find good bread nearby. My plan is to bag the dry ingredients for various breads and rolls, so that they are premeasured for use and to take yeast separately. I would take a bread pan and a smaller baking sheet. I also like my own mixing spatulas and a small whisk.

It all depends on what you are hoping to bake. You did not get advance notice to prepare, so you are starting from scratch.

We stayed at one place that had no baking sheets, and I ended up buying a nice, rimmed Kitchen Aid one at a local Tuesday Morning, which I use all the time at home.

You might be able to find measuring cups, etc. at local thrift stores.

[BakerAunt]

Thursday was a busy baking day. I started by baking my adaptation of Skeptic’s Pumpkin Biscotti, since I had a bit of leftover peanut pumpkin from Tuesday, and a bit of frozen leftover pumpkin from last year that gave me the half cup I needed.

I made dough for my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers. I will bake them next week.

I baked an apple pie this evening, using seven Northern Spy and two Winesaps. I was worried about having enough apples for the filling and had my husband fetch the two Winesaps from the garage, but the Northern Spy would have been sufficient, as the pie is very tall. I used my favorite recipe, which is Bernard Clayton’s “French Apple Pie,” from his pie baking book. He used Granny Smiths, as I have in the past. (I agree with Mike's earlier comment that Granny Smith's are not that good anymore.) It has a streusel topping, which I adapt by replacing the 1/3 cup of butter with 1 Tbs. butter and 1 ½ Tbs. avocado oil. I used a teaspoon of Penzey’s apple pie spice (a free sample). The pie will rest overnight, and we will have a slice at lunch tomorrow. I have never used Northern Spy, so I am particularly looking forward to tasting it.

[BakerAunt]

I made a stir-fry for dinner on Thursday, using the leftover pork that my husband pan-cooked for dinner last night. I did not get deglazing liquid from it, only fat, but I had some deglazing from previous pork cooking and used it. I combined carrots, celery, a red and a yellow long pepper that came from our garden, green onion from the farmers’ market, broccoli, and soba noodles with the pork. We have enough for dinner tomorrow.

[BakerAunt]

I read somewhere that a shortage of canned cranberry sauce is the result of a lack of cans. Whether that is true or not, I do not know. However, my husband does not care for cranberry sauce, and I like fresh cranberry sauce, so that is not a problem for us.

I did stock up on TWO blue bags of Pepperidge Farm stuffing.

Len--my husband always covers the turkey with foil. It does keep it moist, although I miss the browned skin (which, of course, I should not be eating anyway).

[BakerAunt]

My husband is in charge of the turkey roasting. He sets the temperature at 340. We also decided that the turkey will need to go in to the oven at noon in order for it to cook and then rest before carving.

It will be just the three of us for Thanksgiving: my husband, me, and our dog. In past years, my husband has roasted the turkey in the oven in the little apartment kitchen, but we started a renovation on that space in July, and we have not seen our contractor and crew, who were working on and off, for over a month, so the stove is not in position to be used. It will have to cook in the house oven.

[BakerAunt]

My husband pan-cooked boneless pork ribs tonight, which we had with the leftover noodles with mushroom sauce, some microwaved frozen peas, and some of the applesauce I made last week.

[BakerAunt]

I baked two loaves of my adaptation of Grape Nuts bread on Wednesday. My husband is excited, as it is his favorite bread. I have been baking other recipes that make three loaves, but as I am now freezing pumpkin puree, and after Thanksgiving, broth, I need to allow for more freezer space, so freezing only one of the loaves works better right now.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks for posting these reminders, Mike.

I have a comment on the refrigerator thawing time. When we have let the turkey thaw for a day for each 4-5 pounds, we have ended up with a still frozen turkey, and those were smaller turkeys. This year, we have a turkey over 20 lbs. because it was an excellent price at Aldi's, and we (and the dog) will have no trouble eating it all.

I moved the turkey from the freezer to a pan in the refrigerator before noon today. That is eight days before we will roast it. The Butterball turkey guidelines have the same refrigerator thawing time as the USDA guidelines, but it says that a thawed turkey can rest in the refrigerator for up to four days after thawing, so if it miraculously thaws in the allotted time, which I am certain it will not, it should be fine until we put it into the oven.

I'm interested in knowing if other people have found the USDA and Butterball thawing time in the refrigerator to result in a turkey that is thawed and not still frozen in the center.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks for the detailed report Mike. I've been thinking of trying this recipe, so your report helps. I'll be interested to see if you can incorporate some wholegrain flours.

The Rosetta rolls also use a long rise (a LOT longer than these), as well as refrigeration for a couple of hours before baking. Although that recipe says to rest them at room temperature for 20 minutes after they come out, the next time I bake them, I plan to put them into the oven directly from the refrigerator. That was Cass's suggestion.

The Rosetta rolls do have that thinner crust and the soft interior. Of course, what I am trying to achieve with those is the hole.

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