BakerAunt
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Thursday was a busy day in the kitchen. I baked my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from dough I made last week. I baked 2 layers of a 6-inch chocolate cake. I also baked a double recipe of my variation on Ellen's buns. I made 24 and baked them in two 9x9 pans. I ended the day by making White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.
On Wednesday, I baked my variation on the Soft Oatmeal Raisin Cookies No Butter at Jenny Can Bake.
Wednesday was also Sourdough Pan Pizza day, using homemade sauce from the freezer, along with Canadian bacon, mozzarella, mushrooms, red bell pepper, green onion, Parmesan, and on my half, black olives.
I bought a fairly inexpensive Saltar scale at Ross over ten years ago. I think that I paid less than $20 for it, and it has been a workhorse. It has a small footprint and runs on two lithium batteries. I keep it in a drawer, in the cardboard outline in which it was nestled. I pull it out as needed. I like that I can toggle back and forth between metric and English weights with a button on the top. There is not a lot of warning when the batteries are low, and it will turn off unexpectedly in that case, as it did today while I was measuring flour for buns. Thus, I keep back-up batteries on hand. I've converted some of my bread recipes to grams, so that I do not have to use measuring cups. I also use it for dividing dough.
I, briefly, had a more expensive scale that my husband bought at King Arthur for my birthday, when I told him I wanted it. That scale had a larger pad for weighing dough. However, the toggle to go from metric to English was on the BACK of the scale, so I could not toggle. The batteries that came with it degenerated quickly, leaked, and ruined the scale. I swore off the expensive stuff at that point and went back to my Saltar. If I need to weigh something bigger than the pad, I put a ring I have that I use when I want to keep a mixing bowl from sliding around with the hand mixer, or I want to slant a bowl slightly to let a small amount of remaining batter come together. I put the ring on the mixer, then a plate or bowl, and put the larger stuff to be weighed inside it.
I am, like Sceptic, getting tired of buying batteries, which I seem to be doing every six months or so. KABC has a large scale that can be battery or plug in, but it would take a lot of room on the counter.
I really like scales for weighing sour cream or yogurt or peanut butter. These products include gram listings, so I work out the weight for the volume measurement. I HATE cleaning this stuff out of measuring cups. It's also handy for weighing chocolate chips and nuts if you are watching saturated fat. I even weigh the nuts I plan to eat for a snack.
Yes, scales are great.
On Tuesday, I baked Len's Whole Wheat/Rye/Semolina buns. I made ten buns, since we like them a little smaller than doing eight.
To go with leftover pork and microwaved frozen peas on Tuesday, I made freekeh, using the drippings from when my husband cooked the pork, along with water to make up the amount. It came out tasty.
For Sunday dinner, my husband cooked boneless pork ribs in the skillet, I roasted sweet potato cubes that had been tossed in olive oil, and we also had microwaved frozen peas.
They look wonderful, Joan!
On Saturday, I made dough for another batch of my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers.
I cooked a package of chickpeas on Saturday. I froze some and used about 15 oz. to make my Spanish Chickpea, Spinach, and Bulgur Stew, which I adapted from a Penzey's archived recipe. I used tomato sauce from the freezer. I had it for dinner, while my husband had the rest of the Tarragon Chicken and Rice with Mushrooms and some microwaved frozen peas. I will have the rest of my stew for lunches in the coming week.
I also made yogurt today.
On Thursday evening, I baked Chocolate Olive Oil Cake with Blood Orange Glaze, a recipe that I bake every year when blood oranges are in season. The cake is cooling, so the glaze will be added tomorrow. I used the Nordic Ware Party Bundt pan.
Right before I was about to put it in the oven, I realized that I had not added the vanilla, so I put it on top of the batter, then used a fork to try to mix it in. I need to type up this recipe, with my changes, in a format that will prevent my making this mistake again. My format is to group the ingredients that go together, leaving a space between the groups. That way, I am less likely to overlook one of them.
On Wednesday I baked the Pumpkin Rye Whole Wheat Bread that I have developed from a recipe in Jane Brody's Good Food Gourmet. I have changed it so much that it is now my own recipe. I used 2 cups of the pumpkin/squash hybrid we grew last year. This time I reduced the salt from 1 Tbs. to 2 1/2 tsp. I also added 1/2 cup of rolled 5-grain cereal that I wanted to use up, which meant that the bread did not need an additional 1/4 cup flour. I baked it in two 8 1/2 x 41/2 loaf pans this time, as opposed to the 9x5. They are slightly too large for the smaller pans, but they still look great. I will freeze one, and the other will be sliced at lunch tomorrow.
For dinner on Monday, I made Tarragon Chicken with Mushrooms and a combination of half brown rice and half a blend of wild rice. We also had microwaved fresh broccoli
Well, it may not be a seasonal bake for the first day of spring, but on Sunday morning I baked wholegrain pumpkin loaves (my adaptation of the recipe here at Nebraska Kitchen) as five mini-loaves. I left out two for desserts over the next few days and froze the other three
I made yogurt on Sunday.
Sunday dinner was Salmon and Couscous with Penzey's Greek Seasoning. We also had microwaved fresh broccoli.
For dinner on Saturday night, I made pea soup. I always put carrots in mine, as well as ham pieces from the freezer. We have enough for at least two more meals. It was a great dinner for this cold, rainy day.
I baked the Gourmet Soda Crackers this morning. They are now cooling on the pan in the oven.
You and your family might enjoy that recipe, Aaron. It does require the King Arthur Italian-Style flour. I leave my crackers plain, but KABC suggests sprinkling seeds or some topping on them. I replace the butter with 3 Tbs. avocado oil (includes the oil the recipe already uses). I also find that rolling it out on Silpat the first time, folding it, then moving the dough to the parchment to roll out for baking is faster and easier. I cut it on the parchment and do not separate; the crackers separate in the oven. The oven rest is the biggest issue, as it means you cannot use the oven for other uses--and you need to make sure no one turns it on accidentally.
I have to be stern with my husband about scarfing these indiscriminately, as they are white flour crackers, so the nutritional profile is low. Their attraction for me is that they are great with healthy dips, such as hummus or guacamole (neither of which he eats), and they go well with the pea soup I will be making tonight.
I also recommend the multi-grain crackers in the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking Book, which I make with an oil substitution and a Tbs. of added milk powder. These are non-yeasted, so they come together and bake fast. You do need cooked steel-cut oats that have cooled to room temperature. I cook 2 Tbs., and that works perfectly. I usually need additional water to bring the dough together. This recipe could easily be doubled.
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