[BakerAunt]

On Saturday, I baked two loaves of Pumpkin Soda Bread, a recipe that I adapted from Ken Haedrich's The Harvest Baker. My changes are increasing the pumpkin to one cup, substituting Irish-Style flour for some of the AP flour, and replacing the butter with avocado oil, I have in the past baked the loaves on a baking sheet, but the bottoms tended to burn. This time I used two round Silverlake pans that measure seven inches across the bottom with a slight flare. I bought these British pans from King Arthur a long time ago. (They had a sweet cake made with tea and fruit that used one.) I prepared the pans by spraying with Vegalene, lined them with parchment paper circles, and sprayed the papers. For shaping, I took half out of the mixing bowl (used my scale) and plopped it in the center of each pan, then used my scraper to shape it around the edges. They baked very well, perhaps a smidge more done on the bottom than I would have liked but not burnt. I will reduce the baking time from 40 to 38 minutes next time I bake the recipe.

[BakerAunt]

Dinner on Saturday, at Scott's request, was soup made with Bob's Red Mill mixture of red and brown lentils and green and yellow split peas. I used some of the turkey broth I made yesterday, ground turkey, chopped carrots, celery, orange and red bell peppers, and sliced mushrooms, as well as 1 Tbs. dehydrated onion reconstituted with water. I used 1 Tbs. Penzey's Ozark Seasoning. At the end, I stirred in kale sauteed in olive oil. We had it with the Pumpkin Soda Bread on this colder night. Our weather was back in the 20s and 30 Fs today, with snow predicted tonight and maybe tomorrow.

[BakerAunt]

On Friday, I made yogurt. I also made broth from the Thanksgiving turkey bones that have been in the freezer. I plan to use some of the broth for soup tomorrow and will freeze the rest. I roasted sweet potato chunks this evening, which we had with the rest of the roast chicken and gravy and some microwaved mixed vegetables. Our weather has turned cold today, with a high around 32 or 33 F and a bit of snow this morning. Scott noted that the steps had the thinnest coating of ice, so he went around them to get the mail and to bring in wood for the fire.

I'm glad that you now have the date for your shoulder surgery, CWCdesign and that the insurance is figured out.

[BakerAunt]

We had more of the roasted chicken (it was a big one) and finished the Pepperidge Farm dressing. We also had microwaved fresh broccoli.

[BakerAunt]

I had a package of Philadelphia Cream Cheese that needed to be used, and I have plenty of frozen pumpkin, so on Thursday, I baked Pecan Pumpkin Squares, a recipe that I adapted that appeared in the Los Angeles Times, attributed to Joan Drake, about forty years ago. I replaced the walnut crust with one made of pecan meal, I replaced the AP flour with whole wheat pastry flour, and the 1/3 cup butter with ¼ cup avocado oil with buttermilk added to make 1/3 cup. I long ago deleted a cup of water because homemade pumpkin puree needs no added water. Instead of 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, I use ¾ tsp. cinnamon, ¼ tsp. ginger, and 1/8 tsp. nutmeg. The original was baked in an 8 x 8-inch glass dish, but I have used a 10 x 7-inch dish, which means every serving has a side that baked next to the dish. This time, I used an 11 x 7-inch. When I baked this recipe last year, I replaced the cream cheese with 4 oz. of nonfat Greek yogurt, and it worked well. I will need to use the other 4 oz. of cream cheese in another recipe.

[BakerAunt]

After I got home from my dental checkup and cleaning on Wednesday, I made a large pot of Turkey, Butternut Squash, and Black Bean Chili. I had a small bowl for a late lunch, then froze six one-serving containers, an act for which future me will thank past me. I have enough for three more lunches. Today's weather did not lend itself to soup or chili, as we had a high of 67 F, but I needed to use some of my store of butternut squashes, and temperatures are supposed to return to freezing on Friday, which may save the lake ice if there is no wind.

For dinner, we had the rest of the turkey, spinach, and mushroom lasagna.

[BakerAunt]

Yes, it's 100% better. It is easier to control how the dough mixes and kneads. It is also a lot quicker to clean up. I'm not sure how well it would work on frosting, but on the rare occasions when I make it, I always used my hand mixer.

I'm glad that the details are interesting to people here at Nebraska Kitchen. I know that some people on the now defunct Baking Circle had the Ankarsrum and liked it quite a lot, but no one ever discussed using it, and those were the details that I needed.

[BakerAunt]

Dinner on Tuesday was Oven Crisp Fish and Chips with Dill Tartar Sauce and the rest of the coleslaw. We had pumpkin bread from the freezer for dessert.

All this talk of fried bologna brought back childhood memories of frying the bologna in the pan, without any grease, then putting it on toasted bread and melting some cheese on top.

[BakerAunt]

I baked a loaf of Buttermilk Pompanoosuc Porridge Bread yesterday. It's my second time with the Ankarsrum mixing and kneading for this recipe. I'm now using a large, deep spoon to add the flour; the spoon probably holds about a generous half cup. With the spoon, it is easier to distribute the flour as the bowl moves below it. Initially, I had to help the mixer get started on the kneading, which instructions say can be the case, by using my large spoon from adding the flour to move the dough past the knife and pedestal, but soon it was doing well on its own. Bread seems to require about 10 minutes of kneading on the second speed.

I have posted the recipe.

[BakerAunt]

I baked two recipes of Scottish Oatcakes on Monday. I cut them out as 2-inch circles. We like them plain, but they are also excellent with a bit of jam or apple butter. I am trying to bake earlier in the day when our solar panels are sending power to the house.

[BakerAunt]

On Monday, I made chicken broth from the bones of the chicken from Saturday, along with some from a bone-in chicken breast that was in the freezer. I was down to my last cup of chicken broth. We had very warm weather today, with temperatures in the upper 50s. Quite a change!

We had leftover roast chicken and dressing, with microwaved mixed vegetables, for dinner

[BakerAunt]

Our Sunday dinner was more of the turkey, spinach, and mushroom casserole that I made last week. That gave me plenty of time for baking.

[BakerAunt]

I had two baking projects on Sunday. I baked another loaf of Buttermilk Pompanoosuc Porridge Bread, as I am calling my version of the King Arthur recipe. This time, I sprinkled the greased Emile Henry loaf pan with farina, and the loaf came out easily. My shaping was not as good as last time, and I think that I should have kneaded it a couple more minutes, but it will still be good.

My other project, which I did as the bread was on its second rise was baking "Lemon Ricotta Blueberry Muffins." This recipe is a happy side benefit of the lasagna I made last week, as I have 5 oz. of ricotta left over, which is just enough for six muffins. These muffins need to rest overnight in order for the lemon flavor to develop, so I will have two for breakfast tomorrow.

We have had daily temperatures in the 40s, so much of the snow is melting, although the lake is still frozen. Ice fishermen still went out today, and we even saw a lone ice boater. The warmer temperatures melted the snow on the ice, which refroze overnight, so it was possible for the ice boat to move, although there was not much wind to help.

[BakerAunt]

CWCdesign--Yep, some of those rotisserie chickens are small.

When we went shopping last Thursday, Kroger had a buy-one-get-one-for-free sale on whole chickens. These were large chickens, each over 5 lbs. For Valentine's Day, I roasted one of the chickens and made Pepperidge Farm (blue bag) dressing and gravy, which we also had with microwaved fresh broccoli. Seventeen years ago, Scott proposed at the end of a Valentine's dinner I had made with roast chicken.

[BakerAunt]

Curling--a sport where age is much less an issue;

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