BakerAunt
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Aaron--I do not know if you have found a brisket recipe that you like, but Smitten Kitchen had this one on today's weekly email:
With Easter and Passover approaching, it should be an interesting week of baking!
For Sunday dinner, I made coleslaw and Sloppy Josephines, which we had on thawed Len's buns from the freezer, along with the leftover sweet potato.
I made clam chowder for lunch on Saturday, with enough to last into the next week I replaced 1/2 cup of the 2 cups of 1% milk with some half and half that I had left over from another use.
For dinner on Saturday, I made our old staple, Salmon, and Couscous with Greek Seasoning. We also had microwaved fresh broccoli.
For dinner on Friday night, I tossed sweet potato chunks in olive oil and roasted at 375F for 45 minutes. We had them with leftover rotisserie chicken and microwaved frozen peas.
On Friday, I returned to the kitchen and baked Lime Pecan Biscotti.
The wedding was April 4. I baked the two layers for the cake on March 31, wrapped them in saran. I made the frosting that day and put it in a sealed plastic container for the journey. I was able to find a 9-inch ceramic cake stand at a local shop. Although it said "Treat Yourself" on the edge, the 8-inch cake board covered it nicely.
I assembled the cake on April 3. I had a problem with the frosting, which I could not get to be spreadable. It was a fight, even with a crumb coat to get it on smoothly, and the sides were not as smooth as I would have liked. Belatedly, I have realized that I should have brought along a larger bowl to re-whip the frosting, in order to incorporate air. I feel like an idiot for not figuring this out earlier.
However, the cake looked great, and I had the top nicely smoothed, which was good, because the cake-topper was long and thin (a cut out from a thin piece of wood), so everyone would be looking at the top.
The bride and groom said it tasted great! I also received compliments on how it looked. (Whew!) It was slightly challenging for them to cut because they were using one of those wedding knife and server sets, which are just not that great, but they managed to produce slices that looked like slices.
I had bought a pair of cardboard cake boxes (Celebration) from Michaels and used one to box up the cake for them afterwards. I could only get 12-inch (unless I wanted to buy 25 8-inch boxes!) As the bride's mother and I were trying to figure out how to keep it from sliding around (I had used a Tupperware dish without a lid on the way over), I spied commercial coffee filters in the reception hall kitchen. We set the cake on one, pushed up the sides around it, then wadded a couple filters around the sides for stability.
Sorry for the delayed response, CWCdesign. We arrived home last night after driving to Colorado for my younger stepson's wedding, then driving back.
I love the Emile Henry long baker. I always grease it with Crisco, then coat with cream of wheat (farina) and have had no sticking problems. I particularly like it for the King Arthur Pompanusuc Porridge bread.
I also own the Flame Top baker, although I never use it on the stove top. I have used it for baking the King Arthur Dutch Oven rolls, and they turn out so soft inside with a slightly hard crust. I want to try baking a bread loaf (again, King Arthur has recipes). As long as you grease the Emile Henry and coat with farina, it does fine. (Semolina tends to burn.)
Some other items I noticed that I bought from KABC but are on Breadtopia:
I'm a fan of dough rising buckets (also at KABC). Breadtopia has 2-qt. and 6-qt. but not the useful 4-qt size, which works well for a 2-loaf recipe.
They have an offset bread knife. I use mine for slicing biscotti. I also like it for round loaves. The offset protects the knuckles of your hand! There is a shorter and a longer one. I own a longer one.
I own the Extra Big and Large Timer. Actually, I have two. The keys on the older one (probably 10-12 years old?) have become harder to press, so I bought a second one (and will keep using the other as well until it bites the dust). It is loud enough that I hear it no matter where I am in the house.
I have an infrared thermometer, which I use to check the skillet when making English muffins.
The oven gloves are nice. I have a black pair from KABC. I use them all the time, as I find it easier to get a grip on pots and pans.
I would be tempted by the tortilla presses.
I hope you find some items that you can use and enjoy.
I just got back in town, and I am musing about my next bake.
I enjoy reading about pizza experiments. My husband does not want me experimenting, as he really likes my sourdough pan pizza. I am musing about making an artichoke heart mozzarella one for me for lunches one of these days.
We had rotisserie chicken and potato salad (from a Walmart) and microwaved fresh broccoli after we arrived home and unpacked the car, having returned from my younger stepson's wedding in Colorado.
Leftover pizza at our house.
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.
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