[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.

[BakerAunt]

I made yogurt on Monday.

On Tuesday, I roasted the large peanut pumpkin that I bought early in October. It was so large that I could roast only a half at a time, and each half took two hours. However, it made lovely pumpkin puree, which I have put into 2-cup and 1-cup containers to freeze. I particularly like the peanut pumpkin in cakes and quick breads.

To go with the last of the roasted chicken thighs for dinner on Tuesday, I cooked some mushroom noodles from Aldi’s and made a sauce using sliced mushrooms sauteed in olive oil, then combined with some flour, low-fat evaporated milk, fresh parsley, and a bit of freshly ground pepper. We also had microwaved frozen peas.

[BakerAunt]

I had some beets from the farmers’ market that have been in the refrigerator bin for a couple of months, and on Monday, I used them to try a new recipe from Ken Haedrich’s The Harvest Baker: “Roasted Beet, Spinach, and Feta Cheese Flatbread.” As my husband cannot eat onions and is not a fan of beets, it will be my lunch into this week.

I used Haedrich's crust but opted for his variation of half whole wheat flour, and I reduced the salt from 3/4 to 1/2 tsp. He makes it in a food processor, but I used the bread machine. I do not know if that made a difference, but my crust was very thin and crisp, like crackers. His recipe called for a pound of spinach; I used the 4 oz. that I have on hand. I also used just 4 oz. of feta (real feta made of goat cheese!), which is about a cup, and the recipe calls for 2 cups. The beets have to be roasted and peeled before using as a topping, so that was an adventure for me, as I have never cooked beets before.

Although he bakes directly on the pan, I lined mine with parchment. The recipe makes two, and he baked one on a lower and one on an upper rack, then switch, for twelve minutes each. I baked one at a time and set the timer for 20 minutes. When I checked at 18, I pulled it out because the edges were getting burned. For the second flatbread, I checked at 15 minutes, then pulled it out at 16 minutes. These flatbreads are a great light lunch or light dinner. They would work well as appetizers as well. I will bake these flatbreads again, so that is one more great recipe from this seasonal baking book.

[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook--based on my experiences with the Rosetta rolls, I suggest using the King Arthur AP and not bread flour for a first try.

[BakerAunt]

Congratulations, Italian Cook on getting your new appliances. And Kudos to your husband for figuring out the dishwasher!

[BakerAunt]

On Saturday I made my first of what will be about five batches of applesauce from apples sold as seconds. I froze two 1-cup containers of unsweetened applesauce for baking.

For dinner, I roasted cut-up red potatoes tossed in olive oil and Penzey’s Mural of Flavor. We had the potatoes with leftover roast chicken thighs, applesauce, and microwaved fresh broccoli.

[BakerAunt]

The only organic orchard in our area came to our Farmers' Market today. I bought a 3 lb. bag of Northern Spy, which I will use for pie, and a mixture of seconds. I plan to make my first batch of applesauce this afternoon, using those seconds and a few of the ones we bought yesterday.

I was also able to buy a beautiful cabbage and some green onion from them.

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