[BakerAunt]

A four month delay for windows is the norm for now. We ordered the windows for the renovation of our apartment over the garage at the end of June and were told to expect them the end of October. I hope they are on schedule. We still do not know when the siding might become available.

On our way back from my husband's annual cousins' reunion in Michigan, we stopped in South Bend. The second store was a furniture store that also sells futons. We have decided that the "bedroom" in the apartment should not have a dedicated guest bedroom, as we already have one in the house. So, we are getting rid of the two twin beds and putting in a futon that opens to a double bed. We were impressed with the evolution of futons! The one that we liked was in stock. The manager told us that the other one we were considering (a little less expensive but not as nice), was on order, and she has been told at least ninety days if not longer for more to come in. They definitely have supply issues, and not just because they are near a lot of students at Notre Dame who like futons.

[BakerAunt]

So far, I'm not noticing any shortages. I placed a regular stock-up order to Bob's Red Mill, and it arrived within a week--more like five days. Orders over $59 ship for free by UPS, which is a great deal for me. I buy cases (usually 4 bags to a case), which brings down the price below the grocery store price, even though BRM prices, like all grocery products, have increased.

[BakerAunt]

Skeptic sent me the bread cloche, which arrived on Saturday. She did an excellent job of wrapping a fragile and odd shaped object. I am looking forward to baking experiments with it, but this week is already booked. Perhaps by the end of the month?

That would be a great experiment, Mike!

[BakerAunt]

I remember buying the Bordeaux cookies as an occasional treat when I was in graduate school, needed a treat, but had no time to bake it. I agree that they are not spicy.

On Sunday, I baked my Rye-Barley Crispbread. This time I added 2 Tbs. special dried milk to increase the nutritional value.

I also baked a double recipe of soft oatmeal raisin cookies, from Jenny Can Cook, with my usual changes.

[BakerAunt]

I made a lentil soup for Sunday dinner in one of my large Dutch ovens with carrots, celery, two yellow peppers from our garden (never turned red), ground turkey, mushrooms, frozen broth, 1 ¼ cups brown lentils, ¼ cup red lentils, 2 tsp. dehydrated onion, two small green zucchini, one large yellow squash, 1 tsp. thyme, 1 tsp. sage, ½ tsp. rosemary, and ¼ tsp. Penzey’s sweet curry. We have leftovers for at least two more meals.

I also made tomato sauce from some of our garden tomatoes.

[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook--Have you tried frozen corn? I have a quinoa salad that I make. I microwave the frozen corn, then let it cool before adding to the salad. If you could keep a package in your freezer, then you would have some flexibility and could save that last can of corn for when you need it.

I have not noticed a canned corn shortage, but I have not bought canned corn in years.

[BakerAunt]

On Saturday, I baked three loaves of my version of Grandma A’s Ranch Hand Bread. One will stay out to be sliced into tomorrow, and two will go into the freezer for later.

[BakerAunt]

I baked my version of that wholegrain pumpkin snacking cake for dessert on Friday and into the weekend.

For dinner, I baked my sourdough half-sheet pan pizza. The crust came out particularly light, maybe because I gave both rises two hours. I topped it with homemade pizza sauce from our garden, Canadian bacon, mozzarella, mushrooms, red bell pepper and green onion tops from our garden, and Parmesan. Yum.

[BakerAunt]

CWCdesign--I've now posted that Fish and Chips recipe here at Nebraska Kitchen. I'm sorry that it took so long.

[BakerAunt]

Here is the thread with Baker Irene's directions. I moved it here from the Baking Circle before it closed:

Baker Irene on Making Your Own Flavored Chips Thread

I miss Baker Irene and wish that she had joined us here.

[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook--My favorite rolling pin is a wood cylinder that is 20 1/4 inches long and 1 1/8 inches in diameter. No handles. I bought it years ago with a square wood board that could be adjusted to different heights for rolling out dough evenly. As it turns out the square wood board (I think it was called a dobard) was not that useful--too small to roll out very much dough at one time and fussy to adjust. However, I LOVED the long rolling pin. I have a lovely, heavy maple one but rarely use it or any of my other collection. I use the longy cylindrical one with thin wood strips to roll out cracker dough evenly.

I seem to recall that Mike has a similar, non-tapered pin.

I keep my rolling pin collection in a wood wine bottle rack (bought at a thrift store!) on the kitchen counter.

[BakerAunt]

Butternut Squash Soup is a fitting way to christen a shiny new Dutch oven!

[BakerAunt]

On Wednesday, I baked the Banana Cake recipe from a website titled “Cooking Made Healthy: Quick and Easy Recipes,” but I made it as banana bread in a Nordic Ware decorative 4-loaf pan (8 cups batter). It is the same recipe that I baked on Sept. 5. I replace the three cups of whole wheat flour with two cups of whole wheat pastry flour and 1 cup KAF AP. I halved the salt, from ½ to ¼ tsp., given that it has ¾ tsp. baking soda, in addition to baking powder. I reduced the vanilla from 1 Tbs. to 2 tsp. I usually add buttermilk in place of water, but this time I used 1% milk. I also added 2 Tbs. Bob’s Red Mill milk powder. I plan to freeze three of these.

[BakerAunt]

The plot thickens--or perhaps I should say, curdles? We did our weekly grocery trip today, and again there was no buttermilk, but now there were about seven bottles of kefir. Sigh. I bought another one to tide me over.

I did ask the store manager, and she was surprised, especially when I told her there was none last week. The milk delivery had not come, but she said that she would call me if buttermilk arrived. I received no call, so it probably did not. She said that she would ask the delivery person.

Stay tuned for developments!

[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook--Is this the large sugar crystals or smaller ones? I've had nice results with the large crystals. I've also used demerara sugar with nice results.

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