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Yes, Joan! I will be delighted if we have other bakers in the family.
On Friday, I baked a new recipe from King Arthur, "Pumpkin Spice Latte Bars," which was one of their "Bake of the Week" recipes in October. Several reviewers commented that it was too sweet. One reduced the sugar by ¼ cup. I reduced it from 1 ½ cups to 1 cup. I used avocado oil for the oil, and I used just 1 Tbs. of butter and replaced the rest with 3 Tbs. of avocado oil. I suspect that the change in sugar and butter will alter the texture, but without those changes, it does not fit into our dietary parameters. With 1 cup of sugar in the bars and 3/4 cup powdered sugar in the glaze, it's already a dessert on the edge for us.
I did not read the directions for the glaze and went ahead and mixed the espresso powder and salt into the powdered sugar, so I had to heat the water, then mix it into the glaze mixture. As the bars have to be cooled completely before the glaze is added, and then the glaze has to set, we will not be sampling these before tomorrow with tea. I will report tomorrow on taste and texture.
We had leftover black-eyed peas and ham. I also had some crackers and an Enterprise apple from the small bag I bought at last week's farmers' market. Enterprise is a good eating apple with some sweetness. I suspect that it would also make a good pie.
I pulled out some frozen black-eyed peas from the freezer and combined them with leftover chopped ham we brought home from the family reunion. Because of the dental procedure my husband had today, he had to let his cool to room temperature before eating it. He will be on softer foods for a few days.
By bonus younger son and daughter-in-law are taking the plunge and getting a bread machine. They want their son to have good, healthy bread but were dismayed by the cost. He asked about recipes, which gives me an excellent opportunity to try some single loaf recipes to send to them. I remembered that Zen had done a scaled version of the three-loaf recipe for Grandma A's Ranch Hand Bread (posted at Nebraska Kitchen from the defunct King Arthur Baking Circle), so I looked it up, then looked at how I had adapted the three loaf recipe and made some changes to the single loaf so that it is two-thirds whole wheat with some flax meal, as well as buttermilk and some special dried milk. I replace the butter with olive oil. I am not going to experiment with raising the dough or baking it in the bread machine, but if they want to do it, that is fine. At least they will have good bread! I'm giving them volume measurements but will also tell them about scales.
I have a second reason for this experiment. When we take our next extended trip, I plan to take along the small bread machine (a first generation one!), as it is lightweight and more compact than the Zo, even though the Zo does a better job and can handle more dough. That way, we can have good bread away from home. I will package up ingredients for the recipe and take along a small dough bucket.
I will add to this post after the loaf, which is on its second rise with the oven heating, has baked.
Addition: The loaf did not have the oven spring that this bread has when I bake three loaves, so I must have done something to affect that. I'll see how it is tomorrow when we cut into it. I know that Zen, in her notes on scaling it down mentioned that she had used just 1 1/2 tsp. of yeast but thought that 2 to 2 1/2 tsp. was probably needed. I used 2 tsp. If I try it again, I will increase the yeast.
It's fascinating. For me, it stresses yet again the need to find ways to re-use what would otherwise contribute to a landfill.
We found a whole chicken, marked down for quick sale, at the grocery, so on Tuesday we had roast chicken for dinner. I cooked basil pasta noodles in some of the turkey broth I made on Sunday, then added it to mushrooms sauteed in avocado oil with a bit of evaporated milk. Microwaved fresh broccoli completed the meal. I wanted a substantial meal because my husband has an in-office oral surgery tomorrow, which as such procedures go, should not be too bad. He has to fast after midnight.
We have leftovers, and like Joan and CWCdesign, I rejoice!
I baked Maple Granola today, as I ate the rest of the last batch for breakfast yesterday.
We had leftover stir-fry and boneless pork.
For Sunday night dinner, my husband pan-cooked some boneless pork. I roasted some potato chunks tossed in olive oil. We also microwaved what we think are the last of the green beans, but who knows?
I'm not baking today, but I am sampling a slice of yesterday's apple pie, along with some coffee. These apples are great for baking. They have a milder taste than the Winesaps that I will be using later this year. I like both. I probably will never get any more of these apples from Michigan, as we will be changing the time of the cousins' reunion. One cousin and her husband spent several days worried whether Hurricane Milton would hit their home in Florida. Fortunately, they did not sustain any damage, but they want to avoid being away during hurricane season in the future, as they would have made certain preparations, which includes their two cats.
I'm impressed that the owner of the company called you, Len.
I buy the Bakewell baking powder because I discovered that I could use less in many of my recipes, sometimes 2 1/2 or 2 tsp. instead of 3 tsp.
As both baking powder and baking soda have sodium, I often cut back the salt in baked goods and do not notice a difference.
I am making yogurt this Sunday afternoon.
I am also making turkey broth. I had the bones from one turkey in the freezer, which I combined with the bones from the turkey we had at the family reunion. No one else wants them, so I brought them back to add to ours.
Yes, Navlys. That is what I plan to do. I think that choosing a recipe that fits our nutritional needs, and that the people we cook and bake for can or will eat, is the way to go. We will cover a variety of recipes that way, and get good feedback from each other.
The house where we stayed at the reunion in Michigan is next to a house with an apple tree, and we were told two years ago that it was fine to pick them. I took some home and made a pie. The tree had some good apples again this year, although some I had to pick up off the ground. I brought nine home and on Saturday evening, I made an apple streusel pie. I peeled these apples, as the skin gets a kind of mildew, but the apples themselves are fine. These are a greenish yellow apple with a bit of red spotting on some. The pie is in the oven now. I'll report on taste and texture when we cut into it tomorrow afternoon.
We had some leftover turkey from the family reunion, so Saturday night's dinner was a stir-fry with farro, green onion, celery, yellow bell pepper, mushrooms, and kale. We have enough for another dinner.
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