[BakerAunt]

Sunday dinner was a “cooking without a recipe” meal. I cooked bulgur, and while it was cooking, I sauteed celery, carrots, and onion in avocado oil, then added sliced mushrooms, minced garlic, yellow squash, the last two snow peas from our garden, leftover pork, and the deglazed drippings from when this pork was cooked, and some from the freezer. I combined it with the cooked bulgur and added a little pepper. Next time I would add some sage or thyme.

[BakerAunt]

What I hated about the side-by-side that came with this house (not a built-in) was that I could not put a baking tray or even a pie plate into it because it was too narrow. That was a problem in my butter days when I was baking scones and butter pie crusts. It would not be an issue for me these days.

[BakerAunt]

It's a symphony when the jars seal!

My husband and I have been feeling the need for a sweet, crunchy little goody, me to have with tea in the afternoon, and he to have as a snack. I found a recipe for Spiced Biscotti that I printed from Cook’s magazine. (When I first had my new oven, Wolf gave a 6-month free access to the Cook’s site, and I scoured it for non-butter cookies.) I used the option of three whole eggs rather than 2 large eggs and 2 yolks. I made two changes: I replaced 1 ¼ cups of the AP flour with white whole wheat flour, and I added 2 Tbs. Bob’s Red Mill milk powder. I sprinkled Penzey’s cinnamon-sugar over each log before baking as an added touch. I baked them on the third rack up in my oven, which is just slightly above center.

On another note: I found my 40 cm ruler (inches on the other side) that comes in so handy when I make crackers. I mentioned back around January that I had misplaced it. I found it this week. I had put it in the drawer with the oven mitts instead of the drawer with my scale and various spatulas. I stumbled upon it while looking for a specific mitt, and there it was, nicely set against the side of the drawer.

[BakerAunt]

I know that Mike needs a particular size, so my recommendation would not help him, but we have two Amana refrigerator/freezer models with the freezer on the bottom. I bought one in 2001 when I bought my house, and so far--knocking on wood--have only needed the freezer control replaced about five years ago. The other I bought after our kitchen remodel, so it is two years old. I know that Amana is owned by one of the big companies now, but so far, we are happy with the brand.

We are having our own torrent of when it rains it pours. We emptied our apt., piling stuff in the house, the garage, and the shed, because our contractor was going to start in July. He had to put us off after a tree fell on the house of a friend of his mothers and did a lot of damage, and it turned out to be more than was initially thought. He and his crew were going to start work last Thursday, but the storm that came in Wednesday really hit the area in which he lives. They lost their apple tree, someone else called him about a roof, someone else about a flooded basement--he was not having a good end of the week. We are hoping that his son can start on the project next week while he is out of town on a planned trip.

I won't even go into the fuss with getting the permit--the price of which has now doubled.

And then there is the leaking toilet upstairs, for which we already had a plumber out a couple of weeks ago. It may require a drastic solution.

Ah, the joys of home ownership!

[BakerAunt]

I think that you made a wise decision to avoid the Midwest right now, Chocomouse. Cases in Indiana are rising very fast. My sister in Springfield, MO told me it has been very bad there. She knows at least two vaccinated people who still contracted Covid-19's Delta, and while they were not horribly sick, they were still sick.

[BakerAunt]

I baked my whole wheat sourdough cheese crackers on Friday. The dough had sat long than usual, but the crackers came out fine.

[BakerAunt]

Joan, I will keep your sister and the family in my prayers.

Friday dinner was pork, pan cooked by my husband, more sweet corn, and microwaved fresh green beans.

[BakerAunt]

Aaron--King Arthur also has a wonderful coconut cake that appeared in an issue of their now defunct magazine, Sift. It may be on their website. I baked it some years back--about the time the Baking Circle was being closed down--for our department chair's birthday.

[BakerAunt]

I made blueberry pie filling on Thursday from 5 cups of blueberries. I froze it in three separate containers rather than canning it (not that there was much to can!) to use as filling for sweet rolls. Canning blueberry pie filling destroys the great blueberry flavor.

Dinner on Thursday was the rest of the turkey-zucchini loaf, fresh green beans from our garden, and our first sweet corn of the season, which was a gift from our neighbors’ farm.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 5 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

What a darling dress, Janiebakes! You have superb sewing skills!

[BakerAunt]

I made yogurt today.

[BakerAunt]

I am glad that you can see her Joan--and the cookies are a wonderful gift for her.

[BakerAunt]

With hot weather predicted for Wednesday, I decided that a morning baking session was in order. I baked Squash, Whole Wheat, and Oat Quick Bread, using a recipe that I adapted from Ken Haedrich’s The Harvest Baker. It nicely used up the remaining grated zucchini from last night. I baked it in a four-well Nordic Ware pan that makes four Bundt loaves. It is an older, darker pan, so I reduced the oven temperature to 325F and baked for 43 minutes. We will start eating one for dessert tonight, and I will freeze the other three.

We ended up having thunderstorms and some heavy rain this morning at early noon. The temperatures may not be as high as feared, but there is still a lot of water in the air.

[BakerAunt]

I wish your wife speedy healing, Mike, or at least the patience to deal with the process for healing.

I made my turkey-zucchini meatloaf with peach-Dijon glaze for dinner on Tuesday. Given the heat and humidity, I was glad to be able to cook it in the countertop oven.

For a side dish, I used our beans to make a Green Bean Salad, using a recipe from a seasonal magazine, Edible Michiana (Summer 2018). The magazine used to be free at the grocery store. I found the recipe I used online here:

https://ediblemichiana.ediblecommunities.com/recipes/green-bean-salad

We have plenty of green beans from our garden. The recipe uses garbanzo beans, which my husband dislikes, so I substituted black-eyed peas. (He also does not care for black olives, but I just have him throw those my way.) I used a bit of dried shallot and replaced fresh oregano (he dislikes it) in the dressing with some Penzey’s Salad Sprinkle. We liked the salad, and I will make it again.

[BakerAunt]

Skeptic--Thanks for reminding me of that Jane Brody recipe. It was a favorite years ago when I was in my early days of bread baking. That was probably back when I still used the Halloween pumpkin as a baking pumpkin. After seeing your comments, I am making a note to try the recipe again, but only after the weather cools down. Breads with pumpkin in them tend to mold fast in warmer weather.

I do not think with that much whole wheat flour that you would get a high rise. The Ginsberg bread is not a particularly high-rising loaf (whole wheat and rye) either.

I note that she says "whole-grain rye flour." In my notes from years ago, I used 2 cups dark and 1 cup light rye flour. I might try pumpernickel when I work with this recipe again. I also note that I added 2 Tbs. vital wheat gluten, but that is probably because KAF was pushing it, and in those days, I was more trusting or gullible, take your pick. These days, I would probably use some bread flour and substitute in some whole wheat or white whole wheat flour. I would also cut back the yeast a bit, and I would reduce the molasses to 1/3 cup to start. I would replace the 1/4 cup of butter with 3-4 Tbs. of oil (when this book came out, no one thought twice about butter or margarine), and I would use buttermilk.

Now that I have a plan, I need to wait at least two months before I try it!

I also have a note that I liked her Pumpkin Wheat Bread, although I ranked it a "very good" rather than the "excellent" I gave the pumpkin rye. I will have to try that one again as well.

Thanks again for your discussion here. I look forward to revisiting these recipes.

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