Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
I received my second shot of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine today. In two weeks, I should have as much immunity as it affords. My husband and I are considering whether we want to do a short trip in a month or so and visit a couple of state parks. We would still keep our masks and hand sanitizer at the ready.
If it tastes blah, Italian Cook, sprinkle cinnamon on top of it--maybe mixed with the Splenda.
Wow! And so MUCH quieter than fireworks!
I love cheesy tuna casserole, especially with gouda cheese. Alas, unless we have plenty of company who will eat most of it, I won't be making it again.
I had one more Bosc pear to use, so on Friday I baked Pear Cardamom Oatmeal Muffins, a recipe from Marisa Moore: https://marisamoore.com/pear-oatmeal-muffins/:
I forgot to add the cardamom, since I had combined the dry ingredients, except for the spice the night before but was waiting to grind the cardamom until that morning. I would have used half the amount of spice due to it being freshly ground. As the muffins were already mixed and in the muffin pan when I realized the omission, I settled for sprinkling Penzey’s cinnamon sugar (was either free or inexpensive on a deal) on top before baking.
I made some other changes. I used buttermilk in place of regular milk, and I reduced the brown sugar to 1/3 cup. I omitted the vanilla, as I want to taste the pears and spice (or would have had I remembered to add the spice!). I had just the single Bosc pear; I think she uses Anjou. I added 1 Tbs. Bob’s Red Mill milk powder to the dry ingredients to increase the calcium. I used canola oil. I omitted the topping but had sprinkled with a bit of the King Arthur white sparkling sugar before I added that cinnamon sugar. I baked as six large muffins, so I increased the baking time to 15 minutes. These muffins are delicious, and I will bake them again—with the cardamom! I particularly like the flavor of Bosc pears with cardamom and dearly miss the Pear Crumble recipe that I can no longer bake due to its butter content.
I ate one for breakfast. I will leave two for us to have for breakfast tomorrow, and I will freeze the other three for quick future breakfasts.
On Thursday, I baked two loaves of Len's bread (from his Semolina Rye Rolls Recipe).
On Wednesday, I cooked my husband’s requested birthday dinner: maple-glazed pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, and microwaved fresh broccoli. I used nonfat Greek yogurt in the mashed potatoes rather than butter, and that also let me cut down on the salt.
We took our first hike in a state park in over a year late Wednesday morning We did not even have the chance last year to use our Golden Hoosier Park Pass (at least the money supported the state parks!), but ever the optimists, we bought one for 2021. We arrived home for a late lunch, and I made a frittata for myself using chopped onion and carrot sauteed in olive oil, then mixed with about 1/3 cup leftover cooked bulgur, a beaten egg, about 2 Tbs. shredded mozzarella cheese, and ½ tsp. Penzey’s Bavarian seasoning. I used my good nonstick small frying pan, and I was able to flip the frittata with a spatula in the pan.
I made another batch of yogurt on Tuesday.
The description was mouthwatering, and the picture is making me drool onto my keyboard. 🙂
On Tuesday, I baked King Arthur’s Favorite Fudge Birthday Cake, which is my husband’s favorite cake. I baked it for his birthday tomorrow.
Pre-pandemic, I used to get excellent deals on Scott bathroom tissue at CVS. I'd wait for the special to run every five or six weeks, then stock up. (My husband rolled his eyes--until the pandemic struck.) CVS must print ads far in advance, because even 5 months or so later, they were still advertising specials but had no Scott in stock.
A year into the pandemic, the deals are not back, although I recently used a CVS coupon to get a somewhat better deal on a 12-pack. The quality of the Scott tissue seems to have changed; I think it is more like the commercial paper. Note: we use this brand because in my husband's house in Texas, it helped with the wonky plumbing (although having the plumber address the problem solved that). When we bought our house here, it was on sceptic system, and Scott is recommended for sceptics. After a year, the sewer conservancy was established, with each house having a grinder. We decided to stick with what we know.
The local store (only one in town) has occasionally good deals on some items. a 2 lb. bag of carrots was 99 cents. I had stopped buying large carrots after we moved here, as many tasted bitter, but when I started buying them during the pandemic, I found that the taste was the sweetness I expect. Avocados are hit and miss at that store; I have to choose them carefully. Sometimes the produce is overpriced: $3 for 8 oz. mushrooms. I wait to see if it goes down. Broccoli is very expensive there.
We go to Aldi's in the next town every three weeks or so. Their produce prices are better, and some of their produce superior. I also go by Kroger, which has excellent prices on organic kale and some other produce.
The local grocery has some good meat prices, as they cut their own meat. We wait for the specials, usually on chicken or nonfatty pork. We avoid their chicken breasts because of the whiting. We buy frozen seafood at Aldi's.
We have taken to spacing out the Walmart visits during the pandemic: too many people still managed to flaunt the mask rules.
March 15, 2021 at 8:17 am in reply to: New book (really): A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking #29031Ah, another book to read. I read his Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore a few years back and enjoyed it.
I have about a 5 lb. weight gain after this winter due to the baking and to not being able to get out to walk. Yesterday and today, I was able to persuade the dog to go for a walk with me. She is noise adverse, so on weekdays with construction, or if someone is out shooting somewhere, she panics, and then it takes weeks to get her out again. Earlier in the morning on weekends work pretty well.
It is hard to get good salad ingredients locally at this time of year, so soups are my go-to when I am looking to trim a few pounds.
For dinner on Monday, and into the week, I used a recipe from an email from Tasting Table (Does that site even still exist?) for Butternut Squash, Farro, and Kale Soup, which was adapted from a recipe in an Oprah Winfrey cookbook. (I first made this soup in December 2017, so I probably posted a link to the recipe at that time.) I replaced the leeks with onion—in this case 1 Tbs. dried Penzey’s onion that I rehydrate in water—as my husband does not do well with the fresh onion. The original recipe uses about 2 cups butternut squash. I used a large one (my next to the last from the farmers’ market last autumn), and I probably had about 5 cups. I decided that I would also brown a package of ground turkey to give the soup more protein. At the end, after I add the kale, I put in 2 tsp. cider vinegar. I do not know why, but it balances the flavors. (I owe this tip to the barley, butternut squash, and kale pork loin recipe that I also like to cook.) The soup came out as almost a stew, but we did not mind. We each grated a bit of Parmesan into our serving bowls. The weather is a little chilly this evening, so it was the perfect meal, and we have enough for at least two additional nights.
Here the high was in the 50s, but a cold front has blown in this evening, although without the strong winds that Chocomouse is seeing.
On Sunday I baked another batch of my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from the dough I made last week.
-
AuthorPosts
