BakerAunt
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I'm so glad you were able to visit with your sister, Joan. I'm sure that the home baked goodies will speed her recovery.
On Friday, we are having one of my easy dinner meals, Salmon and Couscous with Penzey's Greek Seasoning, along with microwaved frozen vegetables.
Skeptic--the pumpkin-rye bread recipe on the blog is wonderful and does not use a starter. It uses medium rye and mostly whole wheat flour.
Len--my husband thinks that we have plenty of calcium since he uses lake water on the garden. (Yes, he hauls the watering can down and back.) However, he thought the Epsom salts might help, since it would give magnesium.
We have some nice peppers, but we really want them to turn red, as we both prefer red bell peppers.
I considered buying some items at the sale, but then I recalled why I only bought from NY Bakers once: the shipping is very expensive.
I still might consider buying some coarse rye meal for a couple of Rye Baker recipes I wanted to try.
On Wednesday, I used our bounty of green beans to make, again, the salad that I made last week (posted a link for it) from Edible Michiana. We really like it. As I did last time, I replaced the chickpeas my husband cannot eat with black-eyed peas, and I used 1 tsp. Penzey’s Sandwich Sprinkle in place of 1 Tbs. fresh oregano. I added a sliced scallion this time in place of shallot. We had it with leftover Tarragon Chicken with Rice and Mushrooms.
I baked three loaves of my whole wheat, flax, and buttermilk version of Grandma A’s Ranch Hand Bread. I increased my whole wheat substitution by ½ cup, replacing that much bread flour. I do not add all the flour at once but hold back 3 ¾ cups and let the dough rest for 15 minutes before mixing in the rest and then the oil and kneading. I used about 2 However, the time was extended to nearly half an hour because I was distracted. I always hold back ¼ cup of AP flour until the end, and I only needed 2 Tbs. of it. The dough rose fast both times. I love the smell of this bread as it bakes. All three loaves look good.
The distraction was that the contractor working on our apt. remodel found a stash in the crawl space/attic of unused wall paper, all carefully wrapped in an Indianapolis newspaper from Sept. 8, 1971. We recognized, with a shudder, two patterns that we had seen on the walls of this house when the realtor first showed it to us. There was also a white and pink one that we did not recognize. However, there are some sheets of a white wallpaper that has a kind of kitchen design. We are considering putting it on one of the apt. kitchen walls that is mostly cabinet and very little wall. It is probably from the 1960s. We did not see it in this house, so it may be from a former owner's other house.
We also found some lovely pink tile of an unusual shape--very small and only one box. It is not something we can use, but maybe there is a craft use for it.
I'm glad your sister is doing better, Joan.
I made yogurt on Tuesday.
I agree that baking need not be confined to the oven.
I had enough leftover strawberry-blackberry jam from Monday’s canning session that I decided to make the Oatmeal Jam bars of which we are so fond. I added a bit more jam from a jar in the refrigerator to make enough for the bars. Instead of the usual cranberry juice, I used 3 Tbs. strawberry juice. The frozen strawberries I used for the jam had no added sugar, but when thawed, there was about 1 ¾ cups juice, so I saved it either to drink or to use in baking.
On Monday, I seeded the rest of the blackberries, which came to about 1 cup, then mixed them with 3 pounds of frozen strawberries that I had thawed and drained. I made four more jars of jam and canned them. I had enough that I could have canned an additional jar, but I am out of jars, so I will use it for another purpose (see baking thread).
Monday’s dinner was Tarragon Chicken, Mushrooms, and Rice, with microwaved frozen peas.
What a splendid haul from your garden, Len!
As of last week, we have been getting tomatoes. Although not as sweet as the ones we got last year, they are superior to what we could get in stores. I have been happily eating turkey bacon and tomato sandwiches.
Hybrid Squash Report: the yellow squash is now orange. It is looking more and more like some kind of pumpkin. The other one is still green with lines (no ridges) and it also looks like some kind of pumpkin. Those would be elongated, fat pumpkins.
Snow peas are done for the season. Green beans keep coming. Pepper plants in pots have peppers. Pepper plants in ground have not done so well.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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