[BakerAunt]

I thought that the bread flour was Sir Lancelot and the high-gluten flour was yet another step up.

I bought a three-pack of high-gluten flour for a recipe I have never baked. I have been using it up, a cup here or there, in bread recipes where I am using a lot of whole grains.

[BakerAunt]

After dinner this evening, my husband and his daughter were on the lake in the canoe and ended up tipping over. Of course it was when she had her Iphone out for a picture. She retrieved it quickly, and it was not in the water long, but water and electronics never mix well. It is currently sitting under a pile of brown rice--although online sources are divided on whether that is the way to handle it.

[BakerAunt]

On Friday, I baked my variation on Blueberry Cobbler from a King Arthur cookbook. I reduce sugar, substitute 1 1/2 Tbs. avocado oil for butter, use buttermilk, and use half barley flour.

We were running out of bread, so I baked three loaves of my variation on Grandma A’s Ranch Hand Bread. I will freeze two loaves.

[BakerAunt]

On Friday, I made yogurt.

For dinner, I made a quinoa salad (recipe adapted from Bob’s Red Mill) that includes corn, baby lima beans, green onion, and feta. We will have it as a main dish tonight, but it also works as a side dish.

[BakerAunt]

Any bread that tastes good is good bread, Italian Cook, no matter what it looks like!

I did a lot of baking on Wednesday. I used a banana cake recipe and baked it in my 4-loaf Nordic Ware baker. They came out very well, and I froze two. I baked a double batch of the oatmeal cookies without butter from Jenny Can Cook. I baked Oat Bran Banana muffins as 6 large muffins and froze three. After dinner, I baked 16 of Ellen’s Buns as Rolls. The cookies and rolls are for a picnic tomorrow.

[BakerAunt]

For Wednesday dinner, I made Lentils and Vegetables Chicken Soup.

[BakerAunt]

Joan--elements burn out after a while. I am glad that you got your cheesecake baked before it decided to go out in a blaze of glory. With a previous oven, I had turned it on to preheat, and I saw it flare up in a small fire and then go out. The appliance repair guy was impressed: he said that people almost never see them flame out.

In early July, we discovered that the faucet at the washing machine hook-up was leaking. My husband tightened it, and it leaked some more. He then turned the water off at the house, and got a cap for the line. A magnifying lens showed a hairline crack in the the screw part. Of course the local hardware store did not have it, so we had to wait to pick it up when we went on our regular shopping jaunt to the next town, which has a Lowe's. That part was also two years old.

[BakerAunt]

It's an appliance apocalypse!

We finally got our upstairs toilet issue resolved. The third time the plumber was here, he determined that the leak came from a cracked tank. (It was two years old!) Today he installed a new one, so that problem is resolved.

Now, if we can just get the contractor crew back to work on the garage apt. renovation....

[BakerAunt]

I made mashed potatoes on Tuesday—a special request from Sarah—which we had with gravy I made from last week’s chicken, leftover salmon patties, microwaved fresh broccoli, and homemade applesauce from the freezer.

[BakerAunt]

I made salmon patties for dinner on Monday to go with sweet corn and a salad of mixed greens with the leftover Michiana Bean Salad on top of it.

[BakerAunt]

After yesterday's kitchen fest, it is definitely leftovers on Sunday!

[BakerAunt]

Here's a cartoon about too many tomatoes and canning:

https://www.gocomics.com/breaking-cat-news/2021/09/05

The readers' comments show that a lot of people have canned or are canning these days.

Like Mike, I do not trust off-brand canning lids. So far, I have only used Ball, and I have rarely had any failures to seal.

[BakerAunt]

Saturday was a day for multiple cooking projects. I realized that the bones from the chicken were still in the refrigerator, so I made broth. I was out of yogurt, so I made yogurt. My husband asked me not to use Great Northern Beans in the Michiana Bean Salad again; he says they affect his digestive system negatively, and he asked for black-eyed peas. However, I had no canned ones, and the local store does not carry them, so I soaked them overnight, and cooked a pound of them in the early afternoon. I am freezing some for future need. Then I made the Michiana Green Bean Salad.

Dinner was sweet corn, Michiana Green Bean Salad, rolls, some leftover roast chicken, and Sarah’s special cake.

[BakerAunt]

Happy Birthday, Mike! Today is also my stepdaughter's birthday, and she flew into Chicago and was picked up by her dad at the airport, so she is here. I am about to start the White Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting for her cake.

Saturday morning, I baked my variation on Ellen's Buns recipe as sixteen rolls (10x10-inch pan).

[BakerAunt]

On Friday, I baked the Lemon Ricotta Cookies again, but I messed up the amount of flour. They are flatter than usual. I need to re-type the recipe so that it is clear. Fortunately, they still taste great and the texture is fine.

I made dough for WWSD Cheese Crackers. I am trying to get ahead on crackers, as we will be having visitors over the next two weeks.

Friday’s final baking project was the KABC Favorite Fudge Birthday Cake, which I baked this evening. I will not be using the chocolate ganache, as my stepdaughter arrives for a weeklong visit tomorrow, and for her it is the white chocolate cream cheese frosting that makes the cake her favorite. I once used a recipe for a chocolate butter cake but moved to this one to cut at least some saturated fat (plenty in the frosting!). I bake it whenever she visits, just as I would do for her birthday. This time, her birthday actually is tomorrow, so that makes it doubly special.

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