[BakerAunt]

I bought strawberries at the farmer’s market last Saturday. Although they are better than any I could buy at the grocery, they were picked a little too early. I decided on Tuesday to bake my variation on the shortcake recipe that came with the Nordic Ware Shortcake basket pan. I use half barley flour, replace milk with buttermilk, adjust the baking powder and add a bit of baking soda, reduce the salt, and replace butter with canola oil. I will slice the strawberries and mix them with some sugar, and serve them in the center of each little cake for dessert for the next three nights.

[BakerAunt]

A too true bit of humor from the comics:

https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2021/08/24

[BakerAunt]

I made yogurt on Monday.

Dinner on Monday was a NYT recipe, Skillet Chicken Thighs with Broccoli and Orzo. I adapt it by using more olive oil instead of butter, omitting the lemon, and finishing it for 25 minutes in the oven at 425F. My changes, except for the olive oil, were those recommended by cooks who reviewed the recipe after trying it.
Oh, yes, I also add the garlic much later so that it does not burn.

[BakerAunt]

In our area of north-central Indiana, only some of the customers wear masks. CVS employees began wearing them again weeks ago, but the local grocery store workers have not. My husband and I have opted for masks in stores, and we will not be attending any group events. I've not masked at the outdoor farmer's market, but it has not been very crowded.

Although local reports are that 48% of the county is vaccinated, The Washington Post statistics for our county are 38%, and that has hardly moved over the past months. In the past week, the number of new cases was 139, as opposed to 61 the previous week, and I am uncertain about how much testing had been occurring. Our school district still thinks it can get by without masks in the classroom, although this variant is more transmissible than what we were dealing with last year. The county health director recommended masks in schools, but each district makes its own decisions.

[BakerAunt]

It will be leftover soup for our Sunday dinner, although I baked crackers to go with it.

[BakerAunt]

Mike--the siren call of chocolate is hard to resist.

I baked KABC’s Gourmet Soda Crackers on Sunday morning. Right now, they are in the turned-off oven where they will crisp until dinner tonight. I am still fine-tuning my butterless adaptation of the recipe, as well as altering some of the directions. These are nice, plain crackers, so they will go well with leftover soup tonight. I also like them with humus—if any are left after my husband starts nibbling on them. I have had to remind him that these are not wholegrain, and while my change reduces the fat, they are much less healthy than the other crackers I have in rotation, so they should be paired with something healthy, not scarfed alone with abandon. 😊

On Sunday, I also mixed dough for my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers. I will bake them next week. These crackers are more whole grain (1 cup AP in the starter to 2 1/2 cups whole wheat, plus 1/3 cup flax meal) and also deliver calcium.

• This reply was modified 5 years ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

This is a great tip, Mike. Thanks!

I have found brushes, by Wilton, at Michael's for cleaning decorating tips, but I now live over an hour away from the nearest Michael's.

[BakerAunt]

I mixed dough on Saturday night for the KABC Gourmet Soda Crackers. It rests overnight, and I will shape and bake the crackers tomorrow.

[BakerAunt]

I talked my husband out of pea soup (prefer to save it for a cooler day and to use the array of farmer's market fresh vegetables) in favor of the brown and red lentils, the split green and yellow peas, and barley that make up the Bob’s Red Mill Vegi Soup combo. I add carrots, celery, a red and a purple bell pepper from the farmer’s market, sliced mushrooms, ground turkey, zucchini (farmer's market), chicken/turkey broth, garlic (farmer's market), and Penzey’s Ozark seasoning. It is not exactly soup weather, but we had it with the rest of the bean salad over a lettuce mix from the farmer’s market.

I also found strawberries at the farmer's market, which we will have with dessert.

[BakerAunt]

I adapted this recipe for a somewhat healthier version. I replaced the butter with 3 Tbs. avocado oil plus 1 Tbs. water. I used white whole wheat flour in place of the AP flour, and I halved the salt. The result was a bar with the butterscotch taste (in spite of omitting the butter) that is slightly chewy. I will be baking this recipe again.

[BakerAunt]

I decided on Friday to try adapting the Blonde Brownies recipe by weedsnstitches, which I recently transcribed for the collection of recipes at Nebraska Kitchen. The original recipe calls for ¼ cup butter, which I replaced with 3 Tbs. avocado oil and 1 Tbs. water. I also used white whole wheat flour in place of AP flour and reduced the salt from ½ to ¼ tsp. I baked it in my countertop convection oven, which does not seem to need any adjustment in temperature or time. These blondies are very good; the butterscotch flavor is still present, and they are slightly chewy.

[BakerAunt]

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.

[BakerAunt]

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.

[BakerAunt]

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.

[BakerAunt]

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.

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