[BakerAunt]

On Sunday afternoon, I baked Soft Oatmeal Cookies--my adaptation of the great Jenny Can Cook recipe.

I also baked three loaves of my Whole Wheat Oat Bran Bread. I will stash two in the freezer, and we will begin slicing the third tomorrow.

[BakerAunt]

I roasted two bone-in chicken breasts for dinner on Sunday. I also made another farro stir-fry with broth from the freezer, green onion, red bell pepper, celery, half-cut squash, and kale. We have planned overs to have for dinner tomorrow.

The last time we had a major power failure of about a day, we kept the refrigerator closed, and everything did ok. However, once it gets past a couple of days, I would probably toss relish, etc. I hope that you get power back soon, CWCdesign.

[BakerAunt]

I'm relieved to hear that you are ok, CWCdesign.

I'm assuming that Joan lost power and internet access. I'm hoping that we will hear from her once it is restored, but it will take a while.

Maybe we should ask people in areas that are going to be hit by storms and hurricanes to have a close contact, to whom they report, who can post on Nebraska Kitchen, so that we know the person is safe.

[BakerAunt]

On Saturday, I baked some plain flatbread by adapting the Yeasted Olive Oil pizza/flatbread dough from Ken Haedrich's The Harvest Baker. I use half King Arthur Italian style flour, a quarter barley flour, and a quarter whole wheat along with the semolina and add 2 Tbs. special dried milk. I baked for 11 minutes, turning halfway. I will eat the flatbread with the hummus I made today.

[BakerAunt]

I made hummus on Saturday from the garbanzo beans I cooked yesterday and had some on the crackers I baked today as a snack.

For dinner, I made Salmon and Couscous with Penzey's Greek Seasoning. We also had microwaved frozen peas.

[BakerAunt]

On Friday, I made a pot of garbanzo beans because I have been craving hummus. I will keep out enough to make hummus, freeze a container for future hummus, and a smaller container to use in a future soup.

[BakerAunt]

I ended up only doing a five-hour test on the crockpot because the water was boiling when I checked it at that time. I see no need to let it go for eight hours. As both Navlys and Italian Cook have noted in past postings, these new crockpots cook very hot, even on low. If I use this one for cooking, I will not trust it on timing. As its default for "low" is eight hours and ten hours, and on high, it is four or six hours, there is no adjustment for any other length of time. I think that is an issue that the latest generation of crock pots have sought to address.

If this setting is "low," I'm not sure that I would ever use the "high" setting.

[BakerAunt]

I am testing the crockpot today.

I also went to the Rival Crockpot website and inquired about whether the scratches are an issue for cooking. I found out that Rival no longer is associated with Crockpot, which was spun off into its own brand. However, the website allows for questions, so I asked. I'll report when I hear back from the company.

[BakerAunt]

I think the main courses category is going to be hard for me, so I'd better start looking now. My cookbook shelves are heavy on the baking category.

[BakerAunt]

Good plan, Joan. I hope all will be well.

We had the rest of the Turkey-Zucchini loaf with roasted potato chunks (our potatoes again), and microwaved frozen peas.

[BakerAunt]

Yes, it is fully ceramic (that is, not a lined ceramic).

[BakerAunt]

That is a splendid idea, Len. I think the scratches may be more cosmetic, but I want to be sure.

First, however, I will test it to see if it works. According to Purdue Extension, I should put in 8 cups of water then "cook" on low for 8 hours. If the temperature then measures around 190-200, then it is working. I'll give it a try tomorrow.

https://extension.purdue.edu/foodlink/includes/pubs/Tips%20for%20Crock%20Pot%20Success.pdf

[BakerAunt]

The pictures of pizza that have been appearing here at Nebraska kitchen have had me yearning for pizza. The weather has cooled enough that I baked Sourdough Pan Pizza on Wednesday. It has been so long since I baked a pizza that I forgot to include the red bell pepper in the toppings. It was still great with Canadian bacon, mozzarella, mushrooms, green onions, and Greek olives (the latter on my half only), with grated Parmesan on top.

[BakerAunt]

I made yogurt on Wednesday.

Best wishes on the cataract surgery, CWCdesign.

[BakerAunt]

Aaron's challah experience reminded me of a pastor at a church I attended before moving here. He built an important sermon point around his idea of barley bread as "the bread of the poor," in a sermon on the New Testament story. (I think it was the feeding of the 5000.) I told him he was incorrect because "barley" is listed as one of the wonderful attributes of the promised land in the older scriptures. He was basing his argument on the white bread vs. whole grain breads of the Medieval and later periods.

At that church, people baked bread for communion. He decided that we should experiment with all kinds of bread, including cornbread. At that point, I suggested that he could vacuum up the crumbs, of which there would be many.

I was a member of Altar Guild, and I did bake a nice wholegrain bread that held together well when it was my turn. However, I ended up resigning when the woman who was in charge of Altar Guild decided we had to move to unleavened bread during Lent using her recipe. (I'm not sure if the pastor was behind this decision or not, as he never mentioned it.)

When I told the story to a Jewish friend, also a baker, she laughed, as she had a Catholic friend who had resigned from her Altar Guild due to a similarly controlling head. My Jewish friend got out of her temple's Latke brigade during Hanukah due to the dominating woman who headed up the endeavor.

My friend did stay in the knitting group, however, in spite of the criticism of a woman about my friend, who knitted in the European manner. That woman could only grumble and had no power to force compliance.

I'm not sure what it is that brings out the would-be dictator in some people when it comes to the internal groups in a place of worship.

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