[BakerAunt]

I also made a third batch of applesauce on Sunday and froze two containers. There are enough of the seconds apples for a fourth batch.

[BakerAunt]

Sunday dinner was leftover turkey, microwaved frozen peas, and Queen squash that I halved and roasted, then filled with cooked red bulgur and baked another ten minutes.

[BakerAunt]

Note: Those spiced rye ginger cookies are delicious. The recipe makes a chewy cookie, and the spice is just right. The cardamom blends in--my husband did not notice it, and he is not fond of that spice. The surprise ingredient was 3/4 tsp. black pepper. I ground my own, and I pounded my own cardamom seeds.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks for the tip, Len. And thank you to Italian Cook for starting this discussion. Sometimes the simple things--a pastry brush to brush off excess flour--is the very thing we overlook. I once remarked to Cass that it is hard to turn over stamped buns. Use a spatula, he told me. Oh. Of, course.

I recall a thread from the now defunct King Arthur Backing Circle (another KABC) in which a member--was it Karen Noll?--commented on a snowman bread that she makes and sprinkles before baking with flour in order to give the look of snow.

[BakerAunt]

It's great that Violet is so interested in baking, Aaron. The best way to learn baking is by working with a baker. I've often wished that I had someone I could teach.

[BakerAunt]

I baked a new KABC recipe on Saturday: “Spiced Rye Ginger Cookies.” I used the Zeroll #40 scoop, and the recipe made 24 cookies. Next time, I would drop the dough from the scoop directly into the sugar before putting it on the parchment-lined sheet, as I had to use a scraper to get them up to then roll in the sugar. I baked the cookies on the third rack up for 14 minutes, one sheet at a time, turning the sheet around halfway.

These cookies use 1/2 cup of oil--no butter, so I was pleased to find the recipe in one of KABC's emails. Medium rye flour has some health benefits, although it is not a whole grain.

They smell delicious, but I will let them rest overnight so that the flavors can develop. I look forward to having some tomorrow with afternoon tea.

[BakerAunt]

I've become a pumpkin pie snob in that the only pumpkin pie I like is the one that I bake.

My Spiced Pumpkin bread is really great for turkey sandwiches. I worried about the extra 3 Tbs. of flour that I added, but the texture is fine, and I can slice it thinly. I may add the two additional 2-3 Tbs. whole wheat flour when I bake it again.

[BakerAunt]

The only thing I cooked today was my usual morning oatmeal. Ah, how I love having leftover Thanksgiving food!

[BakerAunt]

My cranberry sauce is not cooked. I used to make an uncooked one with cranberries, sugar, and orange, but once I found this one, it became my favorite. I've also made a very good cooked one from The Frugal Gourmet's American food cookbook.

My husband will roast the 14 lb. turkey tomorrow. I will make the Pepperidge Farm (blue bag!) dressing with broth, celery, and either dried or green onions (in deference to my husband who has trouble with regular onion). We will likely have steamed broccoli as the side, and I will make gravy. I'll have my cranberry-cherry relish, and we will have the Spiced Rye Bread. Dessert is pumpkin pie.

[BakerAunt]

On Wednesday, I baked Spiced Pumpkin Bread from Stanley Ginsberg’s The Rye Baker blog (not in his rye baking book). I have baked it four times previously, so I had some notes to follow, including mixing with the paddle rather than the dough hook initially, holding back the oil until after the first rest, and adding a bit more flour (3 Tbs. this time). I may have added a bit too much flour, as the dough was not as slack as usual. That did make shaping easier, and it held its shape nicely when baked. I will see how the texture is tomorrow. I have not ruled out using the bread machine for it next time, as my 7-qt. mixer has trouble kneading this particular dough. It sticks to the bowl and the kneading spiral just makes an indentation in it, so that I have to keep stopping the mixer and re-positioning the dough, which for 8-10 minutes of kneading is a pain, and probably not great for the mixer. I also did not knock the dough down with the mixer after the first rise but kneaded it a bit by hand. I found that it baked in 55 minutes, not an hour.

I baked my signature pumpkin pie, which is my variation on my Mom’s, using my oil crust.

[BakerAunt]

I'm always amazed at people who don't know what to do with Thanksgiving leftovers. The answer is easy: eat them!

I made another batch of yogurt on Wednesday.

I also made my favorite cranberry sauce, using cranberries, dried cherries, light brown sugar, and cardamom. My husband does not like cranberries, so it is all mine, and I will happily eat it until Christmas--as an accompaniment to some meals, stirred into yogurt, spread on toast.

[BakerAunt]

While I didn't have a box that looked as if the NFL had tackled it, the syrup I ordered from another source (before I knew of Chocomouse's sales) also arrived with one of the plastic lids damaged, although it did have a seal inside the cap, so no spilling. Clearly it's rough out there in the mailroom.

[BakerAunt]

Ah, yes, Aaron--chocolate cookie wafers! I have a favorite recipe, from a small Hershey's cookbook that was my go-to for the crust on my chocolate cheesecake. (I really long for the day when I can have a lot of people over, and so can bake those kind of recipes again, knowing that I will only need to eat a little bit.)

Chocolate tart and pumpkin pie--sounds like a balanced Thanksgiving to me! I'd miss the turkey, however. Even when I was single and celebrating Thanksgiving alone, I always made a turkey. Usually, I'd freeze some of it and also freeze some casseroles from it for quick dinners.

[BakerAunt]

On Tuesday, I cooked up the rest of our tomatoes that have been ripening in the house. I cooked them down enough for sauce for two pan pizzas. I will freeze these containers.

For lunch on Tuesday, I made a soup using some frozen turkey broth (after setting aside the broth I will need for the ‘stuffing” on Thanksgiving). I used chopped carrots, celery, sliced green onions, sliced mushrooms, and I halved, then peeled a small Queen squash and diced it. I also added some rosemary, sage, thyme, and sweet Curry (Penzey’s), parsley, and the last of the autumn-shaped pasta. It made enough that we can warm it for dinner on Wednesday, so as not to interfere with my pre-Thanksgiving baking.

[BakerAunt]

That's exactly why I chose to stop watching Master Chef. I prefer cooking and baking programs that are actually about cooking and baking.

Monday has been a busy day in the kitchen. I started by making another batch of Maple Granola.

I realized we were almost out of bread, at lunch, so I used the bread machine to knead and then baked my significant adaptation of King Arthur’s Oat Toasting Bread. Mine uses 2 cups whole wheat flour, flax meal, Bob’s Red Mill rolled five-grains, oat bran, buttermilk, less salt and less yeast. I used oil and honey. I also bake it at 375 rather than 350 for 38 minutes.

My final baking project on Monday was Pear Spice Muffins, a recipe by Ellie Krieger. I had baked the recipe last year, but the muffins were a bit spongy. This time, I reduced the oil from 1/3 to ¼ cup and used homemade apple sauce. I baked them in Fall cupcake papers, sprayed with cooking oil, and I sprinkled fall colored sugar on top before baking.

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