[BakerAunt]

What a great opportunity, Aaron! I look forward to hearing about further adventures in the bakery.

[BakerAunt]

I understand what you are saying about price, Aaron. If I get a chance to buy flour from a specialty mill, it would only be a small quantity with which I would experiment. What struck me, however, was that I prefer the Bob's Red Mill whole wheat over the King Arthur whole wheat, and I can usually buy it for less than a bag of the KABC whole wheat, especially if I can buy a case of it from Bob's--something that I hope will again be possible when the pandemic flour flurry finally settles down.

I'd be curious as to what KABC would have to say about this article. The article did not give us the numbers.

[BakerAunt]

In another slight tweak to how I bake these crackers, I've started baking them using the convection setting on my oven and baking for 12 minutes, turning half-way through. I bake them three racks up, which is above center. These changes seem to help the crackers bake more evenly.

After I remove the pan from the oven, I make sure all the crackers are separated from each other, then pull out the parchment and allow the crackers to rest on the hot baking sheet while I bake the next batch. The crackers should have space between them on the hot baking sheet, which will promote crunchiness. When the next batch is ready to exit the oven, I move the ones from the baking sheet to a rack to finish cooling.

[BakerAunt]

Earlier this summer, I used the Bob’s Red Mill “Oregon Trail Cookies” recipe as the basis to develop my own version using olive oil and a bit of buttermilk in place of butter. I deleted the flax seeds but used 1 Tbs. flax meal and added 2 Tbs. sunflower seeds. I baked the recipe again on Tuesday, but we are low on honey, and I wanted to save it for my husband to use on his oatmeal, and so I used molasses in its place and added ¼ tsp. ginger to the cinnamon. I like the combination and would use this variation again.

[BakerAunt]

I made another batch of yogurt on Tuesday.

[BakerAunt]

Removed. I put it in the wrong thread.

[BakerAunt]

On Monday, I baked my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from dough I made last week.

Yesterday was pleasantly cool. Today was warmer, around 81F. The rain keeps missing us. Our area desperately needs a good rain. My husband says it is one of the most sustained droughts the area has seen.

[BakerAunt]

For Monday dinner, I thawed gravy left over from when we had turkey. I cut up the rest of the leftover chicken and added it to the gravy, along with some dried parsley and chives. I cooked half a package of spinach noodles, then combined them with the gravy and chicken. It made enough that we can have it for dinner tomorrow night as well. We had it with microwaved frozen peas.

[BakerAunt]

I spent much of Sunday cross stitching a particularly challenging section of my current project, so Monday is the day to be back in the kitchen. I made broth using the bones frozen from our last turkey, along with those of the chicken we had this week. (Does that make it Churkey Broth?) I also made another batch of tomato sauce, which I hope to use in a recipe tomorrow if I can get spaghetti squash at the grocery. I skipped the Farmers Market this week, as there are so many weekend and summer people here for the holiday—most coming from virus hot spots.

[BakerAunt]

It seems to have been a quiet day in the kitchen for most people.

We ate the last of the bread for lunch on Saturday. I selected another recipe that makes three loaves; we are eating it quickly, baking three and freezing two saves time. I used “Marilyn’s Sourdough Oatmeal Bread,” from The Baking Sheet (Autumn 1998). It is a long-time favorite of mine, but as it calls for ½ cup of butter, I have not made it for several years. I decided to play with the recipe and use 1/3 cup oil and more sourdough starter and wholegrains. I also used maple syrup rather than honey, as we are low on honey, and I added 2 Tbs. maple sugar. The dough had a nice rise both times and excellent oven spring. I look forward to cutting into one at lunch tomorrow

[BakerAunt]

It's a lovely pie, Mike.

Back in the July 12, 2020 baking thread, I wrote about my attempt to bake “Buttermilk Blueberry Coffee Cake,” a recipe from the King Arthur 200th Anniversary baking book using oil rather than butter. Although it had good flavor, the blueberries sank, and it stuck to the pan. On Friday evening, I baked the Buttermilk Blueberry Coffee Cake again, using my oil substitute and whole wheat pastry substitution, and addition of 2 Tbs. flax meal. I followed Cass’s revisions and used just ¾ cup buttermilk and ½ tsp. baking soda. I also prepared the pan as he instructed me. The cake baked well in the same Bundt pan—no sinking berries at the bottom. I did follow Skeptic’s suggestion as well to put some batter without blueberries in the bottom of the pan before I mixed in the blueberries. I only had a little bit of sticking, and I think that was because I missed two small places. The cake came out beautifully and is cooling. I look forward to slicing into it tomorrow. I made it with the last of our fresh blueberries. All the rest have been frozen.

[BakerAunt]

On Friday afternoon, I made another batch of tomato sauce. I was going to freeze it, but I may refrigerate it to use on a spaghetti squash "lasagna" next week, if the cool weather forecast comes to pass, and if there are nice spaghetti squash at the farmers market.

For Friday dinner, I roasted a whole chicken on top of a bed of cut-up potatoes and mini-carrots that I had tossed in olive oil, then sprinkled with poultry seasoning, some salt, and Penzey’s Sweet Curry powder. I also rubbed the chicken with olive oil and sprinkled on the same spices. We had it with microwaved fresh broccoli. I am impressed with the whole chickens from Aldi’s, as they have less fat and use a lot less salt in the processing. They tend to be larger than what we could buy in town, as they are usually at least 5 pounds, and the price is better.

There will be plenty of leftovers for dinner for a few nights, so I will be able to focus on baking for a couple of days.

[BakerAunt]

We had leftover salmon patties, and leftover summer squash with tomato sauce and whole wheat pasta, and fresh microwaved green beans from the garden.

It's ok, Chocomouse, to post about brats. I just go back in my memory to two particularly wonderful times when I had brats. If I had the opportunity, I'd probably just eat one really good one, and then I'd be satisfied for a long time.

[BakerAunt]

I had intended to roast a chicken for dinner on Wednesday, but it had not thawed through, so I pulled out a can of salmon and made my salmon patties. To go with it, I sautéed a green and a yellow zucchini with some celery, then added the leftover tomato sauce from a batch that I made earlier in the week and a heaping tsp. of dehydrated onion that I reconstituted. I cooked some penne whole wheat pasta and mixed it in,

I also made another batch of yogurt on Wednesday.

[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook--Tell your husband that there is ALWAYS room for more flour!

I used to wait for the Christmas season, when flour went on special (Gold Medal or Pillsbury unbleached), and then I would stock up, placing the bags in large plastic containers until needed. I recall Frick, from the Baking Circle, mentioning that she did the same thing, putting bags in roaster pans, etc.--much to her husband's puzzlement when he would discover them.

By the way, Bob's Red Mill has semolina flour available on their website again--or at least they did when I looked this afternoon.

[Author]

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