BakerAunt
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On Sunday, I baked Whole Grain Pumpkin bread, using as my basic recipe the one from Lemon Poppy that is posted at Nebraska Kitchen. I use barley as my wholegrain flour and add flax meal and milk powder. I cut the sugar to 1 ¾ cups and use half oil and half buttermilk, as Lemon Poppy suggested. I baked the recipe as six small loaves; I sprinkled two loaves with orange and black decorating sugar and the other four with autumn color decorating sugar. I will freeze those four.
On Saturday, I baked Bernard Clayton’s Dark Grains Bread, with some tweaks of my own. I used molasses, as he specifies, because honey, which I have substituted in the past, is more expensive. We have a good local person from whom we buy it, but I try to reserve it for eating (mostly my husband puts it on his oatmeal), and I use it sparingly in recipes. I really miss trips to T.J. Maxx, Ross, and Big Lots where I could buy a German honey that I would use in baking. This bread sometimes has more rise than at other times. I might try some gold yeast as part of the yeast next time.
Note: We cut it at lunch the next day. While it is a firm bread, it is not a dense loaf, so the rise is what it should be. The taste is terrific; the molasses blended in well.
I voted today--the first day that in-person voting opened in my small town. They cut the hours back from 8-6 to 8-3. There will be early voting next Saturday as well, same hours. I arrived shortly after 9:30, and it took 90 minutes, most of the first hour standing outside in 40F weather. I congratulated myself on wearing a hat and a light fill jacket with hood. Some people were not dressed for the cold. The room for voting was small, with just two machines, which were wiped down and sanitized after every voter. We were given a disposable glove to wear on the right hand. There was the usual person in line who wore the mask under the nose, and another who kept taking hers off to talk--and no, I don't care if she is tested every day. Still, I know that I had it easy when I think of people in other cities who are standing in long lines for hours.
It can depend on the temperature in the house. When it is cooler, I find that it takes longer.
I think that I've baked that cake, Len. Or maybe I just meant to do so? At any rate, your cake looks delicious.
The caramel discussion reminded me of a scrumptious--butter based probably--cake that I made some years ago from Southern Living, I think, that had a wonderful caramel frosting. However, as I only managed to drop my LDL cholesterol another 7 points at the last doctor's visit, I'll have to continue forgoing caramel. I comfort myself that the LDL is 32 points less than two years ago.
I do recommend the olive oil apple cake that I baked last year and the year before. I wish that I could get some good apples.
For Friday’s dinner, I made Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin, a favorite recipe of ours from ATK. We have been seeing some good deals lately on pork tenderloin, and I have another in the freezer. I also made roasted Queen squash, to which I added some cooked red bulgur. The squash I cut was one where two had developed and not separate—conjoined twins, if you will—I did one half, with its two sections for us tonight, and I will do the other half tomorrow. It was somewhat bitter, so tomorrow, I’ll skip the bulgur and after the initial roasting, brush with maple syrup.
I had hoped to bake crispbread today to go with leftover stew, but last night’s rain was enough that we could get the boat off the lift, so we took a boat ride around the lake this afternoon. I pulled out a recipe that I have been thinking of trying: Crazy Sesame Breadsticks, which was developed for the never published Christmas menu in the December 2009 issue of Gourmet, but was put on the web by Epicurious in December 2018. I made two changes in that I used ½ cup white whole wheat flour, and I cut the salt from 1 ¼ to 1 tsp. I used unhulled sesame seed not the mix of white and black. The first rise went well. I rolled out the dough, pressed on the sesame seed, began to cut ¼ inch strips—and realized that there was no way I was going to be able to get the strip up in one piece. So, I squished it up into a ball, kneaded to distribute the sesame seeds, then divided it into 32 pieces. I rolled each piece into a 7-inch strip, the proceeded to bake. They baked into about the thickness of a finger and have a slight crunch on the outside and chewy on the inside. They went ok with the stew. At least the recipe was quick and not a lot of work.
On Tuesday, I made another batch of yogurt.
For Tuesday's dinner, I roasted three bone-in chicken breasts. I rubbed them with some olive oil and sprinkled with Penzey’s poultry seasoning. I roasted at 425F for 45 minutes, using the roast setting on my oven. They were a little dry, so I should have checked them sooner.
We had it with a new recipe, Mark Bittman’s “Pasta with Winter Squash and Tomatoes.” I used a butternut squash from the farmers’ market, and cut up 2 cups of our tomatoes that have finished ripening in the house. I used ½ tsp. Penzey’s dried shallots, as it is difficult to get fresh ones where I live, and I also deleted the red pepper flakes (a no-go for my husband). I added dried parsley and Parmesan. I used whole wheat pasta. We liked it, and I will make it again. The last green beans from our garden rounded out the dinner. (I know that I have said last green beans a couple of times, but now that there has been a freeze, these really are the last.)
That small pie is so cute!
On Tuesday, I baked my lower in saturated fat version of Bob’s Red Mill Oregon Trail Cookies. I think that I will call mine “On the Trail Cookies,” as they are substantial enough for a hearty snack and last well.
CWCdesign--I read that there is not going to be a canned pumpkin shortage but that there was a delay in that the pumpkin crop developed more slowly this year. It is hard to know. My husband's cousins in Michigan were talking about a canned pumpkin shortage when we did our reunion Zoom call, but I noted a good supply in the only grocery store in our little town. It seems that the pumpkin shortage is almost an urban legend, coming up year after year. As I do not use canned pumpkin, I do not keep track of supplies, but for those who do use canned pumpkin, has there ever been a year when you could not purchase it?
That said, puree made from fresh pie pumpkins is the best.
On Sunday, I made my Scottish Style Scones (Barley) recipe to go with the beef stew we have for dinner.
It is good to hear from you again, CWCdesign.
One of my friends from graduate school has lived in England for over 20 years. She told me that during the pandemic, she had no problem finding flour because there was plenty of regular flour. What people were not finding was the self-rising flour, which sold out in the panic buying.
Thanks for the report, Skeptic. I had printed off this recipe, perhaps a couple of months ago, but then I forgot about it. I'll have to give it a try, now that Italian Cook has reminded me of it and you have blazed the trail to the oven.
Welcome back, Patty/Toffee!
After dinner on Saturday, I put together some sweet rolls to bake tomorrow morning. My starting point was KABC’s Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Rolls. I made a lot of changes, so many that it is my own recipe. I used 2 cups of whole wheat flour and reduced the AP flour to 2 cups. I added ¾ cup old fashioned oats and 2 Tbs. flax meal. I think that I added the ¼ cup special dry milk, but I’d have to go back and look at the recipe. I reduced the salt to 1 tsp. I deleted the spices in the dough and used special Gold yeast. I used a scant 12 oz. of pumpkin puree from the freezer, so I deleted the water. I replaced the butter with 3 Tbs. canola oil. I let the bread machine do the kneading. I did add 1 Tbs. more of AP flour. The first rise was quick. I reduced the sugar in the filling from ¾ to 2/3 cup. I put the rolls in a 3-inch deep ceramic 9-inch square pan. They are now in the refrigerator to rise slowly and be baked tomorrow.
Saturday night dinner was Salmon and Couscous with Dill, accompanied by microwaved fresh broccoli.
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