[BakerAunt]

I usually stir it back in, but then I use 2 cups for crackers, and feed it. My best bread was after I had fed it for crackers, then for pizza, then baked bread.

I'm just grateful that we can refrigerate our starters.

[BakerAunt]

I made yogurt on Thursday.

Dinner was more of the roasted chicken breast and the rest of the farro-vegetable stir-fry.

[BakerAunt]

I'll make a note about the honeybells, Joan. I've seen them when we vacationed in Florida.

On Wednesday, I baked my adaptation of the King Arthur recipe for Butterscotch Apple Sweet Rolls. I made the filling last year and froze it. I let it thaw for a few days in the refrigerator, then put the sweet rolls together this afternoon. We each had one for dessert tonight. My recipe cuts the saturated fat by replacing butter with avocado oil and sour cream with nonfat Greek yogurt (I cannot find low-fat nearby). I continued to tweak the recipe this time by increasing the 2 Tbs. of avocado oil that I substituted for butter in the rolls to 3 Tbs. I also added an additional tablespoon of water. I reduced the sugar from ½ cup to 1/3 cup but added 2 Tbs. honey. I tried replacing some of the sugar with honey in my cinnamon rolls, and it seems to keep them softer longer. I also make the rolls half whole wheat flour, so that is probably why I needed a bit more water. I reduced the glaze by using just ¾ cup of powdered sugar rather than 1 cup. With that filling the glaze needs to be kept to a minimum.

[BakerAunt]

Mike is correct: the dill is more pronounced after two days. I'm enjoying my pickles!

We had leftover roasted chicken breast and farro stir-fry for dinner on Wednesday.

[BakerAunt]

Happy Anniversary, Mike and Diane!

[BakerAunt]

Update on the pickles: I could taste the dill flavor more today. I really like their crunchiness!

[BakerAunt]

Your cake is beautiful, Joan. I think it looks much better than it would have as a loaf! While the lacy look may be because you had a lot of glaze, it works well.

I'm impressed that you were able to find good oranges, but then, you do live closer to Florida than I do.

[BakerAunt]

I had planned to bake sweet rolls on Tuesday, but I realized at lunch that with both of us eating sandwiches--my husband because he always does and me to take advantage of our tomatoes for turkey bacon sandwiches--that we needed more for tomorrow. I baked a tweaked version of King Arthur's Chewy Semolina Rye Bread. My tweaks are replacing 1 ½ cups of the water with buttermilk, adding 3 Tbs. special dry milk, omitting the dried onion and vital wheat gluten, cutting the salt by a third, and replacing 2 Tbs. sugar with 2 Tbs. honey. I used Bob's Red Mill dark rye flour, but I think the recipe uses medium rye, judging by the picture that accompanied the recipe in the catalog. The bread bakes nicely in the Emile Henry long baker. Unfortunately, the battery in the instant read thermometer is failing, and I did not have a replacement, so I had to use one of my other thermometers, which is rather slow. The bread needed about 8 minutes longer after the upper time the recipe specified.

I was able to time the baking, so that when I took out the roasted chicken breasts I made for dinner, I could turn down the oven temperature and put the bread in to bake within about 15 minutes.

[BakerAunt]

When we grocery shopped this morning, I found a package of three bone-in large chicken breasts that were marked down for quick sale. I roasted those for Tuesday night dinner, which will give us plenty of leftovers. I also thawed some chicken broth and made another farro stir-fry using green onion, red bell peppers, mushrooms, and half-cut squash (the zucchini-type one that has the seeds in a bulb at the end). I had two tomatoes that needed to be used quickly, so I cut those up and threw them in, along with some of the kale from the pot my husband still has on the porch, although it is getting tougher. There is enough for one or two more nights.

[BakerAunt]

We were given six small reddish gold pears over a week ago. We each ate one, but they are not a flavorful variety for eating raw, so on Monday evening, I cut up the rest of them and baked six large Pear Cardamom Oatmeal muffins. I will have one for breakfast tomorrow and freeze the others--if I can find space in the freezer!

[BakerAunt]

I roasted potato chunks on Monday to go with leftover pork and the rest of the green bean salad. I used some of the potatoes that my husband grew.

I ate a pickle spear for lunch today. While it is nice and crunchy, it does not have much dill flavor. Perhaps I should have used more dill seed. I will still enjoy them, but I will think about how to adjust the spices.

[BakerAunt]

For Sunday dinner, my husband pan cooked some boneless pork, which we had with leftover potato wedges from yesterday and more of the green bean salad.

Hugs, Joan! I know that you have lovely memories to sustain you.

[BakerAunt]

Well, heat is not involved, but the cooking thread seems the best place to put today's effort:

At the farmers market yesterday, I talked with one of the vendors who had small cucumbers for pickling. He offered to send me a link to the recipe he uses for refrigerator pickles, so I bought six. On Sunday, I printed the recipe from the blog Well Plated. I followed it except for deleting the garlic at my husband's request, and I replaced the fresh dill with 1 Tbs. dill seed, after consulting internet sources for amount. As I have pickling salt, I used that instead of kosher salt. The recipe stated that it was fine to quarter the cucumbers for spears, so I did that instead of making coins. I have a Ball wide-mouthed quart canning jar that I picked up at the local thrift store a while back, so I used it, along with a screw lid from the packet I bought to fit it and the large jars of honey we buy. We will start sampling them tomorrow at dinner time.

Here's a link to the recipe:

https://www.wellplated.com/refrigerator-pickles/

[BakerAunt]

This evening, I am baking Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from dough I made last week.

[BakerAunt]

For dinner on Saturday, I made Crispy Oven Fish and Chips with Dill Tartar Sauce. I also made what will probably be the last green bean, cherry tomato, and Greek cheese salad of the year, as the green beans are slowing down. I think that I have made the salad seven times this summer, and we are fine with that!

[Author]

Posts