[BakerAunt]

Ah, but I want to know who put the tribbles in the quadrotriticale?

[BakerAunt]

I ate a jar of the yogurt at breakfast the next morning. It has a mild taste and a creamy texture. I am happy with the result and will make it again.

At some point, I will experiment with using Greek yogurt as the starter to see if a good nonfat Greek yogurt will also give me good results with less saturated fat.

[BakerAunt]

I have never heard of it, so I guessed and answered incorrectly. Interesting!

[BakerAunt]

Peter Reinhart does the cheese on the dough in his pizza book and KAF has also picked up on it. I thought of trying it, but I have to use less rather than more cheese on my pizzas. I also suspect my husband would not like the chewy cheese.

[BakerAunt]

I checked the yogurt after five hours, and it didn't seem quite set, so I let it go another hour, and it seems fine. I've refrigerated it and will try it at breakfast tomorrow. I also had the yogurt maker sitting on the cold counter until the last hour. It occurred to me that it was likely losing some heat, so I put it on one of those fold up "dish mats," which I've never used for dishes but have used for containers of dough for either rising.

One of my gripes with a lot of store yogurt is the added thickeners--pectin, food starch. I dislike how it feels in my mouth. I prefer my yogurt slightly creamy, which is why I liked Stonyfield regular and Chobani Greek yogurt. (I saw plain nonfat Stonyfield Greek yogurt in Walmart, but it was over $6 per carton.) Greek yogurt is higher in protein but lower in calcium, so it's a trade-off. A good yogurt should taste good without additives. Sometimes I stir in some of my homemade jam. Lately I've been sprinkling a bit of my homemade maple granola on my Chobani Greek yogurt, so I'll try it with the homemade yogurt.

Each jar is about 200mg calcium and 2g saturated fat.

[BakerAunt]

Actually, there is a Gordon Food Services in South Bend, although it seemed limited in what it carries.

[BakerAunt]

Enjoy your time in Florida, Navlys. We're not going this year.

I never got to that Penzey's, as it was not close to where we traveled or stayed, but I still dream of getting to a real Penzey's. Until then, there is always mail order, and I have gift cards to use.

With their pre-made blends, I found that the Tuscan Sunset is one my husband is able to eat--unlike the spices I would use for my spaghetti sauce--so that one I do buy. Curiously, he and his daughter do not do well with the "frozen pizza" blend, which I don't buy but was in some gift boxes I received, so I have to eat it up by myself. I also got hooked on the Greek Seasoning and the Sunny Paris, like Chocomouse, when those were included in a gift box. And I like the Bouquet Garni and the Herbs Provance.

Otherwise, I stick to single spices.

• This reply was modified 6 years ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Our snow seems to have ended this evening. My husband estimates we got about 2 1/2 inches, although it's hard to tell because it's the wet snow. For dinner, I made comfort food: my healthier version of my mother's hamburger stroganoff over brown rice and a wild rice medley, along with fresh broccoli steamed in the microwave.

[BakerAunt]

I used to make my own yogurt all the time, beginning in the late 1980s. I went through two yogurt makers because I used them so frequently. I also have one packed away that makes a large quart container. I may pull it out and give it another go as well.

Yogurt was inexpensive for a while, and so was not worth my time to make it, but now that milk prices are relatively low, and I live in a rural area where it is hard to get what I consider healthy yogurt--i.e. no added sugar, no thickeners, live cultures, and low or nonfat--it makes sense to make my own. It will also cut down on the number of non-recyclable yogurt containers I have to throw away. I can only find uses for just so many of them, although a small string of Christmas lights packed nicely into a quart-sized Chobani yogurt container, and its clear lid makes it easy to find them in the decorations. We also used some of those containers when we were painting.

• This reply was modified 6 years ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I know this one. One of my college roommates was from India.

[BakerAunt]

Mike and Arron--Thanks for your comments on the mixer bowl size's relationship to the amount of dough. I've always thought that an ideal home mixer would have attachments that allowed for smaller and larger projects. It would save money and precious kitchen space. When I brought home the second used bread machine, I initially had no idea where I would put it, but I was able to stash it on the counter in a long narrow space that I'd not find a way to use. I still have to move it to use it, but at least it's out of the way.

Aaron--none of the Ginsberg recipes that I've baked require steam. The last bread said to brush the top with water. I settled for spritzing it well with water.

I did in the past bake some breads with steam, but I'm not sure that I did it properly, and a pan that I used developed a problem from the salt in west Texas waster. I'd like to try the steam again. I had bought a set of iron barbecue steamers (long narrow--about 2 inches wide--cast iron with grilled tops. These were recommended by someone on the now defunct KAF baking circle, but I didn't get a chance to try them. Maybe it's time to see how well they work. I also recall someone who would throw ice cubes into a hot iron pan. Ice cubes might work well with these.

When I was trying to use steam, I was also letting the bread rise in a basket and turning it out onto a cornmeal lined paddle, which I would then try to get it to slide off onto a pre-heated stone in the oven. I became tired of 1)deflating the loaf, even a bit, and 2)cleaning up the mess that the cornmeal left in the oven, especially after I had an oven that could not have a liner on the bottom.

What I would do now is use parchment, as I do for pizza. I'm going to have to try all of this again, although I've decided my next bread is going to be two loaves in regular pans so that I can stick one in the freezer.

[BakerAunt]

I'm in a peculiar position, as the kneading spiral on my 7-qt mixer works better with big batches. (I'd love to know if someone with the small Cuisinart mixer has better success.) The used bread machine--for mixing and kneading only, as I don't let the dough rise in it--gave me a cheaper option than investing in a smaller mixer. I preferred the texture of the bread that was kneaded in the Zo than the first loaf, where I was constantly having to stop the mixer and adjust the dough.

I might try mixing with the paddle before switching to the dough hook, which is what I do with all of the other breads I bake.

• This reply was modified 6 years ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

For dinner on Friday, I made salmon and couscous, using dill as the seasoning, as I’ve not done that for a while. We had it with microwaved fresh broccoli.

[BakerAunt]

On Thursday, I again Baked the Yogurt Rye Bread from Ginsberg’s book, but this time I used full-fat Stonyfield yogurt that I bought on our grocery run yesterday. I also mixed and kneaded it in the Zo bread machine, which worked much better than my mixer for this smaller amount of dough. The dough baked into the same size of loaf, still about 3 ¾ inches high. I’ll slice it tomorrow, as we have already eaten the first loaf I baked.

Note from the next day: The bread has much better flavor and texture with the full-fat yogurt. It is still a firm bread, but the crumb seems softer to me. That may be the yogurt, but I also think that my bread machine contributed to the better texture. The bread is mild, but it does have flavor.

[BakerAunt]

I also know this answer, but I appreciate Mike's detailed explanation.

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