[BakerAunt]

I got it, too, perhaps because we may have discussed the temperature on this site before. It's good to know that I'm absorbing some information.

[BakerAunt]

On Monday morning, I baked Fig Muffins, from Dimetra Makris’s Delicious Quick Breads and Muffins (New York: Fawcett Columbine: 1986), p. 44. It is lovely having my cookbooks close at hand. These are an oat muffin, and I used old-fashioned oats, as the recipe did not specify. I switched regular AP flour for white whole wheat and substituted buttermilk for regular milk, and so reduced the baking powder to 2 tsp. and added ¼ tsp. baking soda. I reduced the salt from 1/2 to 1/4 tsp. I used Halloween paper liners (with a bit of nonstick spray) and sprinkled orange and black sugar on top. I chose the recipe because I have some dried figs—bought for a homemade fig newton recipe that I can no longer try, since the butter is prohibitive. I like the taste of the figs in the muffins. [Note: I baked them for 18 minutes, using the rack I use for cookies and crackers.]

• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I'm not baking today, but I am thinking about Halloween. I pulled out some Halloween muffin papers and may try a new muffin recipe tomorrow. I also may experiment this week with Halloween cookies that I can eat.

[BakerAunt]

We were going to have leftovers, but my husband asked if we could alternate it with a different meal, since we've had the gigante bean dish twice in a row. So, for Sunday dinner, I roasted four whole chicken legs. I made a pilaf with onion, mushrooms, a mixture of brown and wild rice cooked in chicken/turkey stock in the rice cooker, and roasted delicata squash that we bought from the apple orchard people. I roasted the squash in the small countertop oven, which I’m finding increasingly useful. We also had microwaved broccoli.

[BakerAunt]

I answered correctly, but I also learned from Mike's explanation.

[BakerAunt]

Skeptic--I haven't made pumpkin chili, but I did make a black bean and pumpkin soup last year from The Smitten Kitchen blog. I liked it, but the pumpkin does tend to disappear with the black beans and spices.

[BakerAunt]

On Saturday afternoon, I baked an apple pie—my first of the season—using Jonathan apples that we picked at an orchard on Wednesday. I’m refining my oil-buttermilk crust. This time I used whole wheat pastry flour rather than white whole wheat flour, and it made an amazing difference in the dough, which came together so well that I could have rolled it out rather than pressing it into the pan. I did my usual blind bake with it, after an hour in the refrigerator, and once again cooked the apples, sugar, tapioca, and spices in a skillet for a bit, before putting them into the hot (first sprinkled lightly with Panko to prevent sogginess) crust. I tried cutting the apples in chunks rather than slices this time, and I left the peel. I used a light streusel crust (2 Tbs. butter). We will cut into it for dessert tonight, but a taste of spilled juices and an apple piece that fell off promise a scrumptious treat.

[BakerAunt]

I remember doing that also, Len. I would save small bottles and decant into those for everyday use.

[BakerAunt]

I answered correctly.

[BakerAunt]

For breakfast on Saturday morning I made cornmeal pancakes, using Bob’s Red Mill coarse ground corn meal and KAF white whole wheat flour, and buttermilk, of course. We had them with maple syrup and the last of the blueberry topping, along with maple syrup.

[BakerAunt]

On Friday, I baked Skeptic’s Pumpkin Biscotti recipe with a few tweaks. I use white whole wheat flour and add 3 Tbs. Bob’s Red Mill milk powder. I reduce the cloves to 1/8th tsp. and delete the vanilla. To celebrate the season, I used a mix of black and orange sugar which I sprinkled on top of the log before the first bake. I remembered to add a rack to the oven, just above the one I use for bread, since cookies and crackers bake more evenly on the slightly higher rack in my oven.

Note: I used a little over 5 oz. of a peanut pumpkin (probably left over last year from when I divided up the rest). I think that the extra pumpkin made for a good texture.

[BakerAunt]

Here's an appetizer for the first course:

https://www.food.com/recipe/halloween-spooky-spider-deviled-eggs-397228

[BakerAunt]

The rye bread sounds delicious, Aaron. With your plans for the deli, you can probably afford refrigerator space for a standing rye starter. I have some rye recipes that I'd like to try, but they call for standing starters, and I'd just not bake with it enough to justify having it. As we get into winter, I'll need to see if I can use some of my regular sourdough starter to create a one-time use rye starter for when I want to try rye bread. (I am more fond of rye bread than my husband, in part because it is sometimes hard on his digestive system.)

Might the blow outs in the rye bread perhaps be due to changing to a mixer? I didn't have much of a blow out issue until I began using a stand mixer. I do better with my shaping now if I form the dough into an oval, let it rest, then flip it over (so the smooth side is on the bottom), then fold it lengthwise. I flatten it slightly with the palm of my hand, then use the side of my hand to press it down around the edges. I then roll it, and smooth out the bottom seam and the sides. Usually there are no blowouts with that method, although I do occasionally get small holes within the bread if I am not careful with the flattening part.

[BakerAunt]

Post Moved to October 20, 2019 thread. I put it under the wrong week.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

The large lima beans--that I'll be cooking this afternoon, and which have been soaking overnight--have a different taste from the frozen green lima beans. I'm making the "Tomato and Gigante Bean Bake/Pizza Beans" recipe from Smitten Kitchen Every Day. (It's also on Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen website.) According to her notes, these beans are called fagioli corona in Italy and gigante/gigandes in Greece. I use the Bob's Red Mill large lima beans (starting with 2 1/2 cups dry).

The recipe is supposed to be vegetarian, but the first time I made it, my husband said, "It would be good with some meat in it." So much for a meatless meal! I brown ground turkey and add it, and that works for him.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

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