[BakerAunt]

I will often make six large rather than twelve small muffins, particularly if I'm planning to freeze them (less to wrap). I also prefer greasing large muffin pans to small ones. My large ones are nowhere near the size of bakery muffins.

However, I have a lot of muffin/cupcake papers, mostly for standard muffins, and wanted to begin using the supply, and my husband is more likely to snack on a small muffin than a large one. That said, bakeries sell giant muffins that resemble cupcakes and are often loaded with butter and sugar. Those are the ones that I see at the farmers market.

[BakerAunt]

We had a job candidate once who told us that she had loved shrimp, but that having lived in a shrimping area, and having consumed so much of it, she apparently had eaten her lifetime allocation because she developed a serious reaction to it and could no longer eat it.

Another friend had that happen with tomatoes.

[BakerAunt]

Mike--I made a correction in my post, before Skeptic's reply, and my post disappeared again. Can you restore it, or do I need to try to re-post?

[BakerAunt]

I can't access the article, but from what is there before the "stop," the bread seems loaded with saturated fat.

It reminds me of some vegan recipes where the workaround is unhealthier than just eating the animal product. There are healthy vegan recipes, but attempts to make it like non-vegan usually fall flat.

[BakerAunt]

Some people do have a genetic sensitivity to bitterness in whole wheat. I think it was Wingboy (?--S. Wirth would know), from the former KAF Baking Circle who had this issue with whole wheat, as well as a lot of beers. I suspect that it is an issue for my husband's cousins, as I've found that they avoid wholegrain bread that I bring in favor of white breads from a bakery. A semolina bread went over very well with them. I've also been able to use half white whole wheat flour in cinnamon rolls without their noticing.

So, if you want to get whole wheat into your children, the white whole wheat flour is a good place to start. I also use some in cookies where I don't want the whole wheat flavor to dominate. It's too bad that Bob's Red Mill ceased offering their "ivory wheat" flour, which was white whole wheat, as it was my favorite. I now have to buy from King Arthur online, which is pricier. White whole wheat flour, medium rye, pumpernickel, espresso powder, and cheese powder are primarily the reason that I renewed my Bakers Rewards membership with King Arthur, even though they carry less these days than interests me, and their prices are higher.

[BakerAunt]

I missed it. I do like shrimp, but I've never had it with the head and legs.

[BakerAunt]

I baked muffins on Monday morning. I started with this recipe for Pear & Walnut Muffins from Stonyfield:

Pear & Walnut Muffins

As you might expect, I made MAJOR changes in the recipe, so much that I can claim it as my own. First, I didn’t want to grind up ½ cup of walnuts in my small food processor. I think the idea was a “walnut flour,” and it might be quite nice, but I’m lazy about cleaning up the food processor after grinding nuts, so I increased the flour by ½ cup and added 1/3 cup chopped walnuts. The recipe purports to be healthy, but it’s only 25% wholegrain as written. I used 1 cup AP flour and 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour. I added 2 Tbs. Bob’s Red Mill milk powder (to increase the calcium) and cut the salt in half. The amount of sugar in the recipe is also high. I cut the brown sugar (used light) in half, from 2/3 cup to 1/3 cup. I used Chobani Greek yogurt, as that is what I have. I deleted the vanilla, partly by accident, but I would not have used 2 tsp. vanilla for a muffin. As it turns out, the muffins don’t need it, but ½ tsp. might be nice. I used an unpeeled Anjou pear, as no type was specified, and that is what the store had. A Bartlett would be nice as well. The original recipe says makes 15 (must be small). I made 12 in a standard muffin pan. I used paper liners but sprayed them with non-stick cooking spray. They are very good plain, warm from the oven.

Muffins are often put on the "naughty" list for nutritional value because they are often loaded with sugar and minimal if any wholegrains. Stonyfield touts this recipe as "low in calories," but as originally written, the recipe, while low in saturated fat, is not particularly healthy.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 6 months ago by BakerAunt. Reason: changed a word

[BakerAunt]

That sounds delicious, Joan!

On Sunday, I made another batch of yogurt.

For Sunday dinner, I made Salmon and Couscous, using Penzey’s Mural Seasonings. We also had microwaved fresh broccoli.

[BakerAunt]

I knew this one.

[BakerAunt]

On Saturday, I made Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from the dough I made last week.

[BakerAunt]

I think that one of the issues of the now defunct King Arthur Sift magazine had a recipe for moon cakes.

[BakerAunt]

The recipe seems designed to promote King Arthur's white whole wheat flour, which is not often available locally. The Kroger in the larger town where we shop was carrying it but discontinued doing so.

Stand mixers are often on wedding registries, although it is an expensive gift. I bought my stand mixer using gift cards from friends who knew I wanted one, although I also needed to use some of my own money. (I let my husband have the Amazon gift card to use towards a new chain saw, so we are even.) Although a lot of people might receive such a mixer, I wonder how many use it more than occasionally.

Other than the people on this site, I don't have any friends or acquaintances or family members who bake bread, even occasionally.

[BakerAunt]

I chose the correct answer. I looked at the recipe. That is a lot of work. For that amount of saturated fat, I would just eat shortbread, which is a lot easier!

[BakerAunt]

Ah, those emergency desserts in the freezer are so nice, Chocomouse.

To go with stew for Friday dinner, I made cornbread. I made it in two 5-well Nordic Ware heart muffin pans.

[BakerAunt]

Dinner on Friday night is beef stew. I follow my usual recipe and double everything but the beef. This time, I deglazed the pan with some red wine before adding 5 cups of water. I seasoned with 4 Tbs. rehydrated Penzey’s dried onion (still avoiding fresh for my husband), ¾ tsp. garlic powder, 2 Tbs. Penzey’s beef base, 2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce; dash of ground allspice; ½ tsp. Penzey’s Tsardust blend; crushed rosemary, 2 tsp. sugar, 2 bay leaves. After two hours, I removed the bay leaves, added a cup of water, red potatoes, small carrots, halved mushrooms, and 2 Tbs. tomato paste. After another 45 minutes, I added frozen green peas, and near the end. I thickened it with ¼ cup Clearjel first mixed with 1/3 cup water. It’s one of my best stews ever. We had it with heart-shaped cornbread muffins, because Valentine's Day should last all month.

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