[BakerAunt]

Skeptic--I, too, found the recipe a bit too sweet, so I reduce the brown sugar to 1/2 cup. I've not tried the recipe with regular oats. Sometimes the substitution works, as in the zucchini bread I made this evening. Other times, I've found that the resulting product is too chewy. You could lightly grind the oats in a food processor.

[BakerAunt]

Skeptic--Aaron is hoping to open a deli.

[BakerAunt]

On Thursday afternoon, I’m making broth, using the remains of a turkey breast from the freezer and the rotisserie chicken we had last week. It will definitely be soup weather this weekend.

[BakerAunt]

Best wishes as you recover.

[BakerAunt]

Let us know how the recipe turns out, Skeptic.

For lunch on Wednesday, I made lentil-vegetable-barley soup. I used water, left over from cooking potatoes, and frozen a couple of weeks ago. I used carrots, onion, celery, and garlic that I first sautéed in a bit of olive oil. I used 1 tsp. of Penzey’s Ozark blend to season. (I think that it came in a gift box, so I look for ways to use it.) I had some kale that I needed to use, so I cut up those leaves and added it about ten minutes from the end. It’s a delicious soup, although a bit salty, since I forgot that I had salted the potato water. If I’d remembered, I would have used a salt-free seasoning blend.

Wednesday night dinner is Spaghetti Squash-Turkey Casserole—a recipe that I discovered and adapted last year. Think of it as a kind of lasagna that uses spaghetti squash rather than noodles. I had to start early because I make my own sauce, although it is from canned tomatoes due to our disappointing tomato crop this year. Then the spaghetti squash must be roasted for an hour, cooled slightly, and scooped out. In the meantime, I brown ground turkey, and add some chopped onion, a bit more garlic, and optional red bell pepper (because I have it!), then mix in the sauce. I layer it in a lasagna pan, put 4 oz. of diced mozzarella on top, grate some Parmesan over it, then bake for 30 minutes. I try to keep my husband from cutting into it for a standing time of 20 minutes.

[BakerAunt]

I'm going to have to try my sample of that topping, Len.

I’ve been craving ginger. Eating three ginger cookies at my husband’s family reunion only whetted my desire for more. I have a recipe for Double Ginger Biscotti with Pistachios from a Bon Appetit RSVP column in 1997. It uses butter, but last time I made it and substituted 1/3 cup canola oil for the ½ cup butter, and they came out well. I decided to see if I could tweak the recipe further on Wednesday afternoon. I substituted in ¾ cup of white whole wheat flour and added 2 Tbs. Bob’s Red Mill milk powder. I increased the crystalized ginger to ½ cup. I didn’t bother with lemon flavoring. I tried a new technique for the recipe in that I mixed all the dry ingredients together, along with the pistachios and ginger. I whisked together 1/3 cup oil, with buttermilk added to make ½ cup. I next whisked in an egg and ½ tsp. vanilla. I made a well in the dry ingredients, poured the wet ones into it, then used my dough whisk to combine, switching to a bowl scraper at the end. I divided the mixture in half, and with slightly damp hands formed it into two logs. I decided to refrigerate for an hour, just as I would do with a butter version. I spritzed with water and sprinkled with demerara sugar before the first bake. Note: Next time use the regular, heavy baking sheet instead of the half-sheet pan, as the biscotti got too dark on the bottom. Also, move the rack up one level for cookies.

[BakerAunt]

Here's hoping for a successful surgery and relief from the pain. I was thinking what Joan said: if any of us lived nearby, we would be coming over to help process those tomatoes for you.

[BakerAunt]

Dinner on Monday was a stir-fry using soba noodles, leftover rotisserie chicken, green onion, celery, carrots; red bell pepper, eggplant, mushrooms, broccoli, and a tiny snow pea—the last one from our garden this year.

[BakerAunt]

In the past (over 5 years ago), I've bought 25-pound bags of King Arthur flour in Plymouth, IN and Rantoul, IL Walmart stores. However, we don't go through Rantoul anymore, and the Plymouth store, which did have 10-pound bags, usually only carries 5-pound ones now. The Plymouth store used to carry Montana Gold (I think that was the name) white, whole wheat, and white whole wheat. That has ended.

[BakerAunt]

When I buy flour, I empty it into the container and throw the bag away. Given the flour recalls of late, I may start writing down the lot information on a sticker to put on the flour containers. I'm not worried about what remains in my flour bucket because I don't eat raw dough, and I wash my hands after handling flour or dough.

It's interesting that 25-pound bags are also being recalled. (It has been years since I've seen a 25-pound bag.) I noted in Walmart, in Michigan City, Indiana yesterday, that there was not a single bag of King Arthur flour, and indeed, there were mostly empty shelves in the flour section. I'll have to look in our local Walmart when we go this week. I'm actually low on unbleached King Arthur flour.

[BakerAunt]

I need to check out that recipe, Skeptic!

On Saturday afternoon, I used the Apricot-Oatmeal Bars recipe, which is posted here (with only ½ cup of sugar and 1/8th tsp. salt) but used my own three-berry jam and a bit of my leftover strawberry jam. I had mixed some quick oats with flax meal for the main dish I had planned for the family reunion, but as it was not needed, I now need to use the mixed ingredients. So, the cup of oats I used contained flax meal as well. The bars came out well, and we each had one for dessert.

[BakerAunt]

We were at my husband’s cousins’ reunion from Sunday evening until Friday morning. There are certain people who do particular meals and main dishes, and we do an early Thanksgiving, usually on the Tuesday. We had enough leftovers from all the earlier meals, and three people had to leave early, so that I ended up not making a main dish, which was fine, considering the issues with the oven. However, I did make my planned side dish, a version of quinoa salad (from a Bob’s Red Mill recipe), for Thursday’s dinner, and it was a hit. We are now back at home and will have the leftover quinoa salad with a rotisserie chicken we picked up on the way back.

[BakerAunt]

We spent the week at my husband's cousins' reunion. We find a place to rent--preferably with a large kitchen--and everyone cooks. On Wednesday night, I made up two batches of cinnamon rolls to rise in the refrigerator overnight. I brought my bread machine with me, with all the dry ingredients and the filling ingredients measured into containers. Dinner was late, so I didn’t get to start until after 8:30 p.m. As I expected, it took me three hours to get the dough kneaded, shaped, and refrigerated. I baked each pan separately the next morning.

This place is a former restaurant and is now a B&B. We requested being allowed to do our own breakfast and received a discount. It has a small commercial-style kitchen, but it does not appear to have been kept in very good working order. I suspect that their breakfast (it is normally a B&B, but we like to do our own cooking and baking) is rather simple. Although there is a large gas Wolf range—double oven, six unsealed burners—the oven did not regulate temperatures too well. I had to set it 25F above, and even then, it seemed to want to go back to 325F. I benefited from the cousins who had done some baking before me and their recommendations. The sweet rolls came out very well, and one pan was consumed with breakfast, and the second one started. By the time we left on Friday morning, there was not a cinnamon roll remaining.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 5 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 5 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Chocomouse--Baker Irene posted about making your own chips on the now defunct KAF Baking Circle. I saved the thread and posted it here:

Baker Irene on Making Your Own Flavored Chips Thread

[BakerAunt]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Mike.

[Author]

Posts