[BakerAunt]

Alexa doesn't bake. 🙂

[BakerAunt]

Those who missed it were probably mislead by the old adage: "A pint's a pound the world around." Clearly popular thought was wrong about that.

[BakerAunt]

I selected the correct answer in spite of my husband's lecturing me on why the metric system is more valuable since 1 milliliter equals 1 gram. I pointed out that was not the question I was asked to answer. (I may have also said something about do you want to cook your own dinner....) 🙂

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

[BakerAunt]

I made an experimental soup for lunch today (and into the week). I used Penzey's beef base and hot water, and the liquid left from cooking the lima beans last week. I sautéed some onion, celery, and carrots, before adding the liquids, a scant cup barley, and rosemary, thyme, a bay leaf, and a dash of sweet Paprika. As it turns out, I didn't have enough substance in the soup, so I pulled out 15 oz. of garbanzo beans that I had frozen and added them. It's an ok soup and will get me through the next few days, which are supposed to be rather chilly.

[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, 6 months 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.

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