[BakerAunt]

I bought a small cauliflower on sale because I have a desire for cauliflower soup, even though the weather has turned hot again. Today is supposed to be in the low 80s, so I’m revisiting a recipe for cauliflower soup from the No Salt, No Fat Cookbook, a recipe that I’ve been making for over thirty years. I decided, however, that with new health information, a little fat—of the right kind—is a good thing, so I started by sauteeing some onion and garlic in olive oil, as that gives those ingredients a mellower flavor. It was a small cauliflower, so although I used 2 cups chicken/turkey broth, I cut the wheat flour to 2 Tbs. and the milk to 1 ½ cups. I used my stick blender to blend it in the pan. The soup is good, but a bit bland. It might be good with a bit of spice. What spice goes well with cauliflower?

[BakerAunt]

Ah, I got this one right! Someone else must be eating my share since I had to cut back on most cheese due to the saturated fat.

[BakerAunt]

After dinner tonight, I made tomato sauce from the 4 pounds of tomatoes that we’ve accumulated from our garden. We only had two plants this year, so we have not had the flood of tomatoes that we did last year. Four pounds makes about 2 ½ cups.

[BakerAunt]

Wednesday night’s dinner was Panko coated chicken breasts (first lightly rubbed with light mayonnaise, then dredged in ½ cup Panko, ½ tsp. Penzey’s roasted onion powder, a bit of garlic, celery salt, and pepper). We had it with bulgur, cooked in some of the chicken/turkey broth I made last week and with more fresh green beans from our garden that seem to appear every time my husband turns around.

[BakerAunt]

I narrowed it to two and chose the wrong one. This is why I never play the lottery.

[BakerAunt]

We had leftover rotisserie chicken, lemon-pasta noodles with a bit of olive oil and Parmesan, and more green beans from the never ending supply in our garden. We are not complaining about the green beans, which are not coming as thick and fast as they did for a time but still keep us supplied.

I suspect that the BRM coupons are gone for good, as the company continues to develop as an employee owned enterprise. Counterfeiting may have also been an issue. The only grocery store in our little town stopped taking internet coupons shortly after we moved here, probably because it was hard to determine if they were legitimate.

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

[BakerAunt]

I got it right--and also knew the qualifiers.

[BakerAunt]

We liked the pumpkin bread a lot. I think that I could even omit the maple extract. The maple sugar and pumpkin seeds on top are particularly a nice touch. I will certainly bake it again, along with the one I found here at Nebraska Kitchen last year.

[BakerAunt]

Sunday dinner was a re-imagining of leftovers. I cooked some freekeh (an ancient grain I got from Bob’s Red Mill). While it cooked, I sautéed some green onion and a red bell pepper from our garden in grapeseed oil. I added the diced leftover pork from Friday’s dinner, along with what I de-glazed from the pan (and some that I had frozen from another time). I cut up and added kale leaves, then cooked until it was wilted. I mixed in the cooked freekeh and heated it a bit longer. Other than pepper, I didn’t add any spices. I would have liked to have tried something, but I wasn’t sure what to use, and my husband has been particularly sensitive to some seasonings lately. It still made a delicious meal, in part due to the deglazing liquid.

On a side note: It looks as if Bob's Red Mill has discontinued offering coupons on their website. I wanted to print one for quick oats, but there is no longer a link for coupons. 🙁 I see an online order in my future.

[BakerAunt]

I also got it wrong but learned an interesting fact. I thought that I had posted, but my reply seems to have disappeared, so I'll add it again.

[BakerAunt]

Our neighbors have a hummingbird feeder out, so some have gone there. We've seen some at our Veronia (a purple stalk flower) on our terrace, but we've not seen more than one at a time. Yesterday's bird was tiny, even by hummingbird standards.

[BakerAunt]

We had rotisserie chicken (yes, another one), lemon-pepper noodles with a bit of olive oil and Parmesan, and microwaved broccoli.

[BakerAunt]

On Saturday, I’m making poultry stock, using the frozen remains of a turkey breast and the remains of the rotisserie chicken we had this week. Possibly some soup may be on the menu soon. It's a cool, almost windless day, which was not good news for the regatta being held on the lake. The sailboats were literally just sitting there. The race was called off, and the sailboats had to pull in their sales and be towed back.

[BakerAunt]

I got this one right also. I remember reading about it.

[BakerAunt]

For Friday’s dinner, I made a red cabbage slaw/salad, using Deb Perelman’s Buttermilk salad dressing recipe that I used a couple of weeks ago. The small red cabbage came from the farmers market. I think that dressing needs something. I made a half recipe and increased the sugar by ½ tsp., and I added ¼ tsp. celery seed and some pepper, but it seems slightly bland.

I also made applesauce, using some “seconds” from the farmers market. It was a different variety from what I used when I made some a few weeks ago, but they too made good applesauce. I’ll try to get some more seconds tomorrow. I also made that roasted fingerling potatoes recipe again.

My husband cooked boneless pork ribs (nothing fancy, just dry in the nonstick pan) to accompany the meal. We were both noting how much easier it is now for the two of us to work in the redesigned kitchen.

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

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