[BakerAunt]

Thanks, Mike. The new link works. I assume Ostwald ripening is named after the person who first identified it, since its translation from the German is "East Forest."

[BakerAunt]

Missed it.

The link didn't work for me.

[BakerAunt]

Well, the 10 lb. bag was being sold here because I bought one, and I delayed buying another one until we were back in the house, and now they don't have it. They also appear to have stopped carrying the Montana Gold, but I had stopped buying that because I prefer Bob's Red Mill. Once or twice, when we were driving between here and Texas, I bought a 25 lb. bag at the Walmart in Rantoul, IL. I assumed that because it was a farming area, there was more demand for large bags. Walmart still has the best price on 5 lbs. of KAF. Kroger charges almost $5, unless there is a special running for people with member cards.

[BakerAunt]

Today I made a half recipe of America’s Test Kitchen All American Potato Salad. I used a mix of three potatoes from the farmers market: Desire, Yukon Gold, and what I think is called Mountain Rose (is pink inside). Mixing them gave a lovely presentation. We will have it tonight with leftover roast chicken legs and microwaved green beans from our garden. (Apparently, when my husband told me the beans were done producing, he was wrong.)

[BakerAunt]

Mike--Although I have just re-done my kitchen, and I do like it, I am drooling. A butler's pantry would have been so nice, but we had to put the washer and dryer somewhere.

I wanted pull out "cutting boards"--not for cutting but, as Mike notes, for the extra space, but they were not an option in the cabinet line we chose, and custom cabinets were not in the budget. I also think that the HGTV folks have soured most people on them, but then HGTV kitchens are for people who do not cook or bake. I've seen some cabinets with drawers at the bottom that can be opened with a tap of the foot, but I was told that If I did that, I couldn't have the top drawers. I did choose three wide drawers (and two smaller ones) for on top, and we have two deeper drawers on one cabinet. I have a very nice bookcase that I was able to fit in, as well as a buffet-type cabinet. These are stand alone pieces, but very useful. We might consider adding upper cabinets over them at some point.

I have achieved one major objective: My husband and I no longer run into each other when we make breakfast. His breakfast prep area is next to the microwave, and mine is next to the stove and island. Our paths only cross if I need the milk, but since his oatmeal method involves sitting time, I can usually get to that without a collision.

As for Aaron's point--the Walmart in the town north of us where we do our grocery run has also cut back on its selection of flours, and I was very irritated that when I went to buy another 10 lb. bag of KAF flour, that size is no longer being carried.

[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook: You have my sympathy on the mixer problems. If the beaters still won't go in, perhaps just the beaters need to be replaced?

I've never owned a Kitchen Aid. When I got married nine years ago, I received some gift cards which I used with a coupon at Bed, Bath, and Beyond to buy the Cuisinart 7-quart mixer, which has a powerful motor. It also has a tilt head, since like you and Mike, I do not like the lift bowls for a mixer that sits on the counter. One of my friends commented that with that motor, I could probably tow a small truck with it. 🙂 At the time I bought it, America's Test Kitchen and KAF were keen on it, perhaps because KA had had the problems Mike points out, and Cuisinart had introduced a spiral bread hook, which worked better than the one KA had been using. However, a few years after I bought mine, ATK and KA went back to the new Kitchen Aids that had been improved and now had a spiral bread hook as well. However, there still wasn't the tilt head on the larger mixers. I know that Wonky (it's been a long time since we heard from her) bought a 6-quart a couple of years ago and uses it for all her bread making, and she makes a LOT of bread.

Meanwhile, Cuisinart got out of the stand mixer business (!!!), so I hope that my machine will not need any servicing, although I saved the box in case I ever have to ship it.

Good luck with your mixer, and let us know how it goes.

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

[BakerAunt]

This afternoon I baked King Arthur's Maple Granola again--using the online recipe rather than the version in their Whole Grains baking book. The online recipe uses less oil and adds 1/2 cup powdered milk. (They use special dry milk; I use Bob's Red Mill powdered milk.) I chose pecans rather than walnuts because we still have plenty of pecans. I delete the vanilla (why spoil that great maple flavor?), and I add 1/2 cup pumpkin seed. I decided to bake it in my giant half-sheet pan with 2-inch sides (the one I used for Party Mix back when it could be in my diet). I lined it with parchment (Reynolds, since I wanted to cover the sides, and the KAF half-sheet parchment won't do that). I let it cool briefly, then stir in 2 cups raisins.

I like to sprinkle this granola over the nonfat Greek yogurt that I have as part of my lunch, and sometimes I eat it plain as a breakfast cereal. My husband has taken to snacking on it, and so I have no problem with making such a large batch.

[BakerAunt]

Chocomouse--I envy you your walk-in pantry. My dream kitchen would have one, just as my grandmoher's large kitchen did, but we had a space limitation here. Open shelves are great when you want to find and grab just the right bowl and pot. My grandmother's narrow walk-in pantry had a window at the back that looked onto the backyard, and a wooden step stool. It had curtains that could be drawn across the door, and I found it a wonderful retreat for when I wanted to sit and think about something.

That was a large kitchen. It had two sets of tall utility cabinets that as young kids we could stand in--we played "phone booth" with them. she had a white painted "Hoosier," that fascinated us, as we were used to built-in cabinetry. It was a single room in the back of the house, but it had doors leading into the dining room and into the main living area. The back door went onto a covered utility porch where the coal scuttle was kept, although the house had not used coal in years.

[BakerAunt]

I had no frame of reference, so I missed it. I've never eaten any of these birds and don't expect that I ever will.

[BakerAunt]

I've never been fond of eat-in counters. What I had in my house in Texas before I got married was an alcove at the end of the kitchen where I had a kitchen table. I liked that for informal eating, working the crossword or reading the paper while eating breakfast, or for the extra space it gave for major cooking projects, like lots of cookies. I still have that kitchen table, which has been in my family for most of my life--the kind with the hard, "faux wood grain" on top--but because this kitchen is so small, it had to go into our apt. The dining room in my Texas house was off the other side of the kitchen and was open to the small living room.

I like having a formal dining room or area. Our initial phase of home renovation here in Indiana created a formal dining area in the open concept and has a lovely view of the lake. For informal eating, go down two steps and cross the living area to the sunroom at the front of the house, and take in the view.

HGTV just finished a contest for "$250,000" toward "your dream kitchen." Uh, I didn't spend anywhere close to that amount. HGTV puts too much focus on bells and whistles, and I often wonder how many of those people actually cook or bake. One of the installers of our new range said that it was really nice to be installing such a great stove for people who actually intend to make good use of it.

[BakerAunt]

Hi, Cass! I never knew that cole slaw is one of your areas of expertise. I'll look forward to hearing from you--and I'll make sure that I have pen and paper nearby.

My mom had some great recipes, but when it came to cole slaw, she either bought it or bought the pre-grated, shredded mix in a bag, along with a bottle of "cole slaw dressing."

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

[BakerAunt]

Thanks for posting the link to the article, Mike. I read it to my husband, who found it fascinating as well. It certainly had to be a different yeast from modern yeast, which can expire. I hope that there is a follow-up article at some point after they analyze the bread.

[BakerAunt]

Mike--I do have a small countertop, convection oven that I bought a few years ago when my range was out for over a month. I need to unpack it and find a space for it in this kitchen. The small oven's one failing is that it is ridiculously difficult to set, but it does bake well, and I've used it for occasional vegetable side dishes.

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

[BakerAunt]

I missed it. Now I must go dazzle my plant physiologist husband with my new plant knowledge....

[BakerAunt]

Chocomouse--We live on a bluff that has a steep hill down to the lake. We think that the cottage owners in the 1930s may have put in the terrace because a nearby neighbor remembers the woman's flowers from when she was a child. That woman's initials, A.M. (Anna Minas) are carved in the cement of the top of the concrete steps, so they certainly did the steps. The walls are stone, but may have been changed around by the people who bought the place in the 1950s. The terraces' original purpose may have been erosion control. (I've been researching the owners of the house and its history. It might make a good writing project.) When we moved in, there were a lot of an ancient reed plant on the various levels, some flowers, and two large trees. The black oak is still there, but we had to have the sassafras removed because it had heart rot, and had it come down in a hard blow it would have hit the neighbor's house.

My husband wants the terraces to be a natural landscape, which makes us stand out with the "suburbites" here. He has planted various native wildflowers and plants, as well as a couple more trees. He introduced the black raspberries and the blackberries, and now the blueberries. We actually got more black raspberries on the other side this time, so we shall see what happens in the future. I am allowed to pull a couple of kinds of weeds, but mostly I leave it alone, as once I pulled out a plant he wanted. Oops. My husband has been carting gravel out of each level, as well as plastic that was put down under the gravel by the 1950s-2004 residents to deter weeds. (It didn't work.)

It's a bit on the wild side, and once the house is complete, my husband will have more time to devote to it. We have columbine in the spring, black-eyed Susans, some day lilies, and other plants that attract butterflies, bees, and even hummingbirds.

I would like to start composting, both for the terrace and for our garden in the back. Once we are more settled, I plan to learn about how to do it.

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

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