[BakerAunt]

Len--Thanks for the tip about picking the beans. My husband has been in charge of the garden, and he is just beginning to realize that picking the small ones makes for better beans for eating. I'll pass along your tip.

Mike--I went for "pretty" with the Thermador back in 2001. While I liked its cooking and baking features, it was white and went nicely into my kitchen. Thermador does not do colors anymore, and I didn't like their lack of support for products past ten years old. Kitchen Aid makes colors, but I've not dealt with the company, and I'd read that it isn't what it used to be.

I think that you are correct that Wolf has changed in terms of design because I vaguely recall look at them back when I bought the Thermador. Now, I like the look. Initially, I thought the red knobs were gaudy, but as I looked at the stove in the store, I liked them, as did my husband. If I ever get the kitchen organized--I'd say I'm about 70% there--I will try to post pictures in the kitchen thread I started back at the time of renovation.

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

[BakerAunt]

I've also never heard of that spice, so I blindly guessed and was incorrect as well.

[BakerAunt]

Shakshuka--or is that too close to poached egg? (I really want to try making this dish sometime.)

[BakerAunt]

My husband, who really likes the new Wolf stove--especially the gas burners--cooked dinner tonight. He cooked country style ribs in a frying pan (no seasonings and no oil). We also had an ear of sweet corn each, and more microwaved fresh green beans from the garden (apparently there are still beans).

[BakerAunt]

cookies

French Toast

noodles or pasta

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

[BakerAunt]

Scotch eggs? (I can see the French chefs now....)

Custard?

Egg drop soup?

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

[BakerAunt]

I narrowed it down to two, than chose the wrong one. Fascinating quiz question--I never knew there were 100 pleats in toque, much less what they stood for.

[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.

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