[BakerAunt]

At my husband's family reunion last October, one cousin's wife made twice baked potatoes. She baked potatoes, then scooped out the potato. It was mashed and mixed with some other ingredients, then scooped back into the potato skins and baked again. They were delicious.

[BakerAunt]

It was also a good day to bake in northern Indiana, as we had between 8-10 inches of snow yesterday. The temperature did get above freezing, but it is on the way back down.

Sunday afternoon, I again baked a brownie variation called Brickle Bars (Better Homes and Gardens New Baking Book, p. 219). I reduced the amount of almond brickle and mini-chocolate chips that I sprinkled on top and instead used some green candy sprinkles with red ball sprinkles. These somewhat melted into the top, but there is still a festive red and green.

In addition, I baked a new recipe, Cherry Cardamom Loaves, which came with a Nordic Ware Christmas pan that makes eight mini-loaves (6 cup capacity). I'll add an addendum to this post once we have tasted them. It was rather nice that all the mixing is by hand, and it uses melted butter.

Note: the loaves are definitely better the day after they are baked when the flavors have had a chance to blend. However, I can take these or leave them, so I doubt that I'll bake them again.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

The same happens to me.

[BakerAunt]

Saturday afternoon, I began a pot of stew on the kitchen stove, then moved it to the wood stove to simmer the meat, before adding the vegetables and thickening it with regular Clearjel. Stew is a perfect meal for tonight, as we have had 8-9 inches of snow since morning, and it is not over yet. My husband has shoveled the walks and driveway three times. He is now talking about buying his cousin's snow blower. (That cousin and his wife now spend the winters in Arizona.)

Mike, that discussion about rolling pins and pigeon-holes has started me thinking about the cabinets in our kitchen remodel. Having a place for various wraps other than a drawer would be good.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Darn! I let my husband talk me into getting rid of the wine rack when we moved. I've been wondering how to coral my collection of rolling pins--soon to be increased by a knakkebrod pin for Scandinavian flat bread--that I ordered earlier this week.

[BakerAunt]

It began snowing this morning, the first real snowfall of the season. My husband estimates that we have had 3-4 inches of the big wet snow. He should know, as he is shoveling it. I am inside, where I have tried a new recipe, Gingerbread Biscotti:

gingerbread biscotti

I tasted the crumbs from when I cut them after the first bake, and the taste is delicious. I didn't use the optional nuts or chocolate chips, and I did not use the egg white glaze, although I sprinkled the logs with cinnamon sugar before baking.

[BakerAunt]

Cwcdesign--I rarely glaze Bundt cakes, as they are moist, but if you want to glaze it, go ahead--maybe a rum glaze?

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Luvpyrpom--It's good to see you posting again!

[BakerAunt]

Hmm--I still have a bit of the asiago cheese left. I also have canapé bread tubes. Maybe an experiment with the Austrian Malt Bread is in order.

[BakerAunt]

On Thursday, I again tried baking the Polenta Asiago Bread, from Sift (Fall 2015), p.69. This time, instead of course-ground corn meal, I had polenta (corn grits) from Bob's Red Mill. The polenta definitely cooks to a different consistency from the course ground corn meal, and I now believe it is essential to this recipe. I initially held back half the water, but it seemed dry enough that I went ahead and put it all in. Kid Pizza had suggested to me that I also hold back the oil initially as it can interfere with gluten development. I waited until 13 minutes into the 30-minute cycle to add it, and I put it mostly around the sides. During one of the bread machine's pauses, I turned the dough over to make sure that it would get incorporated. At the end of the kneading cycle, the dough seemed a tad sticky, so I hand kneaded in another tablespoon of bread flour before letting it rise. The rise took longer, as the house is cooler than usual today, but the dough rose well. I easily divided it into three pieces, which I formed into long rolls, and I let it rest covered for 10 minutes (usually a good idea with bread flour). I then braided it and placed it in a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan to rise for 45 minutes. The pan looked a little large for the dough. Due to the coolness of the house, I gave it an additional 15 minutes as a warmer location. It did not rise as high as the rim of my baking pan. I baked it for 35 minutes to a temperature of 198F. It did not have much additional oven spring. I think that the polenta is heavier the course grain corn meal, and that held back the rise; on the positive side, it did not collapse. Taste Note: The texture has less of the larger holes. I still prefer it toasted.

So, coarse-grind cornmeal will produce a wet, hard to handle dough, so if using it (as Sift specifies), hold back some of the water. If using polenta, which the original recipe specifies, the dough can be shaped more easily, but it will not rise as much--and also not collapse. If I were ever to bake this bread again, I would likely try it in an 8x4 inch loaf pan.

[BakerAunt]

Late this morning I baked Eggnog Scones, using the recipe on the KAF website, except that I substitute in 3/4 cup of whole wheat pastry flour. I'm using a different kind of eggnog, so I tried deleting the eggnog flavoring, but although these are good, the recipe does actually have a more assertive eggnog taste with it.

Note: At room temperature, the eggnog taste comes through nicely, so the scones do not need the eggnog flavoring. These scones are at their best at room temperature--no need to get up early to bake and serve warm!

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I can already tell that it takes longer than I will likely be willing to devote to it, but I can dream.

[BakerAunt]

On Thursday, I again tried baking the Polenta Asiago Bread, from Sift (Fall 2015), p.69. This time, instead of course-ground corn meal, I had polenta (corn grits) from Bob's Red Mill. I'll write a further analysis tomorrow in the thread I started about the recipe.

[BakerAunt]

Here on the lake, we had the season's first snowfall this morning. It was rather light, but it stayed on the ground and sidewalk for a time as it is in the 20s today. It was a perfect day to make Ground Turkey and Black Bean Chili, my adaptation of a recipe from Bon Appetit (April 1993) in the "Cooking for Health," column by Richard Sax and Marie Simmons. It has long been a favorite, and finding a bag of 6 red bell peppers in a bag for 99 cents at the grocery store put it on the list to make this week. My version is milder than the original, as I reduce the chili powder from 4 to 1 tsp. and delete 2 tsp. of cumin. I do add a dash of cayenne. I also use additional broth and add 3/4 cups brown rice. I started it on the kitchen stove, but once all was combined, I put it on the wood stove to simmer for an hour.

[BakerAunt]

Wednesday afternoon, I baked Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers, using the dough I made up last week.

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