[BakerAunt]

A rainy, cool Wednesday afternoon was the perfect time to try a new recipe, Ginger Pumpkin Braid, that I pulled out of the KAF catalog last year. (Yes, I also bought the mat that shows how to do a six-strand braid.) I began by proofing the Gold yeast in the warmed 15 oz. pumpkin puree that I had defrosted, along with some of the sugar. I then mixed in the eggs, then nearly ½ cup of diced candied ginger. I had decided to add whole grain flour, and I like to add flour in two stages, with the whole grains first. I substituted 2 cups white whole wheat flour (Bob’s Red Mill Ivory flour) and added the rest of the sugar; I then added ¼ cup flax meal and 1/3 cup special dried milk (getting in the calcium!). I mixed those in, then let the dough sit for 15 minutes. I replaced the 4 Tbs. of butter with 4 Tbs. of canola oil, which I mixed in. Then I mixed in the remaining bread flour (from BRM) with the salt (reduced to 1 ¼ tsp. from 1 ½ tsp.) and spices. (I used 1 ½ tsp. cinnamon, ½ tsp. ginger, and ½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg, which is my pumpkin spice blend.) At that point, I switched to the dough hook. I had read the comments on the KAF site, which noted that a lot of people needed to add flour. I expected to do so, since I use homemade pumpkin puree. In the end, I needed an additional cup of bread flour. I kneaded for 5 minutes at speed 3 on my Cuisinart stand mixer. I let it rise in a greased dough bucket. It took about 50 minutes.

I decided to try the six-strand braid and make a large loaf. I have the KAF mat that includes directions for a six-strand braid. It took me four tries, but I did get it braided. It was a very thick loaf. I let it rise 45 minutes, then brushed it with the egg-water glaze and baked. It took about 33 minutes. My husband and I had a couple of slices this evening. It’s a lovely, barely sweet bread. I might use more crystalized ginger next time. (I omitted the optional raisins.) I might also use three instead of two cups of white whole wheat flour, since I’m likely to need to add a cup of flour anyway.

[BakerAunt]

To go with leftover pork chops and leftover roasted potatoes for Wednesday dinner, I made Green Beans and Tomato Sauce, a recipe from Betty Crocker International Cookbook (at least 30 years old and full of great recipes), using green beans and tomatoes from our garden and onion and garlic from the farmers’ market. I omitted the basil, since my husband does not care for that herb.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I know this will be anathema to the New Englanders, but what about substituting maple syrup, rather than honey, for the molasses? Would it go with the rye flour? I can't do a beans and hot dogs dinner because my husband will not eat most dried and then cooked beans (lentil, lima beans, and black-eyed peas seem to be the exception), and currently I'm staying away from hot dogs (saturated fat and sodium). I'd still like to try steaming bread on the wood stove.

Wonky--Take care of yourself! You may be a "medical person," but you are not indestructible, and you have been under a lot of stress these past few months, so it is no wonder your resistance is low. (If you read my thread on lowering saturated fat, you will find that, although I am not a "medical person," I, too, will question my doctor about treatment. 🙂 That's not a bad thing.) I need my baking sister to inspire me!

Joan--I was thinking of you and Bev today with the news about the hurricane and the expected rain. Stay safe. And if there are other members and readers of this site in the danger zones, please take care.

[BakerAunt]

I have his contact information if needed. Email me from the list that S. Wirth sent around, but use the "education" email address. The att one is defunct.

[BakerAunt]

I've found that, for me, a little molasses goes a long way. When I baked Bernard Clayton's Dark Grains Bread for the first time, the 1/4 cup molasses came front and center--even with 70% whole grains. My husband didn't mind it, but for me it was overwhelming, although after a couple of days it mellowed. I switched it out with honey after that time, and I prefer it.

I have a steamed bread mold that I bought from KAF a couple of years ago. My idea is to try it in a pot on the wood stove. I have a recipe (somewhere) that came out of the catalog. It's probably this one (out of several) on the KAF site:

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/traditional-boston-brown-bread-recipe

I'm pretty sure that 3/4 cups of molasses would be far too much for me. One person who commented on the recipe replaced half the molasses with honey for that reason.

There is also a crock pot recipe at the KAF site for Boston Brown Bread baked in four 1-pint canning jars.

[BakerAunt]

I enjoyed reading the article and the comments. Apparently his claims really miffed the New Yorkers.

[BakerAunt]

On Monday, I baked two loaves of my Buttermilk Barley-Whole Wheat Grape Nuts Bread.

[BakerAunt]

To go with the pork chops my husband cooked, I cut up five Purple Viking Potatoes from the farmers’ market (skin left on). I rubbed them with olive oil, then put them on parchment on a baking sheet and roasted them at 400F for about 50 minutes. I sprinkled a dash of cider vinegar over them before serving. We had steamed broccoli as well.

Temperatures here were in the mid-80s today, with humidity. Our cold weather is supposed to come in on Friday, with highs only in the 40s. We will likely be having our first fire in the wood stove and turning on the furnace in the evening.

[BakerAunt]

For Sunday dinner, I made Pizza Margherita. This is the third time I’ve baked it this year, probably because we still have nice tomatoes from the garden. I went back to the crust I developed the first time with semolina and durum wheat flour, rifting off KAF’s sourdough pizza crust recipe and their directions for Pizza Margherita. This crust seems to be able to hold up to the tomatoes. I did, however, make sure to slice them thinly, and I set the slices on paper towels to draw off juices before I put them on the pizza. We had it with small bowls of lentil soup.

Quick Note: I made it in a half-sheet pan. I noted that KAF suggests, when baking pizza in these pans, to spray with a cooking spray, and THEN drizzle with olive oil. As I've occasionally had a bit of sticking, I followed that tip, and the pizza did not stick at all.

As I had the sourdough starter out, I decided to set up for waffles for breakfast tomorrow. I started with the KAF recipe for High-Fiber Sourdough Waffles, then like my friend Wonky, proceeded to make “a few changes.” ? (We miss hearing from you, Wonky.) I've never seen any reason to buy KAF's "Hi-maize flour, and so one change led to another. I used ¾ cup KAF AP flour, 1 cup white whole wheat flour, ½ cup quick oats, ¼ cup buckwheat flour, and 2 Tbs. flax meal. These are mixed with sugar, buttermilk, and 1 cup starter and allowed to sit overnight. When I make them in the morning, the recipe has a 4 Tbs. butter or 4 Tbs. oil option; I’ll use oil but reduce the oil to 3 Tbs., which is what the substitution chart I found suggests.

I'll add a note to this post tomorrow reporting on my experiment's result.

Promised Note: The waffles did not come out very tasty. In the end, I need some butter in my waffles. I added a bit more milk and 1 tsp. vanilla after tasting the first one, but that only made them tolerable under maple syrup. I froze the extras. I think that eating a single square with jam might be the way to use them up, like a variation on toast.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

For dinner on Saturday, we had salmon and couscous. I used 1 tsp. Penzey’s Mural Seasoning (salt-free) instead of dill for some variety. We also had steamed green beans from our garden.

[BakerAunt]

We returned today from my husband's family reunion. I never realized how heavy his cousins are on the saturated fat and trans fat. We both took along our oatmeal for breakfast, while they had bacon and eggs and potatoes for breakfast every morning. Lunch was usually some kind of sandwich, so I could make that meal work, especially as I brought wholegrain bread (which I discovered they avoid, something of which I'd had an inkling at a previous reunion) as well as non-fat Greek yogurt. Dinner, every night, was a major issue for me, although I kept quiet and tried to limit the damage--not easy when two nights feature savory pies (and Crisco crusts), and the early Thanksgiving dinner featured a turkey that had baked under cheesecloth soaked in butter. My husband also let me know that a lot of butter and half and half went into the potatoes, so I kept my helping small. I had not shared my lifestyle change in advance of the reunion because I thought it would be an easy workaround, with an occasional choice of when to allow myself to eat an item that was outside parameters. At least there were nice salads every evening.

I will need to give some thought to how to stay on course at the next reunion, as they are usually 3-4 day affairs in removed locations. I should have a better idea in a year where I stand in terms of my cholesterol numbers. I don't want to insist that meals conform to my needs, but it would have been nice if it had not been so difficult to stay on track.

[BakerAunt]

We got home from my husband's family reunion, and some subsequent shopping at stores in South Bend, which are rather far for casual travel, to browse and see what is available. I was able to pick up some specialty (for here) food items at T.J. Maxx, Tuesday Morning, and Big Lots. We also stopped at Walmart and Aldis, so as not to have to go shopping in the next small town for a couple of weeks. We got back around 3:30, and I pulled turkey/chicken broth out of the freezer, cut up some onion, celery, garlic and carrots, then added lentils and pearl barley. I added an additional tsp. of Penzey's poultry seasoning (salt-free). I'm looking forward to this simple meal tonight.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Skeptic--At least one other person who rated the recipe agrees with us that the Golden Semolina Bread is not a no-knead recipe. KAF says to mix it with the paddle for 8-10 minutes. It's a heavy dough. Before I had my stand mixer, I tried it with the "kneading hooks" that came with my hand mixer. [Note: those kneading hooks are not useful.] Although that hand mixer has pretty good power, it is no match for that dough. It is a thick, sticky dough, and a bread machine or stand mixer is needed. I got a wonderful rise by kneading it in the bread machine, and I would do it again.

The bread was very well received by my husband's cousins, with only a single slice left, and it was still good the next day when I ate that slice. I have figured out that my husband's cousins seem to prefer a white bread, so I will be sure to bring it again to our next reunion. The whole grain baguettes that I baked, using Antilope's recipe as my base, are mostly being eaten by my husband and me. That's ok. I needed to be sure I had a healthy bread for this four day reunion that has, alas, not been as low in saturated fat as what I have eaten in the five weeks prior.

I recommend the KAF Pumpkin Espresso Cake--especially with the modifications I made. It has stayed nicely moist, and it does not need the glaze at all.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

On Monday morning, I baked the KAF Golden Semolina Bread. My only change was to reduce the salt to 1 ¾ tsp. Although KAF says it is a no-knead bread, I used the dough cycle of my bread machine to make it, then let it rise in a rising bucket coated with olive oil. That took about 50 minutes. I de-gassed it (it has a lot!), and shaped it into a ball and let rest, covered for 5 minutes. I then popped some more bubbles and shaped it again into a ball, before placing it in a greased 8-inch USA cake pan for the second rise. That rise took about 45 minutes. I baked it for 28 minutes, then took it out of the pan and put it directly on the rack in the turned off oven for 2 minutes more. My husband’s family reunion begins this evening, and a “crusty bread” was requested to go with tonight’s main dish.

[BakerAunt]

Sunday has been a major baking day. We are attending my husband's family reunion this week, so I baking for that. I baked the Rye Crisps this afternoon, following the recipe that I have posted at Nebraska Kitchen. These are low in saturated fat. The recipe makes about 92, so that would be .119 per cracker.

I baked a new recipe, Pumpkin Espresso Bundt Cake from KAF. I made two minor changes: I substituted ¼ cup buttermilk for ¼ cup of the oil, thus reducing the oil to ½ cup, and I added ¼ cup powdered milk. I used THE Grease to coat the 10 cup “Elegant Party” Bundt pan. (It’s the one that has the ribs that can be cut for 20 slices.) I baked it for 55 minutes, since the pan is deeper than most Bundt pans of that size. The cake filled the pan nicely.

I baked a version of Antilope’s Vienna Bread Baguettes. As usual, I incorporated whole grains, so the flour mix was 1 cup whole wheat flour, ½ cup white whole wheat flour, ½ cup medium rye flour, 2 Tbs. flax meal, and 2 cups plus 3 Tbs. bread flour. I used olive oil as specified, but I substituted 3 Tbs. honey for the 4 Tbs. sugar. I used 2 tbs. special dried milk. I used ½ cup water to proof the yeast and 9 oz. buttermilk. I reduced the salt to 1 ¾ tsp. I used the stand mixer to mix the whole grains and a cup of the bread flour first with the proofed yeast and buttermilk. I let it rest for 15 minutes, then I added the olive oil. (Cass once told me that it is better to give the yeast some time before adding oil.) After I’d mixed it in, I then mixed in the rest of the bread flour with the salt, starting with the additional cup; I needed 3 Tbs. more. I kneaded for 4 minutes, pulled a windowpane, then put it in a dough bucket to rise. (I've just started experimenting with dough buckets. I got this small one for 50 cents at the local thrift shop.) I made it as 3 baguettes, using my baguette pan. They baked in 20 minutes. I probably should have made them a little longer and skinnier, as the sides touched and baked together slightly.

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