BakerAunt

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  • in reply to: grass fed beef #13085
    BakerAunt
    Participant

      It's good to hear from you again, Aaron.

      Beef is more expensive here in northern Indiana than it was in the lower panhandle of Texas, even at Walmart. My husband and I do not eat a lot of beef and tend to wait for specials. I've bought our last three pounds of ground beef at the farmers' market. It's local, probably not grass fed, as I doubt that anyone has that kind of land for cattle here in corn and soybean country, but it is hormone-free and processed and packed in a USDA plant. We think it tastes better than what the grocery store carries, and it's even slightly less expensive at $4 a pound.

      in reply to: Product Recalls #13084
      BakerAunt
      Participant
        in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of July 29, 2018? #13075
        BakerAunt
        Participant

          On Tuesday evening, I experimented with the KAF recipe, “Cranberry Orange Rolls.” I made it once a couple of years ago with cranberry-orange sauce as the filling and liked it. I have about 1/2 Cup of blueberry pie filling left over from canning, and I needed a recipe to use it up, so I decided to experiment to see how the filling would work with this dough. I substituted in 2/3 Cup whole wheat flour, added 2 Tbs. flax meal, used buttermilk in place of the orange juice, and deleted the Fiori de Sicilia. I used the bread machine to mix and knead the dough, but I let it rise, as always, in a greased bowl. I actually own the 9-inch square ceramic baker that was featured in the catalog with the recipe, so I baked the rolls in it. I will add the glaze/frosting to the cooled rolls tomorrow.

          Note: The dough recipe is great. The sweet rolls could have used some additional filling, but they are tasty and were a hit at breakfast.

          • This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
          in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of July 29, 2018? #13073
          BakerAunt
          Participant

            For Tuesday dinner, I made a full recipe of the Cooks Country All-American Potato Salad. (Yes, that’s the third time I've made it this month.) I also tried a new recipe from Genius Kitchen: “Caramelized Baked Chicken Legs/Wings." I used six whole chicken legs. I also increased the ketchup and added a bit of brown sugar. After 50 minutes, I increased the temperature to 375F, and I roasted it for another 15 minutes. The recipe was a hit with my husband and younger stepson. It made a lot of sauce, which I’ve saved to use in another recipe. (Next time, I might just do a half recipe of the sauce.) We had found nice sweet corn and some green beans at the farmers’ market this evening, so we had those as well.

            in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of July 29, 2018? #13070
            BakerAunt
            Participant

              Navlys--KAF also has a great blueberry pie squares recipe. However, it makes a large sheet pan, so it's good to have a crowd to help you eat them!

              in reply to: Canning Season Will Begin! #13068
              BakerAunt
              Participant

                I realized yesterday that I am not going to get any more blackberries. The five weeks we had without rain hit them hard, and the critters started eating any ripe ones before we could get them. I seeded the blackberries I had, and the pulp came to ½ cup. I bought some frozen Dole strawberries (12 oz.) and mashed them up, which got me to 2 cups of fruit. (I reasoned that the frozen strawberries would have more flavor than the fresh, "red outside but unripe within" ones shipped from wherever to the store.) I mashed enough of the blueberries we picked to get to the 3 ½ cups of fruit I needed. After the jam maker finished its cycle, I stirred in the grated zest and juice of one lime before filling jars and processing. The yield was three 1-cup jars and one 1/2-cup jar jar. I refrigerated another scant ½-cup jar that we will go ahead and use. I tasted a bit, and the flavor is good.

                Note: I have corrected the yields.

                Note: For some reason the 1/2 cup jar did not seal, so that one has been refrigerated to be eaten soon.

                • This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
                • This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
                in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of July 29, 2018? #13065
                BakerAunt
                Participant

                  To go with leftovers for Monday night’s dinner, I made a vegetable stir-fry of carrots, zucchini, snow peas, and mushrooms. (The snow peas and zucchini came from the farmers market.) I used grape seed oil and left the vegetables unseasoned. It went well with the leftover Sloppy Josephines and the freshly cooked sweet corn.

                  I also made a three-berry jam (details on the canning thread).

                  in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of July 29, 2018? #13063
                  BakerAunt
                  Participant

                    For breakfast on Monday morning, I made Wholegrain Waffles.

                    I baked another experimental whole grain loaf. It had a bit of sinking, but overall, it looks and smells good. I’ll know for certain when I cut into it tomorrow.

                    Last but not least, I baked Bob’s Delicious Chocolate Chip Muesli Cookies.

                    • This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
                    • This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
                    in reply to: Canning Season Will Begin! #13056
                    BakerAunt
                    Participant

                      I was hoping that the honey producers would have peaches at the farmers' market this morning. When I asked, she told me that the peaches are late this year. Two years ago, she said they were ready by the second week of July, which was when I bought them for making jam. Last year, they had none due to a freeze. She expects to bring some to market in about two weeks. Her peaches are not "pretty," since they do not spray because of their bees, but they have wonderful taste. I'll be patient and wait for them.

                      • This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
                      in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of July 22, 2018? #13055
                      BakerAunt
                      Participant

                        I used the last of the first batch of blueberries (never fear, we picked another 9.5 pounds yesterday) to make the blueberry cobbler recipe my husband's mother always made. It's actually more of an eggless cake with a butter, blueberry, and sugar topping boiled and poured over it. I’ve been playing around with some of the details. This time I used ¾ Cup AP flour and ¼ Cup white whole wheat flour and reduced the sugar and salt as usual. I added a tsp. of lemon juice to the blueberry topping. We like the results.

                        After dinner on Saturday, I baked Wheat-Oat Flax Buns (my variation on the KAF recipe) to use for dinner tomorrow. My younger stepson is coming to visit for a week and will take the train from the airport to Michigan City where we will pick him up. I want a quick and easy dinner (sloppy josephines), since travel plans can be disrupted. The last two times I baked the recipe, the buns came out a bit dry and not as light, so this time I reduced the AP flour by 2 Tbs., but the dough still needed an additional 2 Tbs. water. They had nice oven spring and look great.

                        in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of July 22, 2018? #13054
                        BakerAunt
                        Participant

                          Saturday night dinner was Salmon and Couscous. Instead of 1 tsp. dill, I used 1 tsp. of Penzey’s Sunny Paris blend that I bought on one of their specials to try. We liked the variation. With most of our green bean plants now gone, we microwaved frozen peas to accompany the entrée.

                          in reply to: Canning Season Will Begin! #13052
                          BakerAunt
                          Participant

                            I checked the seals on my blueberry pie filling today. There were no issues with the four 1-pint jars. The quart jars did seal, but they also leaked slightly under the rings.

                            Those two jars had my last two blue rings and blue canning tops from Ball. I washed and dried the rings and wiped down around the screw part of the jar. As the seals are intact, I think that they are ok. I looked online for information on this issue, but did not find any from a source in which I have confidence.

                            I left 1-inch headspace, as directed. Possibly I should leave 1 1/4 next time. The issue was only with the two 1-quart jars that had those colored lids.

                            • This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
                            in reply to: Canning Season Will Begin! #13050
                            BakerAunt
                            Participant

                              This afternoon I made and canned blueberry pie filling. I used the recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation from the University of Georgia website that Randy D. from the Baking Circle called to our attention. I used ingredients for 5 quarts, but I increased the blueberries from 17.5 cups to 19.5, since blueberries tend to cook down. I also added the grated zest of three limes and the juice of three limes, which I stirred in after the blueberries.

                              I ended up with two 1-quart jars and four 1-pint jars. I will check the seals tomorrow, but they looked ok when I took them out of the canner. I had about 1 3/4 Cups of filling left over--not enough to fill another jar. I froze one cup in a small plastic container, and I plan to use the remaining filling in some kind of sweet roll.

                              I tasted the filling and am pleased with the flavor--not overly sweet and not overly tart. The real test will be when I use the canned filling, but that will not be until late fall or winter when we need to be reminded of the glorious fruit of summer. I usually use 6 cups of filling per pie, and I stir in 1/4 tsp. allspice.

                              • This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
                              in reply to: Brick Ovens and Pizza #13047
                              BakerAunt
                              Participant

                                I'm glad that you enjoyed the article, Cass. You are correct: concurrently is the precise word choice here rather than simultaneously.

                                Mike--nothing is worse than a restaurant that boasts of its machinery and turns out subpar food.

                                in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of July 22, 2018? #13045
                                BakerAunt
                                Participant

                                  After taking our dog for a long walk early Thursday morning, I baked the Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from the dough that I made up on Sunday. I have a routine for the rolling, docking, brushing with oil, cutting into 3x3-cm squares and lightly salting, then baking, so that I can do it in a little more than two hours. It would be even faster, if I had a docker rather than a four prong fork.

                                  Navlys--Every time I look at a Conga Bar recipe, I think to myself: too over the top sweet. I'd have to have a lot of people around to eat them.

                                  • This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
                                Viewing 15 posts - 6,106 through 6,120 (of 7,722 total)