[BakerAunt]

I made a stir-fry for Friday night’s dinner, using leftover pork chops, frozen broccoli (have you seen the high prices on fresh broccoli?!), mushrooms, green onions, drippings from when my husband cooked the pork, and soba noodles. We have enough to repeat the meal on Saturday

[BakerAunt]

I’m adjusting to baking in my very small kitchen space in our garage apt. It is a tiny space, so I do a lot of clean as I go. On Wednesday, I again made my adaptation of the Harvest Bread from an originally gluten-free one that Bob’s Red Mill posted. This time, I substituted additional barley flour, along with the AP flour. When I get the chance, I will post the recipe at Nebraska Kitchen.

I also baked an adaptation of KAF’s Oatmeal Toasting Bread that is different enough that I can call it my own. I used half bread flour and half whole wheat. Instead of oats, I used Harvest Grains, which I soaked in ¾ cup plus 2 Tbs. buttermilk. I used 2 Tbs. oil instead of butter, and I cut the salt to 1 ¼ tsp. I baked it in an 8x4 pan, which gave it good height. I’ll report tomorrow on taste and texture.

Because we are going to have just one refrigerator with freezer as of tomorrow, I only baked a single loaf, and used the bread machine to knead the dough.

[BakerAunt]

My husband cooked boneless pork chops for Wednesday dinner. I roasted some sweet potato chunks tossed in olive oil and maple syrup. We also had black-eyed peas from the freezer. There are enough leftovers to repeat the meal tomorrow, then I am thinking there will be a stir-fry.

[BakerAunt]

Navlys, I have at times used this substitution for 1 egg--back when they told us eggs are bad for us--but I'm not sure that I would substitute for ALL eggs in a recipe. It is a work-around if baking for vegans, but the resulting product will not have quite the lift it would get from using eggs.

[BakerAunt]

For lunch on Monday, I made a Lentil soup, using 4 cups potato water that I had frozen, 1 cup lentils, ¼ cup faro; 3 Tbs. defatted chicken drippings from last night’s chicken, chopped onion, celery, and carrots, parsley and thyme. I also made tomato sauce with the last of our now-ripened tomatoes (1 lb. 9 oz.), which I will use on the sourdough pizza I’m making tonight. Usually, I don’t make pizzas so close together, but I need to use up the mozzarella before it goes bad.

[BakerAunt]

I fed the sourdough starter on Monday, and I made my signature sourdough pan pizza crust. I’m still trying to get the kitchen in our garage apt. organized, but I’m making progress. I still have some kitchen items to move out, as well as the rest of the contents of the refrigerator and freezer, before Habitat for Humanity comes for the cabinets and appliances on Thursday.

[BakerAunt]

Tonight I watched GBBS Masterclass Christmas. It wasn't a competition but featured Paul and Mary making British Christmas recipes. Mary Berry's creations are not what I associate with Christmas. I'm not a pavlova or a trifle person. I did like Paul's Chelsea Bun Christmas tree and his puff pastry pie that used leftover turkey and ham. He had a lovely pie bird--larger than ones I've seen in the U.S.

While the show was interesting, most of the items do not connect with Christmas for me, perhaps because I come out of the rolled sugar cookie tradition, as well as the breads and cookies of Germany and Scandinavia.

[BakerAunt]

For Friday’s dinner, we had pizza with my signature sourdough crust baked in a half-sheet pan. I topped it with sliced tomatoes ripened from the green ones picked before the freeze, sliced mushrooms, browned ground turkey, green onion, Penzey’s Tuscan Sunset seasoning, mozzarella and Parmesan. It is a delightful dinner for a day that started with 17F temperatures and never got warmer than the mid-20s, and now the temperatures are headed down again.

[BakerAunt]

Yes, I use cookie sheets, often with parchment. It is important to grip the parchment as well as the pan when removing it from the oven, as the parchment can slide off with the contents. I have once or twice lost the occasional cookie, so I am careful.

I'm not sure that I like the ovens that GBBS contestants must use. First, there is no window, so they can't see just how their product is baking unless they open the door. (Paul likes technical challenges that will be ruined if you open the door.) The ovens are also rather low to the ground, and I think that might be one reason for the tipping of contents. I also think that the time limits are unreasonable.

Len--Thanks for the overview. I will have to start wrapping my head around it after the first of the year. For my husband, Formula One racing is a must-have. The only online streaming is from the SKY network, and it is too expensive. I've been watching a lot less TV, since the only place we get reception without cable is in the garage apt. We're moving into it this weekend and will live there while the house renovations are in process, so we shall see if proximity increased my TV time.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 12 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Interesting, Len. I think it would also have to wait for us to replace the television I bought twenty years ago. (It has a great picture, and I even had it repaired ten years ago--yes, I found someone who fixed televisions!) We're waiting on buying a modern television until the remodeling is complete. We also have never become Amazon Prime members. I'm going to have to investigate this brave new world of streaming.

[BakerAunt]

I checked, and it's on ABC. Guess which station cannot be picked up on digital antenna where we live? 🙁 After reading about the hosts, however, I'm not sure that I am missing that much. Let's see what the rest of you think.

I've not watched Netflix, so I have not seen the British ones.

[BakerAunt]

Best wishes on your baking project, Chocomouse. Be sure to watch that your husband does not divert customers in order to save the goodies for himself. 🙂

Our little town is having twice a month farmers' markets over the winter for the first time. If we were not going into home/kitchen renovation (our contractor plans to start Monday! Hurrah!), I would have tried some of my specialized holiday treats.

[BakerAunt]

I have been craving homemade stew for a long time, and when I found some lean stew meat for a good price at the local grocery, I bought it. Wednesday night’s dinner was stew, started on the regular stove, them cooked on top of our wood stove. I used a bit of Penzey’s beef soup base, ½ tsp. Sweet Hungarian Paprika, some crushed rosemary, and a couple dashes of allspice. I also added onion and garlic, and I deglazed the pan with a bit of red wine and added 1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce and 1 Tbs. tomato paste. After the beef had cooked in it for 90 minutes, I added cut-up Purple Viking potatoes from the farmers’ market and carrots from our garden. (They grew short and fat.) I added chunky mushrooms, more water, and ¼ cup red wine. After the vegetables cooked the additional 45 minutes, I stirred in frozen peas, then used Clearjel and water to thicken the broth.

Chocomouse--I'm going to have to try the Greek Seasoning with chicken. It was a free sample, and I tried it because I was tired of dill in that recipe. I will be buying it when this jar is empty.

[BakerAunt]

On Tuesday evening, I baked a new recipe, Lime Bundt Cake, which I found online, as I was searching for cake recipes to use my bounty of limes. I also needed to find ones that used oil rather than butter, since I am limiting saturated fat. I was pleased with the one I made a couple of weeks ago, but it only used lime juice in the glaze. This one uses it in the cake as well:

Lime Bundt Cake

I made some changes. I used buttermilk instead of regular milk, and I changed 1 ½ tsp. baking powder to 1 tsp. baking powder and ¼ tsp. baking soda. I used canola oil rather than olive oil and substituted in 1 cup of barley flour for that much AP flour. The recipe specified a 9-inch Bundt pan. I correctly guessed that it would fit into a 10-cup Bundt pan, and I used my “Party” Bundt pan (the one where it can be cut into 20 even slices). I used THE grease to coat the pan. The cake baked well and released beautifully. It is a small cake and perhaps would work in a 6 cup pan. I'll glaze it tomorrow, and add a note on taste and texture.

Promised Note: I like this glaze much better than the one I used on my previous lime cake. It was just the right thickness and looked lovely on the cake, as well as tasting good. My husband liked the cake a lot; it has the texture of a pound cake. In terms of taste, I feel it needs something--but, of course, I made some changes, including using canola rather than olive oil. I might add 1/2 tsp. vanilla to the cake next time.

• This reply was modified 7 years ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 7 years ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 7 years ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

For dinner on Tuesday evening, I made Salmon and Couscous, using Penzey’s Greek seasoning. We really like that spice blend with the salmon. We had steamed broccoli on the side.

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