[BakerAunt]

Skeptic7 and Wonky: I've posted the Lemon Nut Biscotti recipe on this site.

[BakerAunt]

Late Thursday afternoon, I baked Brickle Bars--a fudgy brownie with an almond brickle and mini-chocolate chip topping. The recipe is from Better Homes and Gardens New Baking Book, p. 219. I've baked it a couple of times previously. It was still warm when we had dessert, so we used forks to eat it.

[BakerAunt]

Thursday morning I baked a new recipe, Scottish Buttermilk Scones, from Beatrice Ojakangas' Breakfast with Beatrice (pp. 199-200). They are lower in fat than regular scones or biscuits (2 Tbs. butter to 2 cups flour), and they use baking soda and cream of tartar as the leavening--something which might interest Italian Cook, as she needs to avoid baking powder. Dividing the dough into twelve pieces was a bit messy because I was weighing it, and the dough is sticky. Next time, I will try a 2 Tbs. Zeroll scoop.

I split the baked biscuits with a fork, which prevents crumbling and keeps the texture. They were very good with butter and fresh strawberry jam--but of course almost anything would be wonderful with fresh strawberry jam made from such wonderful strawberries.

My one change was to use nearly 1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour in place of 1 cup of the regular flour. Barley flour might be nice as well.

This cookbook is new in that it is just published in 2018. It seems to be a compilation of recipes from her other cookbooks, and I think that the publisher may be doing that as a series with other cookbooks.

I was going to try the cream scones, but I used up the rest of the heavy cream yesterday in my soup.

[BakerAunt]

When I used fresh tomatoes to make a tomato sauce, I put them in boiling water (maybe a minute or two), then into ice water so that the skins would come off easily. Now that you mention it, I think that they did hold together.

[BakerAunt]

We only have room for a small garden. I envy your large one, Chocomouse! Does the fishing line also work for the young deer?

My husband has some land in the Indiana classified forest program, and the deer are often destructive of his trees--and also of some rare plant life (like eating endangered orchids). In our yard, they also have chewed on non-garden plants that we are trying to keep. It seems to help with those if we scatter coffee grounds around those plants. The deer do not seem to like the smell.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 11 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 11 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

On Wednesday afternoon, I made four cups of strawberry jam, using my Bell jam maker and the Bell large electric canning pot (pot sits on a base and has a spigot for draining into the sink). I had about 1/3 Cup left over, so I refrigerated it, and I’m thinking it will go well with biscuits or scones tomorrow morning. As an experiment, I did my canning in the garage apartment kitchen. It worked well in that I was away from distraction. The downside was that due to some delays, I had dinner in the oven, so I had to do some running back and forth, and the meat got a bit overdone. These strawberries, maybe because they are so fresh, made absolutely magnificent jam (I licked a spatula), and my husband who walked in and sniffed said, "That smells amazing!"

The recipe I use is the lower sugar one from the booklet that came with the jam maker. I like the jam maker, although it only makes four cups or so at a time, because I do not have to stand over the stove and stir. Since we do not eat a massive amount of jam, small batches work for us.

I've not tried canning anything other than jam and blueberry pie filling. Perhaps the Farmers Market will inspire me. We do freeze a lot of blueberries.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 11 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

For lunch on Wednesday, I made Curried Butternut Squash Soup with some butternut puree I froze last October. I used 3 Cups puree, 2 Cups chicken/turkey broth, 1 tsp. Penzey’s Now Curry, and a few Tablespoons of heavy cream. We will be going down to one refrigerator/freezer when (if?!) our renovation starts, so I need to see what should be used.

For dinner on Wednesday, I made another attempt at cooking a Top Round roast. I decided to do roasted potatoes as well. I have matching small rectangular Emile Henry baking dishes, so I cut up yellow potatoes, rubbed them with olive oil and put them in one dish (I used cooking spray) and sprinkled them with rosemary. I baked those for 30 minutes at 400F. I used cooking spray in the other dish as well, then rubbed the 1.25-pound roast with Worcestershire sauce on both sides and sprinkled it with garlic powder, onion powder, Penzey’s Paprika Smoked Spanish Style, and sprinkled on rosemary. I reduced the oven temperature to 300F. and put the roast in next to the dish of potatoes for an hour. That was a bit too long for the meat; 40 minutes would probably have been better. However, it still tasted good.

[BakerAunt]

On second thought, I'm moving what I posted here to a canning thread.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 11 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Skeptic7. The lemon biscotti came out even better than the first time I baked it (more lemon zest this time).

I dock the cracker dough with a fork, one stab at a time. I keep thinking that somewhere amongst my kitchen utensils I must have some kind of docker, but until our renovation gets started and finished, I'll have to wait to find out.

When I make the Swedish Christmas flat bread, I use a "knackebrod rolling pin that is notched, and that makes the indentations. However, I don't think it would work with the very thin cheese cracker dough.

[BakerAunt]

Navlys--Isn't it great to discover gems among those saved recipes?

Tuesday night dinner was another stir-fry with sliced mushrooms, celery, yellow bell pepper, broccoli florets, diced pork left over from Sunday dinner, along with the saved drippings, noodles (blend of wheat and buckwheat) and sliced green onions added just before serving.

[BakerAunt]

My college roommate came down from Chicago, where she is visiting, to spend the day with us. I made Sloppy Josephines for lunch today, which we had with the Wheat-Oat Flax Buns that I baked last night.

[BakerAunt]

Navlys--I've been amazed what my husband will eat as long as he doesn't know what is in it (intense spices, however, I do avoid). It also does not do to tell him afterwards, as he will then decide if he has any problem that it must be what I cooked or baked.

[BakerAunt]

Saturday dinner was Salmon with Dill and Couscous, with peas on the side.

[BakerAunt]

I agree with Mike: nutmegs vary in size. I don't think that I've ever used a whole nutmeg in a recipe, even for 1 tsp. of grated nutmeg.

I once read that as long as there is one whole nutmeg in the house, a marriage will be a happy one.

[BakerAunt]

I had some kind of nutmeg grinder that I bought from KAF. It broke.

I just use my microplane rasp--the same one I use for quick grates of Parmesan or lemon peel.

One thing to remember when using freshly grated nutmeg: it is not as compact as the powdered nutmeg sold in jars, so you may need to squish it down in the measuring spoon.

I didn't make doughnuts today either, as I still have Millet Scones.

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