[BakerAunt]

We pick blueberries at a local place, usually starting in July until some time in early August. A lot depends on the weather. The bushes would supplement the berries we pick--provided the birds don't eat all of them. We have acidic, sandy soil, so the blueberry bushes should be happy.

Coffee grounds and tea are another way of acidifying the soil.

[BakerAunt]

My husband ate the rest of the Turkey Pot Pie for dinner tonight. I made Swedish Pea Soup (Artsoppa--imagine two circles over the A), from a recipe that appeared some years back in a Nordic Needle e-newsletter. (It's a needlework business.) I used yellow split peas (Bob's Red Mill) rather than whole yellow peas, so the soup is quicker to make, and no pre-soaking of the peas is needed. I made one change, in that I sautéed the onion in some leftover bacon grease before adding the peas, water, chopped celery, sliced carrots, and the salt pork. Seasoning is thyme and marjoram, and I added black pepper.

It is a bit heavy on the salt, but I do enjoy this recipe and look forward to having it for lunch the rest of the week.

[BakerAunt]

Stanley Ginsberg has a rye starter recipe in The Rye Baker.

Bernard Clayton has one in his revised New Complete Book of Breads that uses onions. It also makes 8 cups, at which point I figured that I would not be baking that nice wholegrain bread with Buckwheat recipe, since it requires that starter.

Jeffrey Hamelman has a rye bread recipe on the KAF site that uses some sourdough starter added to rye flour that is allowed to sit overnight before being used to bake rye bread. I've tried the recipe once, with modest success, but I think that I didn't get my timing right, and the house temperature was not what I needed. If you have a regular sourdough starter, that might be a way to short-cut without devoting yourself to a rye starter.

Here is the link:
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/jeffreys-sourdough-rye-bread-recipe

I need to try this recipe again. I was using the ceramic bread bowl to bake it and had some issues. I also ended up calling KAF to find what temperature the bread should be, and they breezily told me that Jeffrey never uses a thermometer. I later found the recipe in The Baking Sheet (Summer 2000), pp. 23-24, and it states that it should be baked to 190F-205F.

• This reply was modified 7 years ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

My husband thinks that they may be self-pollinating. We shall see when they arrive. If we can get some wild blueberries for the terrace, that would give us a third variety. A friend let us look for some on his property, but unfortunately the area where my husband recalled their being present has been overrun with honeysuckle and the invasive bittersweet. (Gardening stores of yore have a lot to answer for.)

[BakerAunt]

Navlys--When you get the chance, would you add the year 2018 to the title of this thread? I'm thinking about our being able to locate it down the road--since we hope to have this site a long time. 🙂

[BakerAunt]

Cwcdesign--I've also noted that with the Star Bundt pan, because it is made for a higher, not as wide cake, the cake needs to bake the longer amount of time. (I, too, had one that did not get done in the center.)

What temperature did you use to determine it was done?

[BakerAunt]

Impressive Skeptic7!

I wish that Cass could comment here. You mentioned that the oil version separates from the bun, unlike the butter version. Cass told me, in connection with a yeast bread, that oil should not be treated in baking as if it were a liquid like water. Perhaps in this non-yeast cross of yours, the butter, which does have water content, works better because of that?

• This reply was modified 7 years ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I forgot to mention that we will also plant bush beans.

[BakerAunt]

Lately I've been using grapeseed oil when I want a neutral oil with a high heat tolerance.

I just can't bring myself to use spaghetti squash as a base for sauce. I see possibilities in this quiche simply because it does not try to be pasta. If I can find a good spaghetti squash at the store, I'll try this recipe.

[BakerAunt]

I usually use chicken stock for my minestrone. I also like the large vegetable chunks.

[BakerAunt]

Today I baked Nelson's Choice Rye Bread. The recipe is originally from Secrets of a Jewish Baker, but KAF had it on a package and on their website as Peasant-Style Rye Bread. They have since made some changes in the recipe--as the dough usually needed additional flour--by cutting the water. I have wondered if the type of rye flour might have been an issue. I've been baking the recipe for years, usually adding some extra flour. This time, I held back 2 Tbs. of the water. I still needed to add 3 Tbs. of clear flour, but I did not use the 2 Tbs. of vital wheat gluten, as I do not have it, and am not sure that I will ever purchase it again. I used dark rye flour (Bob's Red Mill, while the KAF version called for white rye or pumpernickel. I decided to add 1 Tbs. potato flour to see if it will help the bread stay softer longer. I also cut the salt from 1 1/2 tsp. to 1 tsp.

As usual, I baked it in an 8-inch round cake pan with 2-inch sides, as I do not trust my shaping, although it did do better this time. I did not let the second rise go past 40 minutes, and I slashed it five minutes before that, as I've had this bread deflate before. The timing worked, and it got excellent oven spring. The finished loaf is four inches tall at its highest point. I look forward to having it with the last of the turkey for sandwiches tomorrow.

[BakerAunt]

Joan--when you said pimento cheese sandwiches, suddenly I was back in the kitchen in Norfolk, Virginia as a child, while my mother made pimento cheese sandwiches....

The weather today has been rainy, snowy, sleety, and now there are ice pellets. Temperatures are in the 30s this early afternoon, so my husband went ahead and started a fire in the wood stove at lunchtime. Not one to waste a good wood fire, I pulled the turkey bones and those from a chicken out of the freezer, and now I'm making broth to restock the freezer, as I'm down to my last (4-cup) container of it.

[BakerAunt]

Tomorrow is my husband's birthday, and thus I baked KAF's Favorite Fudge Birthday Cake, which has been his favorite since I first baked it for him. I'll assemble it tonight, so that the frosting can set over night. It's a major chocolate rush.

I used "the grease" for the pans, and I'm impressed. The two layers came out of the pans leaving very little chocolate residue.

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

[BakerAunt]

Note: I made the biscuits with half whole wheat pastry flour and half unbleached AP flour. They are still a light biscuit, so you may want to try them this way.

I've also used leftover gravy as part of the sauce mixture, adjusting as I go. While we prefer frozen peas and carrots, mixed frozen vegetables work well.

[BakerAunt]

I've only made one starter--and I still have it--one of those "soupy" ones. I followed the directions in an article on sourdough in Sunset Magazine over 25 years ago. It did use a bit of yeast to get it going.

Once we get the house remodeling done (it will need to be started first 🙂 ) I might attempt a rye starter. I'm just not sure how many starters my husband will tolerate, even with two refrigerators.

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