[BakerAunt]

I roasted two bone-in chicken breasts for dinner on Thursday and the next couple of days. We had them with the rest of the rice stir-fry which I augmented with the rest of the frozen peas. I then used the bones to make a small pot of chicken broth.

[BakerAunt]

Last night, I made broth from the remains of the rotisserie chicken. On Tuesday, I used that broth when I cooked brown rice in my rice cooker. (I take the rice cooker when we travel, as it quickly warms up soup in motel rooms, and I find rice a versatile ingredient when I cook on vacation. While the rice was cooking, I sauteed chopped celery, carrots, red bell pepper, and sliced mushrooms in olive oil, then added the leftover chicken and some thyme. The skillet at the place we are renting is only a medium size, but I found a large casserole dish in which I could layer the rice and the chicken-vegetable mixture. Leftovers for tomorrow give us more time for adventure.

I used a brown rice from Castor River Habitat and Farm in Missouri that I bought at Fresh Thyme Market when we were in South Bend in October. It was on sale, so I grabbed several bags and brought one with us because it was a small bag. We really liked the texture, and it was not as starchy as most rice. It's nice to be able to support a small agricultural business.

[BakerAunt]

Chocomouse--When we bought the house here, it included whatever was in it, and that pan for going under pies was one of the items I kept. The lady whose family had the house for fifty years was clearly a baker, so my pan may be the same age as yours. I have a newer pan in the same style with a nonstick coating, but I always reach for the older pan.

[BakerAunt]

We re-ran Monday night's dinner on Tuesday.

[BakerAunt]

Your pie looks delicious, Len! I'm also a fan of leaving the skins on the apples. My apple pie trick is to lightly pre-cook chopped apples mixed with the sugar, lemon juice, spices, and tapioca in a skillet, but that is because I use an oil crust that I blind bake. I put the pie plate on a round pan that I have, with a large hole in the center (like a doughnut) for baking. The pan catches the drips, and it also allows the center to cook at the same rate as the outside of the pie.

We should probably do a pie thread so that we can share our tips and discoveries with each other--and can find them as needed.

[BakerAunt]

I just looked at the cookie recipe. It still calls for a stick of butter, so I will not be making it. I'm saving my stick of butter for Pfeffernusse! However, I think that I have another lemon cookie recipe from King Arthur that is oil based.

[BakerAunt]

We had rotisserie chicken and potato salad from Walmart, along with microwaved frozen peas on Sunday It was good to have a regular dinner after two days on the road with soup for dinner.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks, CWCdesign! I haven't looked at email because we have been traveling. We arrived this afternoon in Florida to spend a week. Because we now have a larger vehicle, having traded in my Subaru Impreza toward a Subaru Outback, there was room for my older bread machine, which is small and not that heavy. I mixed up the dry ingredients for three different bread recipes to bring with me.

As we were eating dinner, I used the bread machine to knead dough for Len's Semolina Rye rolls, which I baked as a loaf. (We ate all the other breads I baked on the trip down.) I could not find buttermilk at the Walmart Express we stopped at to pick up some supplies. All they had was the fatty stuff with 7 g saturated fat per cup. I found 1% fat kefir and used it instead. The oven here is pretty accurate, I just needed to drop the temperature about 5 degrees. The wires on the oven racks are very far spaced. I had to lay the oven thermometer that I brought flat on the rack to keep it from falling through. The kitchen had no potholders, and I struggled using a hand towel to get the loaf out. I may pick up a pair of potholders, as I slightly burned a finger. There are also no racks, and I did not consider the extra oven rack to be clean enough. So, I used two bowls and put the ends of two table knives on each. That made an ok rack.

[BakerAunt]

Beautiful rolls, Len!

[BakerAunt]

Congratulations on your new great-granddaughter, Chocomouse!

[BakerAunt]

So much of the judging is subjective. She is a winner just for competing!

[BakerAunt]

And that, Joan, is the glory of Thanksgiving!

[BakerAunt]

That sounds like a great meal, Mike.

We re-ran our early Thanksgiving dinner again tonight.

I made a "use it up" soup to put in the freezer. I used the turkey broth from the giblets, as well as another container of turkey broth from the freezer, some mushrooms and kale that needed to be used, a large, chopped carrot, and about a cup of Bob's Red Mill Vegi-Soup mix of brown and red lentils, green and yellow split peas, and barley. It will make a good quick meal or two in December.

[BakerAunt]

Those look good, Mike.

I baked my riff on Ellen's Buns on Thursday. I formed them as six large ones to use for turkey sandwiches for the next few days.

[BakerAunt]

Joan--from my own experience, I think that the pan grease works best with cake batter. I've had some similar issues when I tried to use it with a thicker batter, such as for muffins or quick breads. Have other people noticed it?

I baked Soft Oatmeal Raisin Cookies on Wednesday.

I also baked Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from dough that I made last week.

Finally, because I have been craving them, I baked my oil-based cranberry scones and added some lemon zest. I will freeze some of these and set the others aside for breakfast tomorrow and Friday.

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