[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook: Michael's has disposable "piping" bags--very reasonable with one of their coupons--from Wilton. Wilton even makes small sets with four tips that includes some bags. Also, you can use a baggie with a clipped corner. My mother used to make cones out of a piece of parchment paper.

The piping keeps the "flooded" frosting from running down the sides; it makes a "dam." You can outline all the cookies, then go back and do the flooding.

[BakerAunt]

Mike and Italian Cook--Try looking at this:

How To Use Wafer Paper

[BakerAunt]

I'm baking a new recipe, the KAF Heart of Winter Loaves. (The recipe says "loaf" but it makes two, so it should be loaves.) I've made a few tweaks to the recipe: I used 2 Tbs. honey instead of sugar. I deleted the special dried milk. I used 3/4 cups buttermilk and 1 cup of water. I used 1 tsp. of the gold yeast and 1 tsp. of the regular yeast. I did have to add an additional 2 Tbs. regular KAF flour. I'm using the bread machine to knead it. I may bake it as two loaves in my double "French Bread" pan (the one with all the holes to crisp the bottom). I won't do the seeds, since they are a problem for my husband. I'll add to this post later.

The rise was much faster than the recipe states, although I did use half regular and half special gold yeast. The first rise took only 50 minutes, then I divided the dough, shaped it into ovals and let it rest covered for 10 minutes. I shaped it and put it into the French bread loaves pan. 40 minutes later I put it in the oven, and it only needed 25 minutes baking time.

With my changes, it's a lovely, soft wholegrain bread. I will definitely bake the recipe again.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

My husband's cousins are arriving today for a family reunion, beginning Friday. It's a group of great cooks and bakers, but they like to plan as they go, so I'm never sure what to make. I decided to bake the "Not Quite Whole Grain Baguette) that was posted on the now closed KAF Baking Circle by sbdombro, who adapted it from a Mark Bittman recipe in The New York Times. I had it copied into my recipe book, and when I looked here, I noted that it does not appear to have been posted, so I will do so sometime in the next week. (I'll look to see if I have the original anywhere. I remember reviewing it favorably and getting a response from the poster.) It makes three baguettes (and I've done it as a boule before), and I used a combination of whole wheat and rye flour (40 grams of medium rye and 60 grams whole wheat for the whole grain portion but added a couple tablespoons of flax meal) along with the 400 grams of KAF flour. I was able to use the bread machine to mix it, and I used my three slot baguette pan for the bake. I did reduce the temperature from 450 to 425 about mid-way through the bake.

I also baked the Maple-Walnut Biscotti from the KAF website.

[BakerAunt]

Although earlier this week the deer did get its head into an open area (now covered with chicken wire), it did not get too much. We've had lettuce from the garden, in addition to some radishes. Thursday evening we had some steamed green beans from it, and we will be having some more. It was a good experiment, considering that we did not get to Indiana until mid-July, and it took a while to get the garden planted. My husband is already making plans for a spring and a summer garden.

[BakerAunt]

Oops. I put a post under the wrong week. I've now moved it to October 1.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by BakerAunt. Reason: moved post to correct date

[BakerAunt]

Pizza is never boring!

[BakerAunt]

I halved one of the pie pumpkins that I bought at the farmers' market a week and a half ago. It is now in the oven roasting. Once it is done and cooled enough to handle, I will scoop it away from the peel and puree it in my food processor. Usually I do two pie pumpkins at a time, but these two were too large for that. Some of the puree will be for pumpkin pie. My husband's cousins come to town tomorrow for a family reunion, and one planned event is an early Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday. There is an accomplished pie baker in the family, but if need be, I'll offer a pumpkin one.

[BakerAunt]

Wednesday dinner is whole chicken legs roasted on a parchment lined sheet pan with cut-up small red potatoes, coated in grapeseed oil, with all sprinkled with poultry seasoning. We had steamed broccoli on the side.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook: The salami is already cooked. For the ground turkey, I should have said that I cook it first. I actually do not pre-cook the vegetables and have not had a problem. I bake my pizza on parchment on an Emile Henry pizza stone at 425F for 15 minutes. I do pre-heat the baking stone in the oven for about 45 minutes.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

My husband, although a pumpkin pie lover, is not fond of various squashes. However, he will eat them in soups, and I remind him that they help fill you up with fewer calories. I have become very fond of butternut squash, and am working out a curried butternut squash soup for myself.

[BakerAunt]

Next Day's Report on the apple pie: These are a tart apple and not particularly juicy--which may be a good thing, as I forgot to add the 2 Tbs. of flour to the apple mixture. (Some juice did leak out onto the pan beneath.) The slices held their shape. We like the flavor, although I think that I will increase the sugar from 3/4 to 1 cup next time. I decided that the pie does need vanilla ice cream, so we bought some on our grocery run. The pie has the dreaded "air gap." but more so on one side than the other. I may have gotten better slits on the side with less of a gap. (I read the KAF blog on gaps before baking the pie, and that was one suggestion.) I might try cooking the apples a bit, then cooling them for the next pie. However, I think the rest of these apples may be used for apple hand pies.

[BakerAunt]

Until my supply runs out, I have tomato paste in tubes. We smear what we want on our individual pizzas. Our marriage would not survive a joint pizza. 🙂 I bake my husband's pizza first, then mine, since I am the one who actually likes hot food hot rather than lukewarm. However, when I did a sheet pan pizza, we each decked our half as we like it.

After the tomato paste, I sprinkle garlic powder and Penzey's Tuscan Seasoning (salt-free) over the tomato paste. I then put down the salami (we get nitrate-free) or sometimes we use ground turkey, in which case I add fennel seed with the earlier spices. I then put on the red bell pepper, the sliced mushrooms, the black olives, and the sliced green onion. I sprinkle mozzarella on top (we buy the thick pre-graded from Sargentio), and then grate some parmesan over it.

My husband does not like a lot on his pizza. After the tomato paste he adds the meat, some mushrooms, and maybe a bit of bell pepper. He has branched out to a few green onions. We've discovered that while I can add the cheese on mine and bake it for 15 minutes, his cheese will burn (maybe because of the lack of vegetables), so I bake his for 10 minutes, then take it out so that he can add the mozzarella, then bake it 4-5 minutes longer.

I usually have all pizza ingredients on hand, but I have to think ahead for the mushrooms, and indeed I had to run to the store for them on Sunday. I use the KAF ultra-thin crust pizza recipe, but before that, in my single days, I used to make the Fleischmann's recipe booklet one. It can fit in a large sheet pan. I also used to make it up as two round pizzas and par-bake the crust at 350 for ten minutes. One then was used for that evening's pizza, and the other was wrapped and frozen for another night. I've also made a Martha Stewart Living pizza crust that I put in a large sheet pan.

[BakerAunt]

A vender at the local farmers' market had a variety of apples. She let me taste a couple, and I settled on a tart, yellowish green with golden brown coloring. She split a half bushel for me, and I only realized after I was home that I did not have the bag with the name written on it. I will try to find out the name next Saturday. On Tuesday, I baked an apple pie using some of them. I probably won't be able to cut into it until tomorrow, since it needs to sit for at least four hours, and the recipe (Cooks Illustrated Baking) says next day is best.

[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook: I just saw this video on peeling butternut squash. I plan to try it:

https://www.tastingtable.com/cook/national/how-to-peel-butternut-squash-microwave?utm_medium=email&utm_source=TT&utm_campaign=Daily&utm_content=Editorial

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