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Italian-Cook and Mike--You bring up a vexed topic in our house: the kitchen faucet.
Our house is on well water, and we quickly discovered, after ruining a load or two of clothes, that there is a lot of iron in the water, and it is hard water. The iron discolors. It also seems to corrode plumbing fixtures. I would not drink the water (and the dog we had would not drink it). My husband went on about that great iron taste but found that it did disagree with him. When we had the first remodeling phase done 3 1/2 years ago, we put in a water softening system, although my husband hated the idea. However, he insisted that the water to the kitchen sink cold faucet be "raw" water. Part of the reason is that he wants to be able to water plants. (He is a retired plant physiologist.)
As we plan the kitchen renovation, I have serious problems with the raw water at the kitchen sink, even as my husband complains that the soft water does not get the soap off of hands. I like the "stick shift" faucet, but that will not work with raw water in the cold. I'd not thought much about the pull out sprayer faucet. On the home shows, the people seem to want them just for show. However, I now realize that they would be very useful for cleaning pots, and I do plan on having a farmhouse style sink.
I've been suggesting to my husband that he needs a separate sink with raw water.
Italian Cook: See if this site is helpful:
https://www.davita.com/kidney-disease/diet-and-nutrition/lifestyle/baking-on-the-kidney-diet/e/5331
It has a link to a baking powder substitute that is phosphorus free. It uses 1/4 cup cream of tartar and 2 Tbs. baking soda. You then use the mixture as you would baking powder.
I hope this helps.
Wednesday afternoon, I tried another new recipe, "Dark Chocolate Brownies with White Chocolate Chunks," which appeared in Bon Appetit (August 1999). My only change was to line the pan with parchment paper. They are delicious--with great dark chocolate flavor--and would likely be even better with chunks of gourmet white chocolate, but I had some white chocolate Ghirardelli chips to use up. I'm saving the gourmet ones for another cookie recipe.
In the evening, I baked my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese crackers from the dough I put together last week. I found a container of frozen soup--Kid Pizza's mother's spinach and lentil soup--so the crackers will go well with them for tomorrow's lunch.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by
BakerAunt.
Thanks, Mike. That's good to know. I was happy with the least expensive of the Thermador stove hoods years ago when I bought the first range. It was not cheap (although prices have gone up), and it was powerful enough for any job I asked it to do (like venting out smoke when I burned something and the fire detector went off). After years of the conventional hoods they install in apartments, that Thermador hood was a revelation. I will likely go that way again.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by
BakerAunt.
Last week my husband and I were in Mishawaka, so we stopped by an appliance store with an excellent reputation. It also has a service department, so they service the appliances they sell. In fact, they will not sell an appliance that they are not allowed to service.
I looked at a DCS. The store only had a gas one on the floor and it was the 36-inch one. (It also was sold.) I also looked at the Thermador. The one they had out is a dual fuel. It, too, was a 36-inch. The sales representative was knowledgeable--very different from the surface oriented sales person at the store in Texas. I am now leaning toward the Thermador 30-inch dual-fuel Pro Harmony Range. I really like the star burners. It also has a larger oven capacity than the 30-inch DCS. I was happy to see that Thermador has gone back to knobs rather than the electronic readouts, which I suspect may have been a major issue in the earlier generation dual-fuel ranges they produced.
The salesperson told us that DCS and Thermador have the best record for not needing service calls. If I could, I would buy the 36-inch, but I know that 1) I'm dealing with a small kitchen area, and 2) I rarely need that much oven space. It would be nice when baking three cake layers or if I wanted to bake more than three loaves of bread at a time, but I do not do that often. I also have access to a second electric range in the apartment (now dubbed guest house) over our garage. It's just a short walk across the backyard if I ever have two different items that need baking at the same time. There is a third, biggest consideration: It would cost an additional $2000. While Thermador is offering a "buy 2, get dishwasher free" deal, that will not be of use to us, as my husband and I will not have a dishwasher. Most of my china is older and would not tolerate the caustic soaps, and I'd rather have the storage space for dishes and pans. (I will be able to store specialty pans in the guest house kitchen.)
I was shocked at how much range hoods cost. While I do not need the high powered one, as my range will not have a grill or griddle, even the least expensive Thermador hood still costs a lot. (I'm also not into designer hoods as focal points.)
Now I need to think about the refrigerator. I was going to get one with the French doors on top, but I've learned from friends that these have problems because of the closing mechanism on those top doors. The seal is likely to be better with the traditional wide door.
I will need to think about location in the kitchen area. I'll be starting a kitchen remodeling thread, so I will take up that subject when I do.
Wednesday morning was a perfect time to try a new scone recipe, as the weather was quite cool overnight. (The old c.1970s avocado-green stove works fine, as long as I set the temperature 25F degrees lower, but it does heat up the kitchen.) I baked Whole Wheat Scones, from a special Irish edition of Bon Appetit (March 1993), p. 113-1114. The recipe is from Parliament House. Instead of baking powder, it uses baking soda and cream of tartar. It is half whole wheat, and I decided to use the KAF Irish Whole Meal flour, since I discovered this summer how light it is in scones. These have no add-ins and use 1/4 cup of sugar. I followed the directions and cut the two rounds into quarters, so they made large scones. I had intended to put butter and jam on a large scone for breakfast, but it was so delicious, warm and plain, that I ate it without any additions.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by
BakerAunt.
Most of my baking is done with the Walmart or a store brand. I buy that second place butter when there is a special, but that does not happen very often. Butter prices have gotten very high.
I first had black beans when I was in graduate school, and a friend and I went out for lunch. I really liked the taste. I'll have to post my Turkey Black Bean Chili recipe.
For Tuesday dinner, I made Dilled Salmon and Couscous. We ate it with sweet corn because everything goes with sweet corn!
To get out of my lunch rut, on Monday, I cooked up a cup of tricolor pasta, left over from some other recipe, then rinsed until cool. I combined it with a rinsed and drained can of low-salt black beans, a small chopped red onion, some chopped tomato, and some chopped cucumber. (This was a "what's on hand in the refrigerator" dish.) I softened 1 Tbs. of Penzey's Italian Dressing mix in 2 Tbs. water. I mixed it with 3 Tbs. red wine vinegar and 3 Tbs. olive oil, and a tsp. of sugar, tasted it, then added another Tbs. of red wine vinegar. I tossed pasta salad in the dressing. I had a serving with grated parmesan on top. I have leftovers for the next few days, and it is all mine because my husband does not like cucumbers or black beans.
My husband is tracking it by using his telescope to project the image onto a piece of cardboard. We have some clouds coming and going. Our area is supposed to get 86-87% coverage.
Hi, Italian Cook. I was thinking too that we have not heard from him for a while. I have emailed him and told him that we miss him. Maybe he will check in with us.
When I substitute honey for sugar in my yeast breads, I do it 1:1. However, I've not had occasion to substitute for a lot of honey. Usually it is for 1 or 2 Tablespoons.
Mike's cookies are terrific.
I decided that I needed to be more inventive with mine, so I left a small spot on each free of the sparkling yellow sugar and used some fine black decorating sugar on that surface. They lack the crisp lines that are the hallmark of an eclipse, but we will eat them just the same.
I tried to find my sun cookie cutters without success. They are probably among the boxes in the storage shed. I then decided to bake the Soft Barley Sugar Cookies in KAF's Whole Grain Baking. Instead of white coarse sugar, I'll use yellow coarse sugar. That will make a sun, and taking a bite will make an eclipse of sorts (except that the eaten part will not be coming back).
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This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by
BakerAunt.
Italian Cook--Italian-style flour is one of the flours I do not have in my vast flour collection. I'll be interested in hearing about your cracker baking session.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by
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