[BakerAunt]

In order to keep mice out of the boat while it is stored over the winter in the shed, we have been advised to use Bounce dryer sheets. (A whiff of those would certainly keep me away. I hate that smell.) Of course, we also do put out poison in the shed.

[BakerAunt]

Riverside Len--I'm not sure that even baking this Cinderella pumpkin right side up would have made a difference, since there was so much water in it. When I looked online, people roasted it cut side down. That has worked for my pie pumpkin and the "peanut" pumpkin, but both of those appear to have much less water in them. If I ever do another Cinderella (my husband may plant some of its seeds), then I will try your suggestion.

[BakerAunt]

Using other flavors is an excellent idea, Riverside Len. I usually use half almond extract and half vanilla in my spritz cookies. (I really wish my husband had not buried that particular box of cookbooks with A Field Guide to Christmas Cookies, which has my favorite spritz cookie recipe!)

I've often thought that King Arthur overuses vanilla in some of the recipes, and even put it in where it might not be particularly needed. Now that there is a vanilla shortage, maybe that will change.

I found some Mexican vanilla in my stash--probably from a Christmas gift from Penzey's. I'll make note of Aaron's observation about its flavoring being best in lighter flavored baked goods.

[BakerAunt]

Tuesday evening, I baked Pear Crisp with Cardamom. It's not what I would have done normally for Halloween, but the pears were ready. I thought that I had posted this recipe, which came from The Los Angeles Times many years ago, but a search suggests that I have not.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Riverside Len: KAF has a good wholegrain banana bread recipe (chocolate chips optional). I've also made it as muffins.

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/whole-grain-banana-bread-recipe.

I also have a standard banana bread that I've been making since I was a teenager, that is butter based. I usually substitute in 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour. I'll post it, if you would like.

[BakerAunt]

Darn, I wish I had thought of that Mike before I poured it down the sink!

I let the pumpkin continue to drain in the refrigerator last night, and an additional 1/2 cup of liquid came out. Probably 3-4 cups of liquid came out altogether. I will probably only get 3-4 cups of puree--less than I would get from a much smaller pie pumpkin. Although the vender at the farmers' market said that this is the pumpkin she uses for her pies, I'll stick with the pie pumpkins, or even the peanut pumpkin. Given how the pie pumpkins and peanut pumpkins roast, I think that they have more sugar content.

[BakerAunt]

Today I baked the Cinderella pumpkin that I mention in the previous post. I roasted it as I always do, cut side down, without water, in a heavy Calphalon roasting pan at 325F. I let it go for 1 hour and 20 minutes, at which time it was soft. What I noted immediately was the large amount of water that had collected in the pan. I poured it off, but more continued to come out of the pumpkin, which I then turned cut side up and let sit while we had dinner.

After dinner, I emptied more water, then scooped the squash out of the shell. Clearly it had a lot of water. I do not know where my cheesecloth or my good strainers are packed. While rummaging around, however, I did find some of the large industrial coffee filters that I bought to use when I blind bake a crust. I lined a colander, set it over a bowl, and dumped in the squash. It has been draining for about 90 minutes, and approximately 2 cups of water have drained away. I will give it additional time, then I will puree it. I kicked my husband out of the kitchen when he remarked that I was "draining" the nutrients. While that may be partly true, I cannot bake with watery puree.

The Cinderella pumpkin is definitely a LOT more work than the pie pumpkins due to its much higher water content. With the pie pumpkins, once I roast them, I can puree them, and I'm done. Waiting for the puree to drain is an additional, time-consuming step, and it seems to produce a less desirable product. Perhaps it needed to roast at a higher temperature, or maybe watery is the nature of Cinderella pumpkins. I did not have this issue with the "peanut" pumpkin.

In terms of smell, it is more squashy than a pie pumpkin. Of course, that was also true of the "peanut" pumpkin, but that alleviated after it had been refrigerated overnight.

[BakerAunt]

Late Monday afternoon, I cut my Cinderella pumpkin in half--vertically--removed the seeds, and it is now roasting. The interior was more dense than most of my pie pumpkins and drier, although perhaps that is because it has been sitting for about a month. Once it is roasted, I'll scoop out the pulp and run it in the food processor. Most of it will be frozen for later baking.

[BakerAunt]

Rascals--try using a soft sponge to get into the nooks and crannies. That is what I do with the nooks and crannies on my Bundt pans. KAF now sells a special brush, from Nordic Ware, that is designed to clean out Bundt pans. I wonder if it would work well on the USA seams.

I note that my hearth pans (not made by USA)do not have side seams.

[BakerAunt]

For lunch today, I'm using the basic recipe from Kid Pizza's Mother's Lentil and Spinach Soup:

Kid Pizza's Mother's Lentil and Spinach Soup

I'll start with the onions and garlic sautéed on the stove, then put the Staub pot on the wood stove to cook there. It should be excellent with a slice of the bread I baked late last week.

Oops. Instead of frozen spinach, I have frozen broccoli. I may go ahead and use it.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I don't bake directly on foil because in my experience it sticks, even if it is the supposedly non-stick foil that Reynolds makes. I use parchment for baking and also for roasting butternut squash or chicken.

When I use foil to cover something that is baking, like the fish that I did last night, I have noted that the foil is discolored afterwards. It seems to be more of the problem with the Walmart foil that my husband likes to buy.

[BakerAunt]

On Saturday, I made chicken broth on the wood stove, using bones frozen from two chickens we roasted a while back.

For dinner, I'll be making the Dilled Salmon with Couscous. We will steam the last of the green beans from the garden to go with it. There will likely be a freeze tonight.

[BakerAunt]

It's good to see you posting again, Riverside Len.

The spider Bundt cakes certainly look a lot easier than the mummy hand pies! It would also be neat to make smaller ones using Bundtlette pans.

I plan to bake sugar cookies and use some of the Halloween cookie cutters from my vast collection, not to mention some of the rather large store of colored sugar I've accumulated.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

OK, I have put it into the recipe section. I've done that with a few others that were in threads as well. It is unfortunate that King Arthur did not give us even a month's warning that the Baking Circle would be shut down.

[BakerAunt]

I've done a lot of playing around with this basic recipe, always substituting in some buttermilk and whole wheat flour, flax meal and sometimes rye as well. I usually use honey rather than sugar. It can be baked as a boule or in a 10x5 inch loaf pan or in a "hearth bread" pan. I've also baked it in a 12x4 inch loaf pan. I have an electric oven, so I do not follow the directions for turning on the oven during the second rise but let the bread rise, then put it in a preheated oven. When baking a larger loaf, I preheat the oven to 400F, but I immediately turn it down to 375F right after I put the pan into the oven. I usually bake it to 205F, which gets it a bit dark but delicious.

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