[BakerAunt]

For Friday dinner, I made my mother's stroganoff recipe with a few substitutions: ground turkey for the ground beef and cream of mushroom soup for the cream of chicken soup (Campbell's Healthy Request). To keep it from being bland, I added 1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning. We eat it over brown rice.

[BakerAunt]

On Thursday morning, I tried a new recipe, "Snowdrop Brownies," a recipe by Stephanie Coon of Juneau, Alaska from the "Too Busy to Cook?" feature in Bon Appetit (March 1993), p. 126. It called for 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa. I used up some double-dutch and filled the rest of the measuring cup with Ghirardelli baking cocoa. I also added 1 tsp. espresso powder and walnuts. I baked it at the temperature given and used an 8-inch glass pan, as specified. At the end of the 25 minutes, the sides were done, but the center was clearly under baked, so I baked it another 5 minutes, and then the center looked done. However, it still sank a bit, and the sides looked a bit overdone. I'm thinking it might have baked more evenly in a 9-inch square pan. In looking closely at the picture, I now see that the center does appear to be slightly sunken. I missed it because they show some of the cut brownies on a platter--perhaps to hide the sinking. (Darn those food stylists.) We had them for dinner, and they are delicious and of a smooth consistency. I find them a bit less sweet than many brownies, and I like that. The white chocolate chips do get lost; I see them but do not really taste them.

[BakerAunt]

I used some pork chops left over from a meal my husband cooked to make one of my soba noodle dishes with sautéed carrots, mushrooms, half a package of frozen broccoli (fresh is very expensive here right now), the drippings from the pork, and sliced green onion. We ate it with sweet corn because almost anything goes with sweet corn. 🙂

[BakerAunt]

I'm glad that the buttermilk version came out well for you Bev. I'm planning on baking this bread again soon.

Tonight I fed my sourdough starter that I brought from Texas two weeks ago in its own little ice chest. I meant to do a feeding sooner, but it has been hectic. It perked right up. I used the discard to make dough for a single recipe of my Sourdough Cheese Crackers. I usually make a double recipe, but I worried that it might stress the starter by using too much of it at once. I did unpack my stand mixer and use it. I will bake the crackers on Friday. I think that that the dough benefits from a couple days rest in the refrigerator.

[BakerAunt]

Aaron--Your comment about that four-year old reminds me of a story from a former colleague, who as a young child, decided only to eat white foods. Her mother bought a book, Bread and Jam for Frances, about a little girl who would only eat bread and jam. The lesson backfired, as my friend interpreted the story, which was meant to encourage children to eat more varieties of food, as so cool that the little girl only ate bread and jam. The book ended up reinforcing the behavior it was meant to change. I'm always amused that people producing some children's literature think that children will take exactly the intended message from these stories.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt. Reason: fixed sentence error

[BakerAunt]

Oh, dear. My blade arrived after the food processor (with its old blade) was packed. I have the new one where I can get to it, but I've not unpacked the food processor yet. We are going into a renovation, so I'm trying not to unpack too much, but we do not yet know when the contractor will be able to start the job.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks, Italian Cook for the additional analysis. I've often thought that some recipes work better as cupcakes than as cakes, and that some cake recipes would not make the best cupcakes.

[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook: Do you prefer it as cupcakes because of the texture?

[BakerAunt]

On Saturday, I baked a one-loaf recipe of my version of Buttermilk Grape Nuts Bread (recipe on this site). I used the bread machine, as my stand mixer is still packed and will likely stay that way until we get settled. We have been having trouble in the warmer weather finishing the 8x4 inch loaves, so I halved the dough and baked it in two 7x3 inch bread pans (nice heavy ones that I happened on a few years back at T.J. Maxx). I baked the two loaves for 35 minutes. I will freeze one.

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

[BakerAunt]

On Thursday, I baked a pumpkin pie with a buttermilk crust to use the last of the pumpkin that I brought with us on the move.

Joan--I'm glad that the buttermilk hint worked out well for you. I use buttermilk in my baked goods almost exclusively these days.

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

[BakerAunt]

Our trailer arrived on Tuesday morning, and we have been unloading it these past two days. A casual dinner was definitely in order, so I made Sloppy Josephines, using the Wheat-Oat Flax Buns I baked.

[BakerAunt]

On Wednesday, I'm baking the KAF Wheat-Oat Flax Buns. I substitute 3/4 cups buttermilk for that much water and I use 1/4 cup water rather than orange juice. I also reduce the yeast to 2 tsp. and the salt to 1 1/4 tsp..

I had twelve beautiful buns. I had to go out to call my husband to dinner because he was working on the trailer. When I returned, I had eleven beautiful buns, and an Australian Cattle Dog who was both smugly satisfied and slightly guilty. At least she only ate one--and left not a crumb behind. She hasn't nabbed any food for a couple of years, so I became complacent. I will be more careful where I leave baked goods to cool.

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

[BakerAunt]

I had some frozen pumpkin to use up (brought with us), so I baked Pumpkin Oat Muffins, using as the base recipe one submitted by Carol Hale of Sarver, PA to Taste of Home Baking, 2010, p. 122. However I used Irish Wholemeal flour, and my version increases the pumpkin and decreases the oil. I also omitted the topping and just sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

[BakerAunt]

I shelled pecans on Sunday (we still have a lot from the tree in Texas), and on Monday I baked a double batch of Pecan Lime Cookies, using Nick Malgieri's recipe from Cookies Unlimited (p. 188). I had brought on our move frozen lime juice from last year's limes on my tree (we brought the lime tree to Indiana as well), so I needed to use it.

[BakerAunt]

Joan--I use buttermilk in the place of regular milk and often most of the water in my yeast baking. S. Wirth's comments about it convinced me to give it a try. Buttermilk makes it tender, and improves its keeping qualities. I use honey in place of sugar for similar reasons.(That hint came from Cass.)

I wanted the bread to have a soft texture, which is why I used only the 1 cup of bread flour. More bread flour seems to make it firmer. My husband has told me he would like firmer for sandwiches, so next time I may try half whole wheat and half bread flour. I had a slice today with the last of my soup from the freezer. (That was Cass's mother's spinach-lentil soup, although I ended up having to use black beans.)

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