[BakerAunt]

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.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by BakerAunt.

[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.

[BakerAunt]

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!

[BakerAunt]

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.

[BakerAunt]

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.

[BakerAunt]

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.

[BakerAunt]

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.

[BakerAunt]

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.

[BakerAunt]

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).

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by BakerAunt.

[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.

[BakerAunt]

I'm mixing up the dough for Soft Barley-Sugar Cookies, from KAF's Whole Grain Baking. The dough needs to be refrigerated overnight. I'll bake them tomorrow morning. The recipe makes 10 giant cookies. I plan to use the KAF yellow sparkling sugar on them. For tomorrow, I will dub them the "Make Your Own Eclipse" Cookie. All it takes is one bite! 🙂

[BakerAunt]

I was able to unearth my food processor, and the new blade appears to fit. I hope to be able to try it out when sugar pumpkins become available.

[BakerAunt]

For anyone needing inspiration on food for the eclipse:

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/08/19/544446630/total-eclipse-of-the-stomach-a-stellar-menu-of-gastronomic-delights?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20170820&utm_campaign=thesalt&utm_term=nprnews

[BakerAunt]

Hmm--I just compared the ingredient list of the KAF and the nuts.com cheeses. KAF comes out ahead. I think that the KAF Vermont Cheese powder is the same as the Cabot Cheddar Shake.

I found it here:
http://www.dakinfarm.com/Cabot-Cheddar-Powder-8-Oz,3229.html#

The shipping charge for this site is horrendous, but if I were to buy it in bulk, I'd still come in under the KAF price.

However, I have belonged to the Bakers' Rewards with KAF, so with a $25 order, I get free shipping, and I usually have a rewards coupon if I've previously done a large order. My Bakers' Rewards membership expires in a month or two, and I need to decide, by working out the math, if it is worth it for me to pay for another year of it.

[BakerAunt]

I saw a segment on the News Hour last night with this mathematician. She suggested getting kids interested in math means telling them not that it's "useful," but that it is "exciting." She also pointed out that theoretical mathematical discoveries that had no obvious practical application at the time when they were discovered have turned out to have significant applications in our time.

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