[BakerAunt]

Joan--I just knew that you would be baking for people once you got your power back! The cookies look great.

[BakerAunt]

I baked Pumpkin Snacking Cake on Monday and put yellow and orange sprinkles over the top in celebration of autumn.

[BakerAunt]

My husband managed to collect almost a pound of green beans from the garden, He keeps telling me that the plants are slowing down, but that does not appear to be the case. He asked if I would make the Green Bean, Cherry Tomato, and Feta salad again, so I did. We had it with roasted chicken breast and farro stir-fry from yesterday.

[BakerAunt]

It is good to hear from you Joan, and I'm glad you had no damage. However, it is so hard to see the devastation around you and what your relatives and friends have experienced. Best wishes as you start the clean-up phase, and I hope you get your power back soon.

[BakerAunt]

On Sunday afternoon, I baked Soft Oatmeal Cookies--my adaptation of the great Jenny Can Cook recipe.

I also baked three loaves of my Whole Wheat Oat Bran Bread. I will stash two in the freezer, and we will begin slicing the third tomorrow.

[BakerAunt]

I roasted two bone-in chicken breasts for dinner on Sunday. I also made another farro stir-fry with broth from the freezer, green onion, red bell pepper, celery, half-cut squash, and kale. We have planned overs to have for dinner tomorrow.

The last time we had a major power failure of about a day, we kept the refrigerator closed, and everything did ok. However, once it gets past a couple of days, I would probably toss relish, etc. I hope that you get power back soon, CWCdesign.

[BakerAunt]

I'm relieved to hear that you are ok, CWCdesign.

I'm assuming that Joan lost power and internet access. I'm hoping that we will hear from her once it is restored, but it will take a while.

Maybe we should ask people in areas that are going to be hit by storms and hurricanes to have a close contact, to whom they report, who can post on Nebraska Kitchen, so that we know the person is safe.

[BakerAunt]

On Saturday, I baked some plain flatbread by adapting the Yeasted Olive Oil pizza/flatbread dough from Ken Haedrich's The Harvest Baker. I use half King Arthur Italian style flour, a quarter barley flour, and a quarter whole wheat along with the semolina and add 2 Tbs. special dried milk. I baked for 11 minutes, turning halfway. I will eat the flatbread with the hummus I made today.

[BakerAunt]

I made hummus on Saturday from the garbanzo beans I cooked yesterday and had some on the crackers I baked today as a snack.

For dinner, I made Salmon and Couscous with Penzey's Greek Seasoning. We also had microwaved frozen peas.

[BakerAunt]

On Friday, I made a pot of garbanzo beans because I have been craving hummus. I will keep out enough to make hummus, freeze a container for future hummus, and a smaller container to use in a future soup.

[BakerAunt]

I ended up only doing a five-hour test on the crockpot because the water was boiling when I checked it at that time. I see no need to let it go for eight hours. As both Navlys and Italian Cook have noted in past postings, these new crockpots cook very hot, even on low. If I use this one for cooking, I will not trust it on timing. As its default for "low" is eight hours and ten hours, and on high, it is four or six hours, there is no adjustment for any other length of time. I think that is an issue that the latest generation of crock pots have sought to address.

If this setting is "low," I'm not sure that I would ever use the "high" setting.

[BakerAunt]

I am testing the crockpot today.

I also went to the Rival Crockpot website and inquired about whether the scratches are an issue for cooking. I found out that Rival no longer is associated with Crockpot, which was spun off into its own brand. However, the website allows for questions, so I asked. I'll report when I hear back from the company.

[BakerAunt]

I think the main courses category is going to be hard for me, so I'd better start looking now. My cookbook shelves are heavy on the baking category.

[BakerAunt]

Good plan, Joan. I hope all will be well.

We had the rest of the Turkey-Zucchini loaf with roasted potato chunks (our potatoes again), and microwaved frozen peas.

[BakerAunt]

Yes, it is fully ceramic (that is, not a lined ceramic).

[Author]

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