[BakerAunt]

Aaron--I have cut back yeast in recipes and had the bread do fine, but I have found that cutting back too much creates a denser bread, so my experience lines up somewhat with yours. However, I usually cut back on salt as well.

I do think that a lot of modern recipes are designed for a 1-hour rise, and so more yeast is used than would be needed if someone is comfortable with allowing longer rises.

[BakerAunt]

I started Thanksgiving meal preparation on Tuesday by making Cranberry Cherry Relish. It contains cardamom, and my husband is not a cranberry fan, so I made it for me. This relish lasts a long time. Leftovers go well mixed into yogurt or spread on buttered toast.

For dinner, we had more of the Butternut Squash, Farro, and Kale soup.

Mike--for the longest time, I avoided kale because it was trendy. However, it is a great source of calcium and other vitamins and minerals, so I try to incorporate it where I can. It is also a hardy green, so some of the local farmers' market vendors have it in the colder market months, especially if they have greenhouses.

[BakerAunt]

I baked lime pecan biscotti on Monday. They go well with tea.

[BakerAunt]

On Sunday, I roasted and processed my second peanut pumpkin. It was too large for my roasting pan to hold the two halves, so I roasted each half separately, which took over 90 minutes per pumpkin. I have packaged and frozen the puree for later use.

For dinner, I made a Butternut Squash, Farro, Kale, and Turkey Soup, which is based on a recipe in an email from the now defunct Tasting Table. I reduced the farro to 1 ½ cups this time and added a pound of sliced mushrooms. I also briefly sauteed the kale in olive oil in a separate frying pan before adding it to the soup. That brief sauté, although it requires the separate pan, produces a better tasting soup. I think that the heat and oil must somehow alter the kale.

I also made yogurt.

[BakerAunt]

I have been remiss in processing my pumpkins, and I noted a spot on one of the two peanut pumpkins on Saturday, so I went ahead and roasted and processed it after cutting out the bad parts. I will do the second one tomorrow. The sugar, or pie pumpkins, last much better, but I will be roasting two of those early next week for pumpkin pie.

Dinner tonight was a repeat of chicken salad sandwiches on the last sub roll. I also had some of my butternut squash soup.

Mike--uh, what did they do with what was left after they drained off the alcohol (part that did not freeze)?

[BakerAunt]

As I mentioned in my previous post, my cider has gone hard. Is there any use for hard cider, or should I just toss it?

[BakerAunt]

Best wishes for your trip, Joan. Enjoy your time with family!

I roasted two butternut squashes on Friday and made a double batch of Curried Butternut Squash Soup. I had hoped to add some apple cider, as I did last time, but my cider has gone hard. Instead, I added some additional chicken broth and some maple syrup. A tablespoon of Penzey's Now Curry gave it the perfect flavor. I froze three servings in separate containers for future lunches. I will eat the rest over the next few days. I offered to leave part of the soup without the curry powder, so that my husband could have some, but he declined.

For dinner on I made chicken salad using the rest of the roasted chicken breast. I used some Chobani non-fat Greek yogurt in place of some of the low-fat mayonnaise. We had it on one of the sub rolls that I pulled out of the freezer and halved. I had some of my butternut squash soup with my sandwich. We are headed for a chilly weekend, and the temperature is already dropping, so soup and sandwich is perfect.

[BakerAunt]

I don't mind the digital coupons from CVS, as they do not make me go through all sorts of gyrations in order to receive and use them. My only complaint there is that it is best not to put the coupon on my card unless I am going to use it on that particular trip, as I have had some coupons vanish when I tried to save them for later.

I was going to talk to someone at the Kroger concierge desk about the digital coupons, but when they remodeled the store, they got rid of the desk--and put in a lot of self-checkouts. They also split the baking section into two half aisles, which is very inconvenient.

I'm curious as to what people think about self-checkout. At Aldi's, it is faster to let the checker do it!

[BakerAunt]

Well, if it takes a pasta machine, I will not be getting that result. I am not sure that a completely hollowed out roll is desirable, or even that tasty. I am in quest of the golf-ball-sized hole, surrounded by bread.

I need to try the recipe again, this time using only King Arthur flour. I think that there is something to how the ball is shaped, as well as the stamp, to get a good result. Perhaps, I can give it another try after Thanksgiving.

[BakerAunt]

We did our major grocery run today, so we happily settled on leftovers for dinner. I had the rest of the beef stew, while my husband had more of the chicken breast with the rest of the noodles and mushrooms from last night, as well as some microwaved broccoli.

[BakerAunt]

For dinner on Wednesday, I made noodles and mushrooms with a slightly creamy sauce. I have perfected using avocado oil rather than butter in the sauce. These were spinach noodles that I bought at a specialty grocery store. We had them with leftover roasted chicken breast and microwaved fresh broccoli.

[BakerAunt]

I baked my first apple pie of the season, using some of the Winesaps that we bought at the orchard last week. The recipe is from Bernard Clayton's pastry book and is titled French Apple Pie. Instead of a top crust, it has a streusel crust. I have perfected a streusel crust that uses avocado oil rather than butter (3 Tbs. oil in place of 1/2 cup butter). I also cover the pie with foil for the first 45 minutes, so that the streusel does not get overbrowned. We will slice into the pie tomorrow at lunch.

Aaron--yes, nothing is worse than sitting around waiting for bread to rise. Another project needs to fill the time.

[BakerAunt]

We had leftover beef stew for dinner.

I made another frittata for lunch on Tuesday, so that I could use up some roasted potato chunks that were not enough for another meal. I also used red onion, the two little green bell peppers we picked before the freeze, some sliced mushrooms, some kale, and the rest of a container of feta. I used three eggs this time but probably could have used a fourth. I really like that ceramic frying pan, as it makes it easy to invert the frittata onto a plate, then slice back into the frying pan. (Note: I will use a bit of non-stick spray on the plate next time, so that it slides back more easily.) I saved the leftover frittata to warm up for lunch tomorrow.

I also made chicken broth today, using the bones from last night's chicken breasts and from a previous time that I had frozen.

[BakerAunt]

On Monday, I baked my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from dough that I made last week.

[BakerAunt]

For dinner on Monday, I made roasted bone-in chicken breasts, which we had with leftover roasted potatoes and microwaved fresh broccoli.

I also made yogurt today.

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