[BakerAunt]

It's good to have you posting again, Aaron. Thanks for your condolences on the hand mixer.

On Thursday morning, I baked Orange Breakfast Muffins, a recipe that came from a Grape Nuts cereal ad in the old Los Angeles Times food section. (I'm not impressed with the current L.A. Times food section, from what I have seen of it online.) I altered the recipe by replacing AP flour with white whole wheat, reducing the sugar from ½ to 1/3 cup, cutting the salt from ¾ to 1/4 tsp., reducing the baking powder from 3 tsp. to 2 tsp. and adding ¼ tsp. baking soda, and replacing ½ cup melted butter with 1/3 cup avocado oil. The orange I used was not that juicy, although it produced a good amount of zest. I only had ¼ cup, so I added water to get the ¾ cup liquid. I had part of an egg to use up, so I used it and another one for the two eggs. I also added 3 Tbs. milk powder. I reduced the temperature from 425 F to 400 F and baked the twelve muffins for 15 minutes. The orange flavor does come through, although not as strongly as it would have if I had had the full amount of orange juice. It was nice to be able to bake a healthier version of an old favorite.

In the evening, I baked Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from the dough I made last week.

[BakerAunt]

To go with leftover roasted chicken thighs on Thursday, I made a small stir-fry of farro cooked in broth and sauteed carrots, celery, mushrooms, and a bit of kale from the pot my husband is growing under the grow lights on our enclosed porch.

[BakerAunt]

We had a full afternoon, so it was good to know that dinner was awaiting us in the refrigerator. We finished the Spaghetti Squash-Turkey Casserole and had some microwaved frozen mixed vegetables.

[BakerAunt]

I took advantage of having recently fed my sourdough starter and, having made the levain Monday night, I baked my Rustic Sourdough Mixed Grains Bread on Tuesday. I used a Romertopf glazed bowl (greased with Crisco and coated with farina) and put the cloche top on it. This loaf came out particularly well in appearance, so maybe I am getting better at forming a boule. I look forward to slicing the bread tomorrow.

I think that I will stick to my ceramic bakers. With this recipe, I put the covered bowl, with dough that has risen for 35 minutes and then been slashed, into the cold oven, set the temperature to 425 F, turn it on, and bake for 55 minutes. It's nice to be able to use the pre-heating as part of the bake.

[BakerAunt]

I've done mashed potatoes with garlic before, Len, but I never thought to add Parmesan. I'll have to try it. BTW, I also have discovered, with my hand blender that a taller pot is essential when mixing.

I roasted chicken thighs and sweet potato chunks for dinner on Tuesday, which we had with leftover coleslaw. There is enough chicken left for another meal, and there is still plenty of coleslaw.

[BakerAunt]

Thank you for reviewing that recipe, CWCdesign. I had printed it off to try sooner or later. Given your review, it will be sooner!

[BakerAunt]

I've been happy with the cloche I bought from Skeptic, although for larger loaves, I use a Romanoff bowl on the bottom with the cloche on top. I like that the recipe calls for a cold oven start. In fact, I'm going to make the levain tonight for my Rustic Sourdough, which I will bake that way tomorrow.

I have never tried the "drop it into a heated Dutch oven." I also use my Dutch ovens frequently for soups and stews, so it does double duty. I have a ceramic Emile Henry Dutch oven that I've used for rolls, but although it is supposed to be safe on the stove top, I have no plans to try it there.

[BakerAunt]

For dinner on Monday, we had coleslaw and Crispy Oven Baked Fish and Chips with Dill Tartar Sauce.

I also made yogurt today.

[BakerAunt]

That sounds really good, Joan.

We re-ran the Spaghetti Squash Casserole, but this time with microwaved frozen mixed vegetables.

[BakerAunt]

I baked a streusel apple pie. I made a mistake and instead of adding the filling ingredients to the apples, I added the topping ingredients (pre-streusel). I went ahead and added the filling ingredients, so there was 1/4 cup more sugar in the pie, as well as 1/2 cup of flour that would not be there. I made up more topping mixture. The pie still baked well and looks good. Next time, I will put the streusel mixture on the other side of the room.

[BakerAunt]

This one is for Mike:

https://www.thenew60comic.com/thecomics/2024/2/15/valenines-day-2024

[BakerAunt]

On Saturday, I made dough for my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers. I will bake them next week.

[BakerAunt]

On Saturday, I roasted my last spaghetti squash (a Golden Arrow variety), then used it to make a spaghetti squash "lasagna" (really a casserole) in which it is layered with a tomato meat sauce, then sprinkled with mozzarella and Parmesan before baking. The tomato sauce is from some I froze this summer. We had it with microwaved frozen peas. There is enough for two more meals.

[BakerAunt]

Here is the chocolate cookie recipe that I baked yesterday. It originated with the Tartine Bakery, but there are numerous iterations of it on the internet. Here is one:

Salted Chocolate Rye Cookies

My husband had one at tea time, and he--who watched my whisk mishap and helped clean up--proclaimed: These are SO WORTH IT. I'll add my review after I have one for dessert tonight.

My Review: WOW!

[BakerAunt]

We finished off the farro stir-fry for dinner on Friday. As there was not enough for two, we supplemented with roasted sweet potato chunks and microwaved fresh broccoli.

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