[BakerAunt]

That's a lovely loaf, CWCdesign. What size pan did you use? I tried that recipe once, and seeing your loaf, I think that I will put it on my future bake list. I've never used wholegrain bread improver. I too think that using the bread flour instead of AP does the job.

[BakerAunt]

I concur with Len: the pizza looks great!

We finished the leftover pasta and squash for dinner on Monday which worked out well as we had to go to Fort Wayne this morning. After we got back, I devoted the time to making another four quarts of applesauce. I will freeze two of these, along with two 1-cup containers of unsweetened applesauce for baking. The rest went into a large bowl and will appear on the table as part of Thanksgiving dinner. I only had ¾ cups of apple juice this time, possibly because I cooked the apples longer, and I froze it for later use as well. My next project will be apple butter.

[BakerAunt]

Chocomouse--That's disappointing. Let us know if it is the chips or the recipe. I'm thinking about my caramel candy recipe (which makes so many that I do not make it anymore, sigh), and butter and vanilla are the main flavoring. Maybe toasting the sugar or browning the butter?

[BakerAunt]

Aaron--Did your older son graduate? Time is flying! It's so nice to have a baking family.

Baking bagels is on my list of baking projects, but probably not until after the New Year.

[BakerAunt]

Good luck with your snowy dinner, Chocomouse!

I made four quarts of applesauce on Sunday, which I froze. I left out another cup for us to enjoy. I am pleased that the Weston Tomato Strainer that I bought last year made the process quick and painless. I liked it last year, and I like it even better this year. I mostly used Ida Red apples (seconds), but I put in some other varieties from the other two bags of seconds we bought. I cooked the apples whole, only removing the stems, in a Le Creuset 5 ½-qt pot and a 7 1/4 qt- pot. I save any remaining juice to use in making my oat bran cereal, which is cooked in half milk and half apple juice. I froze 2 cups of it and set aside a half cup for later this week.

For dinner, we warmed up some of last night's chicken-vegetable pasta and roasted delicata squash. That gave me plenty of time to do the applesauce in the early afternoon.

[BakerAunt]

For dinner on Saturday, I made an entrée with 8 oz. whole wheat rotini pasta, which I added to sauteed sliced carrots, celery, green onion, mushrooms, and spinach, along with a large can of fire-roasted tomatoes, and the rest of the roasted chicken breast meat.

As a side dish, I roasted a 2 ½ lb. delicata squash that I have had for over a month, using a recipe that the vendor texted to me. The recipe called for coating a large, rimmed baking sheet with olive oil (I went ahead and lined my pan first with parchment paper), then sprinkling grated Parmesan and garlic atop it. I cut the Parmesan down to 2 oz, but reserved ¼ cup as stated. I did not use fresh garlic because it would burn. Instead, I sprinkled a teaspoon of garlic powder over the Parmesan. Half moon rings of the squash, cut ¾ inch thick, are then laid on the Parmesan bed. The tops are rubbed with a bit more olive oil, then the rest of the Parmesan is sprinkled on top. It bakes at 425 F for 30 minutes, but I probably should have pulled it out at 25, since some of the Parmesan overbrowned. This delicata squash recipe came out better than my previous attempt, and from what I read online, high heat for a shorter period of time is ideal. The skin was still a little chewy but acceptable. I do not know if the chewiness is because it has been lying around for a month or because it is large. The original recipe called for a 1 ½ lb. squash. I also wonder if it used the commercial Kraft Parmesan, since there is no way that 1/3 cup freshly grated is 1 ½ oz.

[BakerAunt]

The holiday season is never easy for retail workers, CWCdesign. Hang in there.

I made spaghetti squash and mushroom quiche on Friday afternoon. I will have it for lunches, beginning tomorrow. I used 100 g of pastry flour and 140 grams of whole wheat pastry flour in the crust.

For dinner, I made Crispy Oven Fish and Chips with Dill Tartar Sauce. We also had microwaved fresh broccoli.

[BakerAunt]

I love my intricate Bundt pans, but even with The Grease, they can be hard to clean. I found that I was not using my specialty pans as much, but I want to use them, so I broke down and bought the Vegalene spray that King Arthur sells, and which is used on lots of baking shows. On Thursday, I pulled out my intricate Nordic Ware autumn wreath pan and baked my adaptation of their recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Cake. My version replaces butter with avocado oil and uses part whole wheat pastry flour, with the addition of flax meal and milk powder. The cake came right out of the pan, and the clean-up was a breeze. Vegalene spray is much better than the sprays sold in grocery stores. The cake will rest overnight, and we will begin slicing it for dessert tomorrow night.

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[BakerAunt]

We had more of the roast chicken breast and finished the leftover roasted cubed sweet potatoes and honey nut squash. We also had microwaved fresh broccoli from the farmers market, which is so much better than what we get in the store.

[BakerAunt]

We finished the last of the Turkey, Mushroom, and Kale lasagna for dinner tonight.

[BakerAunt]

We got a good deal on bone-in chicken breasts at the local grocery today, but they needed to be roasted today, so I changed dinner plans. To go with the chicken, we had the last honey nut squash roasted as cubes and microwaved fresh broccoli.

[BakerAunt]

On Tuesday, I baked another recipe from Sarah Leah Chase's Year Around Cookbook (Nantucket Open House Cookbook, which is one of the two included in this joint volume), Cranberry Harvest Muffins. I replaced AP flour with whole wheat flour and 1 cup of melted butter with ½ cup of canola oil. I added 2 Tbs. milk powder and 2 Tbs. flax meal. I replaced the milk with buttermilk. I halved the white and brown sugars. I did not use her spices, which were 1 Tbs. cinnamon and 2 tsp. ground ginger. Instead, I used 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. allspice, and ¼ tsp. cloves. I could not find dried Calimyrna figs, so I followed an online suggestion to use dried Turkish figs instead. I am pleased with how the recipe turned out. The spices are just right, nicely complementing the fruit. I made one unintentional change. I planned to reduce the baking powder from 1 Tbs. to 2 tsp. However, I accidentally put in 2 tsp. of baking soda because I was thinking about something other than the task at hand. The baking soda was already in the flour, so I had to proceed. I put in ½ tsp. of baking powder (which should have been the baking soda amount) and deleted the salt. The muffins came out fine, but next time I will do it the right way. The recipe said it yields 20 muffins. I made 6 large muffins and 10 small muffins. I think it would make close to two dozen. I will freeze the large muffins for future breakfasts. Even Scott, who is not a cranberry fan likes the muffins.

[BakerAunt]

It is good to hear from you again, Aaron. I was wondering how your baking is going, since you had not posted for a while. Yes, mixers do a better job kneading dough. I was a holdout until about 15 years ago when I got my stand mixer, and suddenly, my bread rose higher and was lighter, and I made less of a mess in the kitchen. That's why, before we lived here, I bought the used bread machine for kneading while the stand mixer was at home. Then I discovered the bread machine was great for the small kneading jobs my mixer was not so good at. So, one discovery leads to another.

That is great that Violet is still baking with you.

[BakerAunt]

I made yogurt on Monday.

We had more of the Turkey, Mushroom, and Kale Lasagna. Thanks for the information about spinach having more water, Mike. Scott and I agree that when kale is available, I will use it in this recipe.

[BakerAunt]

I baked Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers on Monday from dough I made last week.

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