[BakerAunt]

A lower fence can work if the deer cannot see a way to land. Before we had the backyard fence for the dog, my husband made the garden long and narrow. The only issue we had was a deer once chomped off the top of a tomato plant that came above the fence. So far, the deer have stayed out of the backyard because with the garden and the trees, they do not see an easy landing place.

My husband's real problems with deer are in his woodlands, and those properties are rather large for fencing. It's not so much the eating, although it can be a problem with young trees but the rubbing by the male deer, as they can kill even a larger tree.

[BakerAunt]

For dinner on Tuesday, I made another large pasta salad, using the rest of the multi-colored bow tie pasta, sliced carrots, celery, onion, and chopped red bell pepper and cucumber quarters, and halved multi-colored cherry tomatoes. I'm still working out the dressing. Currently, I use ½ cup olive oil, ¼ cup red wine vinegar, 1 tsp. Dijon mustard, 2 Tbs. maple syrup, and 2 tsp. Penzey's Sandwich Sprinkle blend. I also add Greek olives and sprinkle feta cheese over individual servings.

We had the pasta salad with Turkey-Zucchini Loaf with Peach Dijon Mustard Glaze. We have enough planned overs for two more meals, which is good, as I am catching up on laundry after having had guests.

[BakerAunt]

On Monday, I tackled the large zucchini that had been sitting in my refrigerator for a couple of weeks. When I halved it, I was pleasantly surprised that it did not have the usual large seeds. I grated it with my food processor, then set aside 340 grams, which I used to bake a revised version of King Arthur's Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread. I like my new adaptation better than the original recipe and have posted it here at Nebraska Kitchen.

I always thought the original recipe was odd, as I just do not like honey with chocolate. I also thought the original recipe had an off taste, which I think was due to the baking soda, which I replaced with more baking powder.

I also made dough for Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers, as the last batch vanished during our guests' visits. 🙂

[BakerAunt]

I made yogurt on Monday. While we had company, I did not have time, and I ran out.

For dinner, we had leftover hamburger stroganoff over the rest of the mixed brown and wild rice and more microwaved fresh broccoli.

[BakerAunt]

We did a roundtrip to the Indianapolis airport, which took up a large part of the day. Fortunately, we had some tasty leftovers for dinner--the remaining maple glazed pork tenderloin, and I made more mixed brown and wild rice to go with it. We also had microwaved fresh broccoli.

[BakerAunt]

I picked up some shaved ham at the farmers market on Saturday, and Sarah and her fiancé, and I had it on sandwiches. The flavor is excellent. My younger bonus son and his family left at noon to drive to Chicago to catch their plane, so we had a relaxed dinner of leftovers, with people choosing which they wanted. I put my serving of green bean salad over raw spinach from the farmers market and had some of the roasted chicken on the side.

[BakerAunt]

That she did, Joan. I baked a Pumpkin Snacking Cake this afternoon, so that we would have dessert tonight, since the birthday cake is gone.

This morning, I baked the Butterscotch Apple Sweet Rolls, and everyone loved them. I checked with the vendor at the farmers market, and she tells me the Rubenette apples will be available again this month, so I will be sure to buy some and make filling to freeze.

[BakerAunt]

For Sarah's birthday dinner on Thursday, I made Maple-Glazed Pork Tenderloin and muddled mashed potatoes. We were going to have microwaved frozen peas, but Scott was so busy washing up dishes as I cooked that he forgot to microwave them. We all decided that they were not needed, as we had homemade applesauce from the freezer to go with the dinner.

Friday night's dinner was relatively simple. I made a big pasta salad, which we had with roasted bone-in chicken breasts and the two flatbreads I baked today. The rest of the cake disappeared at dessert.

Happy Birthday, Mike! I had forgotten that you and my bonus daughter share a birthday.

[BakerAunt]

Looks good, Mike.

I did not bake on Thursday, but I made the White Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting for Sarah's cake and frosted it. We all enjoyed a slice as a fitting end to her birthday dinner.

A lot of baking happened on Friday. I began by baking Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins in my Nordic Ware pumpkin muffin pan. I also baked two batches of my half whole grain flatbread. I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of regular whole wheat flour as one of the whole grains, and it worked out well. I added 2 Tbs. of Everything Bagel topping to the first batch of dough. For the second batch, I sprinkled the crackers with a garlic and salt blend, but the blend was more salt than garlic, so they were overly salty. My final project was to make the dough and form it for Butterscotch Apple Sweet Rolls, using filling I had frozen almost two years ago. I will refrigerate it overnight and bake them tomorrow morning.

[BakerAunt]

I baked two 8-inch chocolate cake layers on Wednesday in anticipation of my bonus daughter's birthday tomorrow.

[BakerAunt]

I wanted an easier meal for Wednesday, so I made Hamburger Stroganoff, served over a mixture of brown and wild rice. We also had microwaved frozen peas. My bonus daughter's fiancé wanted the recipe, so he took a picture of it with his phone.

[BakerAunt]

I began Tuesday's baking with two dozen zucchini muffins, using my adaptation of the Shipyard Galley recipe. I used the rest of a yellow zucchini (Golden Arrow). I left out the walnuts, as they are not suitable for a two-and-a-half-year-old. Maybe that is why I got only 23 instead of 24 muffins. In the afternoon, I baked Blueberry Cobbler for tonight's dessert.

I realized after we all had sandwiches at lunch on Tuesday that I was going to run out of bread tomorrow, and I was unsure that there would be enough for everyone on Wednesday, so after dinner I baked Whole Wheat Oat Bran Bread, a process that kept me up until well after midnight. However, with three loaves, I feel we are in good shape for the rest of the week, I will probably freeze just one for now.

[BakerAunt]

Len--sour cream or Greek yogurt can help somewhat with hot spices, but I am making a note never to go near that blend.

Dinner on Tuesday was roasted chicken thighs. Scott skinned them for me, and then I rubbed them with a little low-fat mayonnaise and coated them in a mixture of 2/3 cup toasted panko, combined with 2 tsp. of Penzey's Justice blend. Next time I will use ¾ cup, as the coating was slightly scant on the last one. In addition, I made Green Bean, Cherry Tomato, and Feta Salad. I had to add some green beans from the farmers market, as ours are in between crops. I also made Pepperidge Farm dressing, from a bag saved from last winter, as it is a favorite of my bonus daughter.

[BakerAunt]

I made spaghetti squash lasagna for dinner on Monday. I used our tomatoes to make the sauce and red bell pepper and spaghetti squash from the farmers market. We now have a full house, since my younger bonus son, his wife, and the two little ones arrived before dinner. We devoured the entire casserole!

Thanks, Joan. This house has not had this many people laughing together in it for a long time. It feels so good.

[BakerAunt]

With two more people here, the rest of the lemon oatmeal cookies vanished quickly, so on Sunday afternoon, I baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies.

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