[BakerAunt]

Mike--We are also dealing with an invasion of fruit flies, and we, too, have found that the vinegar traps are only somewhat effective. Some of the flies look larger than the usual fruit flies. I'm wondering if I need to use larger holes in the traps.

Does the Black Flag bug zapper make a noise when you use it? I ask because our dog is very sensitive to sounds such as hammering, gun shots (hunting season and people target shooting is a problem here), or even the smack of a rolled-up magazine or a fly swatter.

[BakerAunt]

CWCdesign: I recently bought Roxana Jullapat's Mother Grains. She says the following about corn flour:

"I don't recommend exchanging corn flour for corn meal in recipes, because corn flour is finer and more compact and therefore yields different results."

Alas, she does not specify what those results are.

You can order Bob's Red Mill medium cornmeal from Vitacost. They have some good deals on Bob's Red Mill products, as well as other food, and they often have discounts. It requires $49 to get free shipping, so I usually wait and stock up when I can.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks, Chocomouse. I am thinking that it will be fine, although not very relish-like. Perhaps I will mix a jar with pasta for a salad when I open one in a few weeks.

My vegetables were floating when I put them into the canning jars, with the liquid on the bottom. Clearly, there was too much liquid and the vegetables were not soaking it up.

I roasted three bone-in chicken breasts on Wednesday that I got at a good price over the weekend. We had some of the chicken with microwaved green beans from the garden and, for my husband. leftover roasted potatoes, patty-pan squash, and carrots, and for me some of a Greek Pasta Salad I made today and will be eating into the week.

I made yogurt earlier in the day.

[BakerAunt]

I have been using Google to try and figure out my relish issue. I found this comment at Backwoods Home Magazine:

My fruit or tomatoes are floating in liquid in the jars
This is nothing to worry about, although many beginning home canners are distressed to find this happening. The fruit crowds near the top of the jar with lots of syrup or juice below it. Raw packing the fruit is generally what causes this. If you simply heat your fruit (or tomatoes) in their syrup or juice, they won't float in the jars. Be sure to pack your fruit well without smashing it into your jars. The fruit will slightly shrink in processing.

The cooking times in the Ball recipe were short: the vinegar-sugar solution at 180F for 10 minutes, then "simmer" with added vegetables, which I took to mean another 10 minutes at 180F. Maybe I should have used a higher cooking temperature?

[BakerAunt]

I looked at my canned relish today. The bottom of the jar is the liquid. The vegetables are still bunched at the top. I'm not sure that this would be ok to eat, since in most canning, the liquid is supposed to cover the other contents. The recipe says to let the relish age in the jars for 4-6 weeks to develop flavor. However, I do not see the vegetables sinking down.

I'm not sure what to do with this batch. I hate throwing away food. I also do not want to get sick from my canning attempt.

[BakerAunt]

I'm glad that you got blueberries, Chocomouse. I shudder to think what a summer without them would be.

On Tuesday, I made frosting for the other half of the Applesauce Doughnuts that I left plain. I used 3/4 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tbs. melted butter, 2 tsp. 1% milk, and 1/4 tsp. vanilla. That made a soft frosting that I could easily spread around each one. I then sprinkled them with some orange and yellow tiny nonpareils for a festive autumn dessert. Yes, I know that autumn does not start until 23 September, but we have had cool, overcast weather for the past few days, and the days are getting shorter.

[BakerAunt]

Chocomouse--the recipe called for 2 Tbs. pickling salt to be sprinkled over the cut-up vegetables, then ice water poured over to just cover. After two hours, the water is drained, and the vegetables rinsed and drained. They are then added to the simmering sugar, vinegar, and spices. The recipe does say to use pickling salt. I did not have the Ball brand of pickling salt, but I did have the Morton brand. I'll report tomorrow on whether the vegetables are still separated. I did have about 1/2 cup of mostly liquid left after filling four 1-pint jars.

Re: hotdogs: someone was selling them at the farmers market about a month ago, and if it had been lunch time, I would have had one. I will check at the store next time I am there to see if there are that fit my current mode of eating. And yes, grilled would be good. I'm also craving baked beans.

[BakerAunt]

You are eating a lot of hot dogs, Joan. Maybe that is why I am suddenly wanting one, or maybe it's nostalgia. Now, I wonder how it will taste with zucchini relish....

On Tuesday, I made and canned four jars of Zucchini Relish. I used the recipe in the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving (p. 89). I am not sure how well it went. The vegetables were floating in the sugar-vinegar mix after simmering at 180F for ten minutes. In the jars, they were at the top, and the liquid was at the bottom. I was expecting it to be thicker. I followed the directions, except that I used all red bell pepper rather than half green bell pepper. They are cooling overnight, and I will look at them and check the seals tomorrow. I used a large zucchini, and I am wondering if smaller ones might have worked better.

I have also decided that any future canning projects that require a stove will need to be done in my house kitchen rather than the Annex/Guest Quarters kitchen where I do my jam. (For jam, I have the automatic jam maker that does the stirring.) I do not think that the large electric burner is functioning correctly, as it was hard to stay at the temperature I wanted. I am used to gas burners in the house, but I also think that the large burner (other three are small) on the electric stove in the Annex has been used the most and is likely no longer working as well. Perhaps this is the time to talk my husband into a separate induction burner for out there, as canning in the house kitchen takes over the whole place.

[BakerAunt]

I made a big pot of soup on Monday. I used the chicken broth that I made yesterday and added carrots, celery, yellow bell pepper, garlic, and mushrooms sauteed in olive oil and browned ground turkey and 1 ½ cups of Bob's Red Mill Vegi-Soup blend (red and brown lentils, split green and yellow peas; barley) dehydrated onions, and Penzey's Ozark seasoning. After it cooked for 40 minutes, I added a chopped large zucchini, and then some kale, along with a splash of cider vinegar. Although my husband keeps telling me we are headed for a warm spell this week, the forecasts do not appear to be correct so far.

[BakerAunt]

I'm glad that your challah project has begun again, Aaron. It certainly requires careful logistics to produce those loaves.

[BakerAunt]

I needed to use up three overripe bananas, so I baked a new recipe for Banana Oat Muffin, from All Recipes, s on Monday morning. I had been searching for a banana and oats muffin recipe, and I had saved the recipe from a magazine. I altered the recipe by using white whole wheat flour and adding 2 Tbs. Bob's Red Mill milk powder. I reduced the sugar to 1/3 cup and the salt to ¼ tsp. I deleted the vanilla. The kind of oats was not specified. I used quick oats. I also changed the mixing instructions. I put the dry ingredients, except for the oats in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, I mashed the bananas, mixed in the milk, then stirred in the oats. I mixed in the egg, then the oil, before adding the dry ingredients. I baked in Crisco greased, large muffin cups for 20 minutes. The flavor is excellent, so this recipe is a keeper. The muffins are plenty sweet. Possibly the sugar could be reduced a bit more.

In the afternoon, I baked another batch of my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from dough I made last week.

[BakerAunt]

My recipe does call for 2 Tbs. of oil, and the fat in the oil does make for a softer texture. Since the original recipe was 2 Tbs. melted butter, 2 Tbs. of oil is a good substitution. If Will is worried that the olive oil would change the flavor, then using 2 Tbs. of avocado oil will give the fat but with a neutral taste.

Butter differs from oil in that butter contains some water, so adding oil does not necessarily increase moisture, but it does give a softer texture to baked goods and keeps them moist longer.

Will may need to accept that he can create a great cornbread recipe, but that it will not, in the end, be like that favorite family recipe. It will be different, but different is not necessarily negative if the product is good. My oil-based scones will never be the same as my beloved butter scones, but I enjoy them as an excellent bakery good in their own right.

[BakerAunt]

I'm not sure oat milk is the way to go. When I was working out my Vegan Cinnamon Roll recipe, I tried oat milk and I thought that it made the rolls gummy and heavy. When I used hazelnut milk or almond milk, they came out lighter. It was also homemade hazelnut and almond milk, which meant it did not have all the additives.

Buttermilk tenderizes, and I am not sure what can substitute for it. I have seen the idea of adding lemon juice or vinegar to it, as people do when they do not have buttermilk, but I am not sure that the chemistry would be the same. I also never liked the lemon juice or vinegar in milk as a substitute. The taste and texture are not the same.

[BakerAunt]

CWCdesign--I always grease the Emile Henry bakers with Crisco, then sprinkle it with farina (Cream of Wheat). While it can be messy when turning it out--which is why I do so over a towel--there is never any problem with sticking, and it comes out easily.

For Sunday breakfast, I made Cornmeal-Pumpernickel Waffles (my husband's request). We had them with a bit of maple syrup and the blueberry compote that is leftover from when I bake blueberry pie. I froze the six leftover waffles, which will make fast breakfasts on three mornings for me.

In the afternoon, I baked White Whole Wheat Apple Cider Baked Doughnuts, which I adapted from a King Arthur recipe. I cut back the sugar by another ¼ cup (used 3/4 where original recipe uses 1 1/4 cup), and they are sweet enough and of just the right texture. Nothing beats using homemade applesauce! I sprinkled six of the doughnuts with Penzey's Cinnamon Sugar. I set the other six aside and will make a maple glaze for them tomorrow. I was inspired to bake these today because I came across a 1-cup container of unsweetened applesauce that I froze in November 2021 for this recipe.

[BakerAunt]

Happy Anniversary, Mike and Diane!

I made chicken broth on Sunday from the bones of three roasted chickens that I had in the freezer. I plan to use it for soup tomorrow.

For Sunday dinner, I made Salmon and Couscous with Penzey's Greek Seasoning. We had it with microwaved fresh green beans from our garden.

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