[BakerAunt]

I froze my turkey remains, since I am short on freezer space right now.

Before the freeze in October, my husband picked the remaining green tomatoes. At my insistence, he picked the green cherry tomatoes. I told him to cut the vines, so that the cherry tomatoes remained on the cut vine. The larger tomatoes have turned red, as have some of the cherry tomatoes, although I had more orange one, and a couple of yellow ones. I cut them up on Sunday morning and made my usual sauce with olive oil and garlic, as well as a tsp. of sugar, since these tomatoes would be lacking in sweetness. It will make a decent sauce. My plan is to use it to make my spaghetti squash "lasagna," which is really more of a casserole. I cannot put in any of the Italian spices, as my husband's gut has issue with them, but I hope the larger amount of garlic, which will get dissipated by the blandness of the spaghetti sauce, will give it enough flavor for me. That cooking project will be after the Thanksgiving leftovers have been finished.

Its a good day for cooking and baking projects, as it began snowing mid-morning. So far, the snow consists of large wet flakes, and the ground is warm enough that it is not sticking.

[BakerAunt]

When I sorted through some of my piles of recipes a while ago, one that I saved was for "Pumpkin Waffles with Cinnamon Syrup," which came from a blog entitled "No Empty Chairs." I'm always looking to expand my pumpkin repertoire, but while the recipe contained some oats, it used regular flour but some cornstarch to reduce the protein level. I prefer more wholegrains., but the recipe's need to reduce the flour's protein level made me think that I could probably replace the cornstarch with flour and use lower protein whole wheat pastry flour and barley and use less than a quarter of regular flour. I replaced the 8 Tbs. of butter with 1/3 cup canola oil, reduced the brown sugar by half, and deleted one of the four eggs. I added milk powder and some flax meal. I was confident in my choices, because I compared the recipe to the Cornmeal Pumpernickel Waffles, and the flour and liquid proportions were close to the same. The waffles are excellent. My husband and the dog enjoyed them, as did I. Due to all the changes, it is now my recipe. I did not make the cinnamon maple cream syrup included in the recipe. We used our regular local maple syrup.

[BakerAunt]

We will be out of pumpkin pie after my husband eats the last small piece tomorrow with his tea, so on Saturday, I baked Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Cake, a recipe that came with the autumn wreath Nordic Ware Bundt pan. I have adapted it to use canola oil rather than butter and to allow for some whole wheat pastry flour, milk powder, and a bit of flax meal. I deleted the water, since I do not use canned pumpkin. As an experiment, this time, I cut the sugar from 2 cups to 1 3/4 cups. I checked the temperature and pulled it out at 200F. I will let it rest overnight, and we will start having it for dessert on Sunday.

Chocomouse--I found the Long Island Cheese pumpkin a little too assertive for a pie. I like it better in savory dishes. I like peanut pumpkin, but it is somewhat watery for pie, so it would need some draining or cooking down of water. I really liked the Fairy Tale Pumpkin for pie; it made an even lighter textured pie than the pie pumpkins. However, I only was able to get one two years ago, and the farmers' market vendor has only had one or two, which someone in town manages to buy before I arrive. I've asked my husband to see if he can get seed, so that we can try growing our own.

Another reason the Fairy Tale is hard to get is that the vendors mostly grow for the "decorate for autumn market," and they harvest some of the Fairy Tales too early. That has also cut down on my experimentation, but at least they know that the pie pumpkins are for eating.

[BakerAunt]

On Friday, we re-ran Thanksgiving dinner, except for switching out green beans for broccoli.

On Saturday, because we did not have much dressing left, I made some muddled mashed potatoes to go with the other food, and we had microwaved frozen peas for the vegetable.

[BakerAunt]

Thanksgiving here was lovely. We zoomed with the kids in the early afternoon and dined in the evening. I put away all the special serving dishes this morning. I enjoyed a turkey sandwich of Rye Semolina bread with spinach and my cranberry sauce. I will make that combination again. After pumpkin pie and coffee, I am ready for a lazy afternoon.

[BakerAunt]

My pumpkin pie recipe originally called for "pumpkin pie spice." I use 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, a slightly heaping 1/2 tsp. ginger, and 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg. I also think that using homemade pumpkin puree from a pie pumpkin makes a difference. One of my husband's cousins has twice commented on the lightness of my pumpkin pie.

I dislike pumpkin pie made from canned pumpkin--which, of course, includes other squashes than pumpkin. I do not like either the taste or the texture.

[BakerAunt]

Sweet potato pie is always better than sweet potato casserole!

[BakerAunt]

Scott roasted the turkey for Thanksgiving, as he always does. I made dressing (Pepperidge Farm blue bag forever) and gravy. We had Cardamom, Cranberry, and Dried Cherry relish (or I did), applesauce, and green beans that I froze in August. The green beans did not come out as well as they usually do. We had pumpkin pie for dessert.

[BakerAunt]

On Wednesday, I made a batch of applesauce. I made sure that I used more Ida Reds in addition to Sweet Emma and Macintosh. I also had four seconds from the farmers' market; the vendor assured me that they would kick up the flavor. I do not recall their name. I was pleased with the more complex flavor of this batch, so I may pick up some additional seconds at the market this weekend.

We had more of the Butternut Squash, Farro, and Kale Soup. There is enough left for us to have it for a light lunch tomorrow before the Thanksgiving dinner. When I was growing up, we usually had Thanksgiving dinner around 2 or 3 in the afternoon--at least, that was the time for which my mother was aiming. We would then clean up, relax a bit, and come back for pie. Alas, I cannot get my husband to go along with that dining time tradition, so dinner will be at the usual 6 p.m., provided the turkey is done on time.

[BakerAunt]

On Wednesday. I baked Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins in the morning for breakfast today and throughout the rest of the week. A quick breakfast for Thanksgiving morning is particularly desirable.

At lunch, my husband pointed out to me that we were almost out of bread. I keep underestimating how much he and the dog will devour. So, I baked Rye Semolina bread, as it will go well with turkey sandwiches on the days after Thanksgiving.

Due to the need to bake bread, baking a pumpkin pie has been bumped to this evening.

[BakerAunt]

On Tuesday, I roasted and processed two pie pumpkins. I set aside enough for tomorrow's pie, then froze enough for two more pies, as well as 4.9 oz. that remained.

We had more of the Butternut Squash, Farro, and Kale Soup for dinner.

[BakerAunt]

Aaron--I add 1/4 tsp. honey to the water in which I proof the ADY for my sourdough pan pizza. I use just 1/4 tsp. yeast to help along the sourdough, which still has a long rise.

I also proof yeast in water I have used to clean out a honey, molasses, or maple syrup jar. No waste!

I have been told by Cass that even ADY does not need to be proofed, but I feel better seeing it foam.

[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.

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