[chocomouse]

Mike, the filling was identical. The flavor is the same. The cobbler topping is more cake-like, and soaks up some of the juices, to make a soft, wet, almost pudding-like texture that is sweet-tart. The crisp is hard and crunchy, and did not soak up any liquid. Neither of us likes the crunchy.

[chocomouse]

Despite the h 90* temps and lack of rain, our in-ground garden and the plants on the deck are doing great. The garden is small, 18' x 18', only 6 tomatoes, 6 bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cukes, zukes, summer squash and winter squash. We water deeply a couple times a week now that they are beyond the 2-leaf stage. On the deck are 2 waist-high planters that are 4 ft by 15 inches, 2 planters on the railing that are 3 ft by 15 inches, and some large, 15 inch diameter pots. I'm trying a mix of garden dirt, composted horse manure, and compost from our bins; that seems to be a good combination, but I'll supplement by side-dressing with more compost if things start lagging. We have all the lettuce and spinach we can eat; I cut it off about an inch above the roots, and it regrows. The beans that I planted almost 4 weeks ago have flowered. Beets are slow, but coming along. I have 2 huge zucchini plants in one pot and 2 cucumbers plants in another. I also have a variety of herbs, in the rock garden and in 2 planters. I have planted a 2nd planter with another crop of lettuce, and will start another crop of beans in the other railing planter. Of course, I also have several barrels and planters of flowers on the deck too. I water everything once a day, early morning, when it is hot and no rain. I'm adapting nicely to this new style of gardening, after 35 years of maintaining a 50 x 100 foot garden. And it looks like we'll have plenty to eat with a little left over for the freezer.

[chocomouse]

I made a rhubarb cobbler. Much preferred over the rhubarb crisp I made last week.

[chocomouse]

I'm glad you've found a reasonable solution, BakerAunt, and hope it does work out. I'm sorry I've not been able to follow through with getting you some comments from my husband, but I think you didn't end up needing his input. We've been busy with a grand-daughter's graduation, another's birthday, and medical appointments and a lot of things fell by the wayside.

[chocomouse]

Weather not cooperating here! We've had 2 rains of less than .25 inches each, so less than half an inch in 6 weeks. Finally, they are calling it a drought. And it was 91* again today. So we had tuna fish sandwiches and refrigerator pickles that I made yesterday.

[chocomouse]

Dinner tonight was chicken-grape-Swiss salad, broccoli salad, green garden salad with maple vinaigrette, and Butterflake Herb bread. Perfect with the temp at 91*.

[chocomouse]

Ribs, roasted potatoes, asparagus, and broccoli salad.

[chocomouse]

We had turkey soup - using up an assortment of leftovers from the freezer and the refrigerator.

[chocomouse]

I made the KAF recipe for Butterflake Herb Loaf, and shaped it into 4 smaller loaf pans. I've adapted the process a bit and don't cut the dough into circles. After rolling the dough out and brushing with melted butter and herbs, I cut it into strips and stack them three high. I then cut the stacks into 3-4 inch sections (depending on what size pans I use), and stand them on their sides in the pans. This can get pretty messy, but the herby butter is better distributed between all the slices. Today I used Penzey's Foxpoint seasoning with a little extra of their roasted garlic. It is the best flavor combo yet!

[chocomouse]

A very Happy Birthday to you, Cass!

[chocomouse]

I made a rhubarb crisp.

[chocomouse]

Tonight we had chicken patties, potato salad, and green "deck" salad with tomatoes and herbs. I'd never made pickled onions, but made some today to change up the flavor of the potato salad (which is going to a graduation party tomorrow evening). I think I need to stir more of the tangy onion into the salad. But it is delicious, and I will be pickling onions regularly. They are so easy to do: 1 red onion, thinly sliced; put 1/2 cup each of water, red wine vinegar, and sugar in a pot and bring to a boil; put the onions in a glass (mason) jar and pour the solution over them. That's it! 30 minutes and you'll have tangy onions! Perfect for burgers or brats.

[chocomouse]

Today I made a dark rye bread. I didn't really have a recipe, but used 1 cup of bread flour, 2 cups of medium rye, 2 cups of AP, and the last of an old KAF rye bread improver/base, about 1/2 cup, that needed to be used up. I also used pickle juice in place of most of the liquid, and added a tablespoon of vital wheat gluten. It didn't rise much at all; my kitchen was cool, but I let it rise for 2.5 hours so it did get a little puffy. After a half hour in the oven, I checked it and was astounded to find how high it had risen. I usually get great oven spring, but this was amazing! It was a good three inches above the top of the bread pans (I made two 9 x 5 loaves), when prior to baking it hadn't even reached the top rim of the pans. I'm eager to see the crumb, and taste, when I cut into it tomorrow.

[chocomouse]

BakerAunt, sorry this is taking me so long to reply. Are you all set now, or would you like me to send you a photo? I'm still hoping to have my husband read through this thread, and look closely at mine (also a DLC-7) to see if he can help. Maybe tomorrow. I looked at it, but I'm not mechanical enough to give any suggestions. I do recall that, maybe 20 years ago, I got a new bowl. I think I remember that the original one cracked, so did not hold liquids. The replacement I bought from Cuisinart was not really different, but that locking mechanism didn't work. My husband says he had to use his Dremel to "re-shape" something to get it to work. I also remember that at some point I had to get a new grater, not sure why (my memory is aged and works like a sieve these days!). The original tools came with one central post that kind of screwed on and off each cutting disk. The replacement grater blade has (has, I'm still using it) a permanent central post; but, it fit the old bowl just fine. I think my husband will be home tomorrow afternoon, and I'll ask him to look at it then.

[chocomouse]

Egg salad sandwiches with garden lettuces.

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