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Husband had a business meeting tonight, so I had a tuna fish sandwich on rye bread from the freezer. And 2 lemon cookies!
I was gifted a bag of KAF "artisan bread salt" for Christmas, but have not used it yet. I don't fall for all their advertising ploys! I also do not use their special dry milk - I use grocery-store brand powdered milk and it works just fine.
Joan, the lemon cookies are addictive! Do you use the lemon juice powder that KAF sells? I use it in everything lemon. So often, lemon flavored baked goods are pretty bland and this powder really adds a wonderful lemon flavor. I use about a tablespoon per 2 cups of flour to start, and then make adjustments to future batches. I also use any lemon flavoring called for in the original recipe.
Last night we had grilled chicken and potatoes roasted on the grill with leftover broccoli salad.
Tonight we had a chicken and veggie stew.
Today I made Lemon Oatmeal Sugar Cookies, from A Taste of Home. The only change I made was to add a tablespoon of lemon juice powder from KAF. They are delicious! I found I needed to bake them 10 minutes, instead of the listed 6-8 minutes, to get the chewy but crispy edges that I love. I'll be making these again. I also think I'll try using cocoa powder to make them chocolate flavored - in place of the recipe I used a week ago that was not chewy. BakerAunt, please do not even look at this recipe -- your cholesterol will go up 50 points just reading it!
So glad to hear your husband is feeling better, Joan. It may take a while before he feels really really good, just hang in there!
Our dinner tonight was creamed chicken on baked potatoes with brussel sprouts and a green salad.
I love parsnips and thanks for the reminder -- I need to buy some! They are wonderful sliced and oven roasted along with carrots, winter squash, sweet and regular potatoes, brussel sprouts, onions.
Our dinner tonight was steak on the grill, baked potatoes, and broccoli salad. The temp finally rose into the 20s tonight, so I dared to ask my husband to cook outside!
Love your buns, Len!! I've not baked your recipe in my bun pan, but rather shaped them into rounded, dinner size (smaller) buns. They rose fine and were delicious. I've also never used buttermilk, I just use water, for any of my hamburg/hot dog/sandwich buns, but I'll try it next time. I just bought a fresh bottle of Kate's Buttermilk yesterday; I usually make my own by replacing what I used with 2% milk and letting it sit out in a warm kitchen for the day. I buy a bottle at the store only every 5-6 months. I have not noticed any difference over the many years I'be been doing that.
Our dinner tonight was meatloaf, smashed potatoes, and buttercup squash. Excellent.
Aaron, are you anywhere near North Haven, CT? The CT Sheep and Wool Festival is moving to that new location this year, April 25-26 I think. The Justameretree Farm will be vending there and they sell a lot of maple syrup and it's good quality. It's not made in CT (NH, as I recall, but not sure) but it would be lot cheaper than purchasing syrup by mail order and paying for shipping. You could also check out the MA Sheep and Wool Festival - it might be closer and I think the sell it there also.
I like to use corn that has been roasted on the coals last fall, and then frozen for winter use in chowder. The kernels get a little charred, and turn a golden brown to a black (burned! not so tasty). It gives the soup a smokey flavor - not quite the same as bacon, but a healthier smokey. I wonder if roasting the kernels (or whole ears?) in the oven would accomplish the same thing?
A few years ago, maybe 7-8 years ago, maple syrup makers in the US changed the labeling of maple syrup to match the labels used in Canada. This is what we have been using to help our customers to learn the new language:
OLD: “Fancy” or “Vermont Fancy”
NEW: Grade A | Golden Color and Delicate Taste
This is the lightest of the new maple syrup grades and highly recommended for drizzling over waffles, pancakes, or ice cream.OLD: Grade A Medium Amber, Grade A Dark Amber
NEW: “Grade A | Amber Color and Rich Flavor”
This grade of maple syrup is a little more flavorful and works well when cooking and baking.OLD: Grade A Dark Amber, Grade B
NEW: “Grade A | Dark Color and Robust Flavor”
This grade of maple syrup is even stronger in flavor, and is best used for recipes that require a heavy maple flavor.OLD: Grade C
NEW: “Grade A | Very Dark and Strong Flavor”
This grade of maple syrup is very strong, and probably best used as a substitute for molasses and for making maple flavored candies.Notice the use of two key words, one describes the color, the other the taste. "Dark, robust" is what most of us use for cooking (and for everything at my house!). It is the same syrup (that is, it meets the same density requirements that the "old" syrup met) that was formerly called Grade B. It's still a fairly mild flavor, and most bakers use a tiny bit (as BakerAunt described) of artificial flavoring to enhance the natural flavor of syrup.
Maple sap is officially called syrup when it reaches a temperature of 219.5*F. We begin our initial assessment of the syrup stage using a thermometer, but then use a hydrometer for the final exacting measurement of the density. If, as Mike pointed, the syrup has more water and less sugar, it will not be as sweet; nor should it be called maple syrup if the correct density has not been obtained! I'm not sure that most us can tell the difference that easily. As a side note -- we are hanging our lines this week to start gathering sap for the 2020 season as soon as it runs, usually in early-mid March. The changing weather patterns makes planning ahead a challenge these days.
We had omelets and English muffins.
I made whole wheat English muffins this morning, and have pizza dough rising now for supper.
I think her basket-weave cake is much more attractive, but my sister, who hand-paints fine yarns to sell, would have much more exciting color choices!
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