[chocomouse]

Dinner tonight was rigatoni with Italian sausage, big chunks of belle peppers and onion, and home-made tomato sauce. One of our favorite meals.

I will eat only one kind of mac and cheese, and it is the most simple process possible: boil macaroni pasta to the desired "al dente"; stir in one can of condensed tomato soup (do not dilute), then add cubed Velveeta cheese, to the desired cheesiness. My kids and grandkids love it, and call it "soup and noodles and cheese". My brother and sisters laugh at me. It is what our mother made, but not often. She also used a can of tomato soup as her spaghetti/marinara sauce! We didn't have any herbs or spices in the house, other than salt and pepper, which were rarely used. You might wonder why my siblings and I love to cook/bake and are all good cooks!!!

[chocomouse]

Thanks Mike! I have both of those books, so will read over what he has written and probably try both recipes. My plain bagels look a lot better than the raisin-cinnamon version -- there are lumpy raisins sticking out all around the bagel! I made 18 bagels instead of the 12 the recipe called for, since we want them smaller than the usual bakery bagels. I shaped the dough into balls (for once, I let go of my OCD and just eye-balled the dividing instead of using the scale) and let it rest, then flattened and did not let it rest again. I guess maybe I need to be more particular when I poke and twirl. I did use the malt powder in the water bath, as the recipe called for it. I'm pretty sure I have some barley syrup in the pantry, although I don't know why, so I'll try that at some point, too. So you sometimes use just plain water for the boil?

[chocomouse]

I'm back in the kitchen and baking! For many years I've been saying "No, I'm not going to start making bagels; I don't need bagels, etc" So, my sister suggested we take a bagel class at KAF, wouldn't I like to do that?" Hahaha! I said "Sure, I'd love to. But we should really try making some on our own first, so we know what to look for and what questions to ask in class." On my way home from Maine, I stopped at KAF and bought nondiastatic malt powder. Today I made the bagels, using the Water Bagels recipe on the KAF website. I made half the dough into cinnamon=raisin, by kneading them into the dough just before shaping. The other half I sprinkled with seeds, onions, garlic, salt just before baking. I shaped half of them as suggested in the recipe (make a ball of dough, poke your finger through and sort of twirl and stretch) and half of them I patted out the dough and cut with a doughnut cutter. They smelled wonderful, but look terrible! Both varieties taste great. I need to work on the shaping; it will get better I know. The insides are dense but not tough chewy. The outside is very chewy, too chewy for my preference, I'd like to keep my teeth a few more years! I'll do some research on line to see what I can do to soften the outside. I used bread flour, so I know I could lower the protein by using AP. But I don't want to lose the denseness and chew of the inside. Maybe use less of the malt powder in the boil, or maybe bake for less than 20 minutes. I might also call the KAF chat line and ask. It will be a couple of months before they have a bagel class. Anyone here make bagels? Novice or expert help would be fine!

Baker Aunt - I neglected to tell Joan that she should consider cutting the streusel amount in half! I usually make the full recipe, but freeze half for the next bake. So thanks for sharing that information!

[chocomouse]

Joan, if you like blueberries, lemon, and coffeecake (! and who doesn't?) you might like to look at KAF recipes for:
1. Blueberry Lemon Coffeecake. I've made this many times, but with a change to the streusel. I use lemon juice powder in place of all the lemon zest, oil, etc. And, I like the flavor best without any brown sugar. I've only seen it at KAF, it is a little expensive, and I haven't found a substitute for it. But, if you want lemon flavor -- this is it! And it's perfect with blueberries.
2. Lemon Streusel Coffeecake. This recipe uses the lemon juice powder in the streusel, but it is made with brown sugar, and I prefer white sugar. But it does give you a sense of using the lemon juice powder.

I'm going to take a peek at the buckle you made.

[chocomouse]

We had meatloaf, baked potatoes, and squash from the freezer. Tomorrow I'm leaving for a week in Maine, and my husband will be happy to stay home and eat meatloaf sandwiches on a variety of home-made breads!

[chocomouse]

So good to hear all this! I've heard medical folks saying the healing is faster when the patient is home and comfortable and happy.

[chocomouse]

I browned boneless pork chops in a cast iron skillet with sage and Penzey's Mural of Flavor, then added sliced apples and made a thin sauce of boiled cider and spicy brown mustard.

[chocomouse]

Sara, I did not know that; I've often wondered how she was doing. We lost contact after she moved from San Francisco to be near her sister, in Oakland maybe? Such a talented lady, a baker and a quilter. She was always up for a new bread baking adventure! Thanks for sharing. How is your husband doing now that he is at home? And I hope you are taking care of yourself, too.

[chocomouse]

I don't remember a group baking from the cookie book. But I lost touch with the baking circle about when KAF shut down the "old,old" baking circle, the first one they shut down. I got busy with real life and my password didn't work and they were no help to getting that problem fixed. And then I think they shut down the baking circle they created from that group, part of their website, in about 2010. I joined the original Baking Circle in 2002, and the group baking the same breads was most active in 2004. I sometimes wonder what those ladies are doing now. I know Sara W was part of that old baking circle, too.

[chocomouse]

No cooking at my house today. We had leftover Duchess soup with Maple, Fig, and Walnut bread from the freezer, left from my maple baking for the Artisan Fair in December. And then we finished off the chocolate cheesecake from two days ago - except for the half that's still in the freezer.

[chocomouse]

Not in my chocolate cake! Espresso - yes, garlic - no. Although if someone offered me a piece of chocolate cake with garlic in it, I would try it. And maybe it would be fine. Especially if the chocolate ganache was slathered thick enough!

[chocomouse]

Today I made a potato salad and a broccoli salad to go with a ham steak for dinner. Sick of winter and winter foods, ready for summer. Also made Special K Bars but used plain cheap corn flakes instead of Special K cereal.

[chocomouse]

I've used Peter Reinhart's books (Whole Grains, Artisan breads, and BBA) more than any others, although I must say none of my favorite breads come from his recipes. My favorite bread books are some that a group of us on the old baking circle decided to buy and for about a year, we selected a recipe every couple of weeks that most of us made. We got some surprises - I remember the loaf I made that looked exactly like a cow's udder. I don't remember if it tasted good or not, but I never made it again! Does anyone here remember making those recipes?

[chocomouse]

That sounds like a good recipe for me to try. I have so many baking books and I rarely use them; I have had Bread by Jeffrey Hamelman since it was published, yet have never made a single recipe from it. Although I love to read through them, it's quicker to just walk into the pantry, grab a couple bags/containers of flour/grains, usually whichever are taking up the most space, and start measuring and mixing.

Today I made Harvest Grains sandwich bread, using the recipe on the bag with a few changes. It used to be my favorite sandwich bread, now replaced by the Super 10 Blend. I also made a chocolate cheesecake and baked it in two 7 inch springform pans - one to eat and one for the freezer.

[chocomouse]

Skeptic, that is what the instructor at KAF told us: they are supposed to be gummy, damp on the inside, and can be fork-split and eaten as soon as they come out of the oven -- after toasting of course - to get rid of the gumminess. We also made crumpets, which she said should be "wet" inside! You are right - more peanut butter and jelly!

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