[chocomouse]

Today I baked Maple, Walnut, and Fig bread. It's not too sweet, and I love the flavors. I also made chocolate chip cookies for my husband.

[chocomouse]

Skeptic, I can cook 8 muffins at a time on my griddle. And since I'm stuck in the kitchen anyway to keep an eye on them, I can do other tasks, like wash dishes, clean out a the refrigerator, make a salad for dinner, or whatever needs doing. I just plan to use the time productively. I've never tried baking them. How do you get the tops and bottoms browned and coated with cornmeal or semolina when you do them that way?

[chocomouse]

Skeptic, I actually made 17 muffins, instead of the usual 12, using 77 gr if dough for each. They came out very good. I use the griddle on my stove. I have not yet perfected the temperature and timing, so some of these were a little black on the bottom! Next time I will try #8 for 12 minutes.

[chocomouse]

Dinner tonight was steak shish-ke-bobs with bell pepper and onions, and a marinated bean salad and cole slaw. I marinated the steak pieces in balsamic vinegar, honey, mustard, and garlic -- nice flavor.

[chocomouse]

Len, your cake looks great -- and delicious!!

95 degrees here today, so early this morning I started English muffins. Not a great day with liquids in my kitchen today, either, Baker Aunt! I do not know what I did, but I ended up adding about 3/4 cup (estimate) of flour as I kneaded it! And I made 3 more muffins than I usually make! Yes, some humidity, but not 3/4 cup worth! I've made this recipe numerous times, often need to make slight adjustments with the buttermilk, but nothing like this. Husband says they taste great!

[chocomouse]

It's almost cold here! 68 and dropping. I'm thinking about putting the quilt back on the bed -- perfect night for sleeping. And we've had over 2 inches of rain in the past 48 hours. We'd had several days of sun, and the garden was beginning to look green instead of yellow. I hope you can get that ac fixed quickly, Mike.

[chocomouse]

I made two loaves of our usual sandwich bread, using oatmeal, AP, and whole wheat flour, plus 2 tablespoons of flax meal. I need to take a lesson from Baker Aunt and start adding a couple of tablespoons of dry milk to my loaves, also.

[chocomouse]

Turkey quesedillas for dinner tonight.

[chocomouse]

Thanks, Mike. I do know that commercial ovens are different from home ovens, although not specifically convection.

[chocomouse]

I used to pour water into a pan to make steam when I wanted a crisp crust, but about 10-15 years ago I bought a porous clay long covered bake. It is not the one that KAF sells, and I think I might have bought it from Pampered Chef, but not sure. It does produce a crisp crust, although not as crunchy as bread baked in a commercial steam oven. It is easier and safer than producing steam in the oven. I do love the bread I get from baking in it, but never made a rye in it, however I will try that soon. I agree with BakerAunt that it would not be suitable for large scale production.

I'd also like to comment on using a convection oven -- I've only rarely used the convection in my microwave, so really have no experience to speak of using convection for cooking or baking. However, what I have read about it makes me think it would not be a good choice for baking. Maybe others will weight in on that option.

[chocomouse]

I love a roasted pork tenderloin too! But tonight we had boneless pork chops on the grill, with potato salad and greens from the deck topped with leftover Greek salad.

[chocomouse]

Perfect recipe to celebrate your new range!!

[chocomouse]

Italiancook, those two recipes are very similar, and I kind of mix and match the lemon flavoring, while keeping the basic ingredients the same. The first time I made it, I used lemon peel that I had candied. In the batch I made yesterday, I used only 2 tablespoons of lemon juice powder in the dough and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice powder in the streusel. I have also made it with lemon juice, or lemon zest and/or lemon oil. In my opinion, the juice powder gives the best lemon flavor, and is easy to keep in the pantry. Also, since KAF is 10 miles down the road, it's easy for me to restock; I don't know if it is available elsewhere or online.

[chocomouse]

What a terrific new tradition, Italiancook -- I love coffeecake! Today I made a lemon blueberry coffeecake with lemon streusel. I've made it a number of times, loosely based on KAF's 2 recipes: Blueberry Coffeeake with Lemon Streusel and Lemon Streusel Coffeecake. I love, love, love the KAF lemon juice powder; it's more potent than any of the oils, emulsions, juices, etc. I also like to add fresh lemon zest, but don't always have lemons on hand. If you try it, I'd love to hear what you think of it.

Does anyone else use the tea loaf pan, a ceramic baker, sold by KAF? I like the size and shape, but always have to bake my recipes for much longer, like about 20 minutes longer. I wondering if others have this same experience?

[chocomouse]

Dinner tonight was shrimp alfredo with asparagus and a garden salad.

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