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Baker Aunt, I've made Apple Oat Bran Muffins several times recently. I don't know where it's from, but it's a recipe by Linda Greider dated October 12, 1988. I think it was connected to an article titled The Art of Baking with Oat Bran, and you might have posted that link? Anyway, we really like it. It is nice and moist.
Today I made another apple pie, trying to replicate my success from last week. This one is excellent, but not quite as good as the first. I knew the dough was a little on the dry side, and it was more difficult to work with. When I rolled it out, the edges were craggy, zig-zaggy instead of a smooth round edge. And it started to crack when I folded it and moved it to the pie plate. I think I should have added about a 1/2 teaspoon more of ice water. My husband said when he cut into the crust at the edge, where I had crimped it, it was a little crumbly. But still very, very good. Now I know the difference, I hope, between the perfect crust and one that is just very slightly not wet enough. I'll make a third one when this one is gone, to confirm this. Another new technique I've used on both of the successful crusts is to cut just the shortening into the flour etc, until it is pretty consistently pea size (I'm doing this part in the food processor). Then, I cut in the butter, which is is 1/2 inch cubes, and leave a lot of the chunks almost whole. I'd read somewhere, KAF I think, to do the shortening first and butter second. I wonder if that is making a big difference? Does anyone else do that? I'm not really willing to experiment and try doing both shortening and butter together -- I'm afraid I'd get a bad crust again!! I'm just so happy to be getting a good crust now.
Dinner tonight was salmon on the grill, with a Stonewall Kitchen honey barbeque sauce. With it we had asparagus, green salad, and leftover wild rice. It was snowing while my husband grilled!
I made two loaves of bread, using KAF's Harvest Grains. I subbed in one cup of whole wheat for a cup of AP, used honey instead of sugar, and added 2 tablespoons of flax meal.
Dinner tonight was venison steaks, wild rice, broccoli, and green salad.
My impression is that people everywhere in the US put cheese, and lots of it, on everything!! In my frequent travels, eating out in restaurants (and we don't do fast food) I often find that many if not most of the items on the menu are loaded with cheese. Now, we often go to a grocery store to buy raw veggies, fruit, hummus, sliced meats, and yes, cheese which we eat in our hotel room. And we usually can find some interesting local cheese to try.
Baker Aunt, you could send an email to Kraft and ask about their 2% cheese. I'm sure they would respond to you.
Today I baked a skillet maple apple upside-down cake for my Book Club meeting. It turned out really nicely. Next time I would put some cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, etc in the cake batter to add a bit more flavor to the cake, which did have great texture. It's a pretty rich cake, with cup of maple syrup on the bottom (top?) of the apples, and 1 and 1/3 cup of maple sugar in the dough. It flipped out of the cast iron skillet beautifully, showing the nice concentric rows of apple slices on top. I was afraid that would be diffuclt to do, since the cast iron is so heavy, but it was fine. I did use a sturdy plastic plate, not a piece of nice china to flip it onto!
I made spaghetti squash with pizza toppings, and a green salad. Plenty of leftovers for the next few days.
Yes, I am ecstatic about that dough! My husband said it's the best pie I've ever made, flavor, texture, etc. I don't know if he is saying that so that I will make another one, or if it had been so long since I've made a pie that he doesn't remember! It doesn't matter - I'm going out of town for the next five days but will try another pie as soon as I return!
I just took an apple pie out of the oven, and I'm thrilled! It was the easiest pie crust ever - to make, to roll out, to move from the counter to pie plate without falling into pieces! It didn't crack, the edges were kind of round and smooth, not jagged. I could see the big chunks of butter in the dough. I used the KAF Classic double crust recipe (the one that uses both Crisco and butter), which I have tried many times before, but this time it just all came together perfectly! I mixed the dough in the food processor yesterday, wrapped it in plastic wrap, and kept overnight in the refrigerator. I'll find out how flaky and tender it is when DH cuts into it tonight. Frankly, I really don't care if it isn't flaky and tender -- it looks great! And, of course, it smells like an apple pie!
I made a dozen Moomie's burger buns, intended to stash in the freezer for future use. However, my husband returned home five minutes after I took them out of the oven, and now there are only 10!
Tonight we had boneless pork chops sauteed with sliced onions, apples, and boiled cider. I also made a cole slaw with the last garden cabbage, and roasted a gigantic butternut squash from the garden.
I made two loaves of Beth Hensperger's Buttermilk Oatmeal Honey Bread, which is my husband's favorite sandwich bread. I subbed one cup of whole wheat flour for one of the AP, and added two tablespoons of high-maize fiber.
It's good to be back in the kitchen! Tonight I simmered chicken breasts with garden tomatoes, big chunks of onion, green peppers, and celery, and an assortment of herbs and spices, and served it over rice and with a green salad. There's plenty left to make a stew that will last several more meals.
I did not know what temp the bread should reach! I just used a wooden skewer. It came out pretty much clean, not completely, but since it is a very moist bread, I expected it might have a few crumbs. But, next time I'll go for 200 on my thermometer. Thanks, Skeptic.
Thanks for the Steamed Persimmon Pudding recipe, Sara. I'll have to try that. I've done a little more research, and have decided I most likely need to bake the brown bread for a longer time. And maybe make sure the water level in the slow cooker is higher on the jars, more than just halfway up the sides.
I have apple spice muffins in the oven, and will make molasses cookies next. That will be it for baking/cooking for the next week or so.
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