[chocomouse]

This morning I made the Oat-Flax Buns again -- love this recipe. That's the last baking I'll do for a while. It was 91* this afternoon, will be in the 90s for the next five days, possibly reaching 100 on Monday. That's unusual for Vermont.

[chocomouse]

I pay 8.95 for 3 pounds at KAF!

[chocomouse]

Mike, I use first clear flour in almost all my rye bread recipes. It really does help with the rise, and I think it adds to the flavor also. I should try it with other breads. Did you get the 50 lb bag at a restaurant or kitchen supply store? I get mine at KAF, but it comes only in a 3 lb bag, or maybe it's even a 2 lb bag, can't remember.

[chocomouse]

Last night we grilled country style pork ribs, with potatoes roasted on the grill with herbs from the planters on the deck and garlic olive oil, and a green salad. Tonight we'ew grilling on the smoker chicken thighs, with broccoli and a gemelli with veggies (store-bought, carrots, peas, corn, green beans, plus celery, onion, and green pepper) salad. I'm using up the last of the frozen soup veggies in the freezer. I mixed up a dressing for it using mayonaise, chopped garlic, French's yellow mustard, and some mustard labeled Dijon, which is very very dry, has little flavor, and is very thick with whole mixed mustard seeds.

[chocomouse]

I've finally done some baking. Yesterday I made chocolate chip cookies, and maple-walnut scones. Of course, I used our own maple syrup with "no added sugars"!!! I put about 1/4 cup of syrup in the dough, and brush on more syrup before baking.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by chocomouse.

[chocomouse]

The Vermont Maple Sugarers' Association has been fighting this for several months, and we may be winning the battle. The FDA is now agreeing that we do not add sugar to maple syrup (not the real stuff, "pure" syrup, although of course we do know there are some businesses that try to pass off their "syrup" as pure maple syrup). And the FDA only meant that eating it is adding sugar to your body! Yeah, right! So, why doesn't the bag of white sugar say "sugar added"?? I think now the FDA has agreed to remove "added sugar" from the label, and is working on some other way to warn buyers to limit their intake of sugar. I'll read that article, too. Thanks for posting the link, Mike.

[chocomouse]

Baker Aunt, that happened with my green beans a few years ago too! They were pole beans in a seed package labeled Blue Lake bush beans -- long, stringy vines that just overran several other rows. A mess to walk through, and we didn't get a good crop of beans. My garden looks awful, way behind compared to previous years. That's partly because I planted late and partly because we've had no rain, although I have watered a little. I do have blossoms on a couple of tomatoes and some peppers. Of course, you know that weeds don't need water to grow, right?

I have taken good care of my flowerbeds this year and they look wonderful. We are predicted to get some rain today and tomorrow, slow, steady rain not just passing storms; I hope the forecasters are right.

[chocomouse]

Joan, those sound perfect! I love making cold salads for summer meals and eating the leftovers for days.

[chocomouse]

Thanks, Baker Aunt! I've bookmarked both sites and glanced at the articles, and I'll most definitely make that ice cream soon. The scientific article will have to wait a couple of days - the forecast is for perfect gardening weather, so I must pull weeds today.

[chocomouse]

This is all very interesting, and I need to reread it several times and try to process it all. I do not make/can blueberry pie filling nor do I make jam. I do freeze about 40 quarts of blueberries, from our ten bushes. Frozen blueberries are excellent in muffins or bread - good flavor, not mushy, and the skins are not tough. When I make blueberry pie, I must cook the frozen berries first; otherwise, the skins are tough and chewy. You have to cook them to split the skins. I do not notice any loss of flavor from cooking them at that point. But I have nothing to compare that with. I think the flavor of blueberries varies tremendously depending on the variety. One of my varieties is very sweet, but has no blueberry flavor, some are so-so, and one variety (I have 3 bushes of this one!) is sweet and has a very strong blueberry taste.

I wonder why the formerly-frozen berries in a muffin are not tough, but in a pie filling are tough? Hmmm.

Baker Aunt, I may do some experimenting, but I doubt I do as much or as precisely as you probably will. I do look forward to hearing what you discover!

[chocomouse]

Yesterday I cooked a lot for our celebration party. I made a vegetable tray and salads: seafood, broccoli, and ham 'n cheese macaroni, and baked beans. They were perfect for our first really warm, humid day of the summer season.

[chocomouse]

We had a Father's Day/Daughter's Birthday/Grand-daughter's High School Graduation party yesterday! I made a Death by Chocolate trifle and a Pizza Loaf. That was a KAF blog recently and needs some more experimentation. It's made from the Butterflake Herb Loaf recipe, which is a really nice dough, savory or sweet, but it was too much bread and not enough "stuff." The teen-agers loved it.

[chocomouse]

We had salmon and roasted potatoes with fresh herbs cut from the planters on the deck, all cooked on the grill, and a green salad.

[chocomouse]

What about Wilton and also Pastry Chef? I'm meeting friends at the King Arthur Cafe for breakfast tomorrow, so I'll ask their staff, and maybe get the name of some possible suppliers. You could also try calling their hot line or sending them an email.

[chocomouse]

Happy Birthday, Cass! We'd love to hear from you. Tell us about your latest baking adventures, please!

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