[chocomouse]

I've actually done quite a bit of baking this week. I made a raspberry coffee cake with raspberry streusel; really tasty. I sliced up some cranberry-coconut refrigerator cookies left in the freezer since Christmas. I made a couple of small, 3 x 5 inch pans, loaves of Olive and Herb bread using KAF add-in flavor. For our standard sandwich loaves, I made DH's favorite Maple Oatmeal Buttermilk bread from Beth Hensperger's The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook, except I subbed in one cup of Sprouted Wheat Flour that I bought at KAF, in place of a cup of AP. It made a nice loaf, with only a subtle change in flavor. This is a terrific recipe which I strongly recommend. I make lots of substitutions, such as honey, agave syrup, as well as a variety of flours in place of 1-2 cups of the all-purpose. I've not yet been disappointed.

[chocomouse]

Nothing exciting for cooking here. I've been using up leftover soups and casseroles, plus working on the stash of frozen veggies from last summer's garden. We did have a nice "breakfast for supper" meal of bacon, blueberry pancakes, and fresh still-warm-from-the-evaporator maple syrup.

[chocomouse]

Mike, I am curious about that recipe. Bread? I bought a bag of Sproute Wheat Flour at KAF this week, and not sure how to use it except to sub it for some of the other wheat flours.

I have spent most of the last five weeks in and out of the hospital, and it is soooo god to be baking and reading these baking/cooking blogs! I've made the KAF Goodness mix for sour cream coffee cake, which they were giving away, yes, free, at the baker's store. It was excellent, flavor and texture. Today I made cookies using Nestles Delightfull, cherry flavored. Also excellent and I would make them again.

[chocomouse]

Not much cooking here this week. I did make shrimp alfredo using a bottled sauce and tossed in a container of asparagus from the freezer/garden. And tonight we had meatloaf, which will make quite a few sandwiches next week.

I tried one of those microwave potato bags - any else ever tried that? Supposedly, it yields lighter, fluffier baked potatoes, more like oven-baked. We didn't notice much difference.

[chocomouse]

Today I made two loaves of maple-oatmeal-buttermilk bread, a pan of fudgy brownies, and a batch of blackberry jam filled muffins. I used a basic muffin recipe, with sour cream, from Mrs M on the old old Baking Circle. Half of all this baking went into the freezer for next week.

[chocomouse]

I made the Heart of Winter loaf that BakerAunt mentioned in the "I was wondering" thread. It is really good, husband likes it with peanut butter and honey! After reading all the comments on the KAF recipe page I was hesitant to try it. A majority of the posters said it was way too wet, and someone said the hydration was 89%. Being an experienced bread baker I thought "I can handle this." So I held back 1/4 cup of the water; but I had to add it in, plus 2 tablespoons more when it didn't come together. I followed the recipe exactly, except: I added 2 tablespoons of vital wheat gluten, and I baked it as two loaves in 8 x 4 cast iron bread pans. I also kneaded it a bread machine. I didn't get much of a first rise, but the shaped loaves rose nicely, in about an hour. There was no oven spring. I would recommend this recipe, and I'll make it again.

[chocomouse]

BakerAunt, I think I've not seen or at least paid any attention to that recipe. I'm going to check it out and make it tomorrow morning if I have everything I need. After all, it is the heart of winter, and we have a Nor'easter forecast with sleet, freezing rain, and six inches of snow. Some schools are already cancelled for the day. Thanks for the idea!

[chocomouse]

I'm tossing recipes! But not nearly enough, nor fasting enough. I have stashes of the same things you have. But haven't we had fun!!

[chocomouse]

I started the week baking refrigerator cookies (lemon, lime, orange, and a cranberry coconut) that I had mixed up before the holidays -- I love having a stash of "slice and bake". Then I made KAF's Brownie Bites (I discovered they have one recipe, with three different names - the recipes are identical!) which I baked in a jelly roll pan, and then used a heart-shaped cookie cutter to make individual servings which I frosted with a chocolate ganache. I made another batch of Pizza Party Buns, but a smaller size; instead of using the Burger Bun pan, I used a Whoopie Pie pan. The brownie hearts and pizza buns will go with us to a gathering tonight. Yesterday I made the Maple Pecan Muffins using a KAF mix which someone gave me for Christmas. They smelled wonderful and look great, but no taste-test yet.

[chocomouse]

I was thinking about trying some cauliflower rice -- not so interested any more! I made a pork tenderloin, using boiled cider and herbs for a sauce. I make the boiled cider every fall from cider we make from the apples we grow. I also fixed chicken salad, and a hamburger-marinara-rice casserole.

[chocomouse]

Just reading the forecasts for ice storms in the mid-west made me want to make soup, although we've actually had some pretty mild weather in Vermont this week. So I made split pea soup using the Christmas ham bone, and broccoli-cheddar soup using some of the broccoli in the freezer from my garden last summer. We ate some, and the rest went into the freezer for later this winter. I also made a double batch of Chex Mix to get my husband through the end of football season!

[chocomouse]

I started the week on Sunday baking two loaves of our favorite Maple Buttermilk Bread, with some variations. I also made the KAF recipe of the month Pizza Party Buns. They excellent - light, airy, and of course tasty. I'll be making more, but smaller size, for a party next week. I made a batch of Moomie's Buns to freeze for future hamburgers and sandwiches. I made pineapple-coconut muffins to use up some leftover pineapple - they were not so good. The texture was fine, but little flavor. Yesterday I made two loaves of Garlic-Herb bread, using KAF's mix of garlic and herbs. It was a good week for baking and the freezer is well-stocked!

[chocomouse]

luvpyrom, I do have a lot of my recipes in Word documents, and that is a good suggestion to go back and edit after baking -- but I'm apt to forget to do that. I do print each recipe to take to the kitchen, and hand-write comments. But I have a 2 foot high stack of printed recipes piled up on my desk! Triple copies of some of them! So I'm filing, in paper form, sorted by category, the recipes I seem to use over and over again. I should be able to quickly find the recipe I'm looking for. This will save a ton of paper and ink, and maybe some time. This is also helping me to toss out many many recipes that looked interesting when I printed them, but seriously, I'll never make them. I'm sure lots of us have these piles - just as knitters stash yarn, quilters stash fabric.... Maybe when this job is finished, I'll tackle the stash of ingredients in the pantry!

[chocomouse]

pmiker is active with the Facebook group "Around My Kitchen Table." He is still experimenting and sharing his results, good or still a work in progress, enhanced with terrific photos.

I am one of those who cannot remember two days later what I baked earlier in the week!! And, I'm very negligent about logging in and commenting here although I read what others have posted about once a week. Today is a non-baking day for me, a rarity. Instead, I've begun the task of organizing/sorting/throwing from the 2 foot high stack of recipes I've collected over the past year. What fun! I bet some of you can relate to that.

[chocomouse]

I've now given up completely on Zen's site -- I cannot get in. Anyone who visits here can see, if they check out the side bar, that we have listed recipes with acknowledgement to the "former" or "old" (hahaha) BC member, and the forums are also categorized, making them easy to navigate. I don't know what else to try other than what has been mentioned. I do appreciate everything people post here.

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