[chocomouse]

Nice that you get to start having fun again, BakerAunt!

Today I processed more tomatoes - the last batch of this season. I think I'll have about 5-6 quarts of sauce, and maybe 10 pints of salsa.

Our dinner was breaded fresh haddock from the fish counter, a crunchy slaw-like salad from the deli, and a baked potato. I used the air fry mode on my Breville countertop oven, with convection and the haddock was cooked perfectly -- the first time I was satisfied with the air fry results.

[chocomouse]

I just took a batch of raspberry muffins out of the oven. An early morning bake for me, but I'm leaving for a week in Maine in an hour and wanted to be sure my husband would have something special for his breakfasts. He does also have leftover citrus zucchini bars.

[chocomouse]

BakerAunt, you must be very, very hungry for some nice baked goods, since you've been so deprived by not being able to bake for yourself. I wish we all lived closer to you - we would share our baked goods, and you could be my taste tester. I won't even post a picture of the lemon cake/brownie type bar I made today. And I subbed Greek yogurt for cream cheese in the frosting - it worked! And I mistakenly used Lime juice powder instead of Lemon juice. I'm now calling it a citrus cake, and it is delicious!

[chocomouse]

Thanks for that information, Aaron. I didn't know any of that. Yes, I think you should just order the boiled cider from KAF.

[chocomouse]

Today I made another chocolate-raspberry cheesecake to take to a gathering of friends.

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[chocomouse]

I made a dozen burger buns. This time I used bread flour and skipped the egg.

[chocomouse]

Dinner was BLTs, again. Not many more meals of them, however. The tomato season will be over in about a month. I did freeze 5 quarts of tomato sauce and 7 pints of salsa. Tomorrow I need to cut and freeze a basket of about 12 peppers - green, red, and one yellow. Some I'll cut in half for stuffed peppers, others will be sliced, chopped into a big dice, or cut into bite-size pieces. No need to process, just toss in zip-lock bags and toss into the freezer.

[chocomouse]

Aaron, I'm thinking about the possible results of your boiled cider vs. regular cider experiment. I understand about the need to keep the total amount of liquid consistent with the recipe amounts. However, since a 1/2 gallon of cider is reduced to make 1 cup of boiled cider, that means you are reducing 16 cups to 1 cup. Therefore, you would need to add 15 cups of liquid back into the dough? No, I think not! I guess that is not what you are thinking of doing? You are not going to get the depth of apple flavor from regular cider that you would get from boiled, concentrated cider.

[chocomouse]

I'm in the middle of processing more tomatoes, will probably end up with 4 quarts of tomato sauce and 4-5 pints of salsa. I need to add peppers and onions, also from the garden before I'm done, and probably some celery also, but I don't grow that in my garden.

[chocomouse]

Today I made 2 loaves of oatmeal-whole wheat sandwich bread for our frequent BLT dinners.

[chocomouse]

Dinner was a sliced tomato with mayo on light rye bread.

[chocomouse]

I made Chewy Maple Cookies today.

[chocomouse]

Aaron, it's like making maple syrup! Boil fresh, tart cider for hours and hours until 1/2 gallon of cider is reduced to 1 cup of boiled cider. It will need to boil at medium-high heat for 3-6 hour. Watch it closely near the end, and stir it, so it doesn't scorch. I've read that you can do it overnight in a slow-cooker, but I've not tried that.

[chocomouse]

Len, we often have that Fenway tailgate food here, in a bun. And one of my favorite pasta dishes is hot Italian sausage, sliced, with bite sized chunks of onions and red and green peppers, in a tomato sauce.

[chocomouse]

As a certified Master Gardener, I'm not allowed to promote the use of a product for gardening if it was not intended for that purpose. However, I will say that I use about a tablespoon of Epsom Salts scratched into the soil around my pepper and tomato plants when they blossom. I do this only every couple of years, and I've never had a problem with blossom end rot.

I should add that I do not use any commercial/chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides -- only the compost I make.

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