[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.

[chocomouse]

Skeptic, I do not have a recipe for maple fudge, sorry. The only fudge I've ever made was peanut butter, and then only a couple of times.

I do have a great recipe for maple cheesecake, from the Arlington Inn. I prefer to use a shortbread type crust instead of graham crackers. I'll also try to post the recipe in the recipe section.

Vermont Maple Syrup Cheesecake from Epicurious
The Arlington Inn, Arlington VT

For crust:
twenty-four 5- by 2 1/2-inch graham crackers
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 cup pure maple syrup (preferably Grade B; see note, above)

For filling:
four 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup pure maple syrup (preferably Grade B)
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup heavy cream
and pure maple syrup if desired for drizzling

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Make crust:
In a food processor finely grind graham crackers (you will have about 3 1/2 cups). Melt butter. In a large bowl stir together graham cracker crumbs, butter, and maple syrup and press evenly into bottom and up side of a 10-inch springform pan. Wrap bottom and side of pan with 2 layers of heavy-duty foil to avoid leakage.

Make filling:
In bowl of a standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment or in a food processor beat cream cheese on low speed, scraping down side of bowl occasionally, until smooth. Add syrup and eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and cream and beat until just combined.

Pour filling into crust and bake in middle of oven 1 hour (cake will not be set in center but will set as it chills). Cool cake in pan on a rack. Chill cake, covered, at least 8 hours and up to 4 days.

Remove side of pan. Serve cheesecake in wedges, drizzled with maple syrup.

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