[chocomouse]

Today I made a chocolate layer cake for my husband's 78th birthday. I spread raspberry jam (made from the raspberries he cultivates and freezes every summer) between the layers, and made a buttercream frosting. It's the first time I 've made a birthday cake in quite a few years.

[chocomouse]

Mike, if we had your leftovers, my husband would be happy to eat that pie right out of the pie plate, and I would finish off the cream cheese frosting with a spoon!

[chocomouse]

For dinner tonight I made a new recipe posted by the Cozy Cook, a Ground Beef and Broccoli which I served on orzo. It was OK, not very flavorful, I would increase the ginger and garlic.

[chocomouse]

BakerAunt -- I'm laughing!!  You don't know how to spell it, and you probably don't know how to pronounce it!  I live about 2 miles from that river, and even people who live around here don't know either. I think it is 'Ompompanoosuc' River. The beginning Om- is usually omitted, and most of us just call it the Pompy.

[chocomouse]

Our dinner was grilled salmon, risotto with broccoli, and buttercup squash.

[chocomouse]

I said yes, but . . .    I don't trust them, and I'm still angry they took our recipes away from us.

Right now, they are having a 60% off sale on some items. They don't say whether it is an on-line or in-store sale. As far as I remember, they ALWAYS state those sales are on-line orders only. So I emailed them to ask. I got an evasive response, that did not answer my question. So, I emailed back, asking them to please answer my question. They did. I responded suggesting they should clarify that information in their advertising, as they always have in the past.  It is very misleading.  In my opinion, King Arthur is no longer King.

[chocomouse]

That sounds good on a cold winter day, navlys.

[chocomouse]

Just now, I've been watching a possum on my deck (its 12:30 p.m.), eating the birdseeds that have fallen to the floor. We see it most every night on the Ring camera, but lately it's been out in the daytime, eating apple scraps that the turkeys took down from the apple trees. We leave the possums alone -- they eat ticks!

[chocomouse]

Oh, I'm sure the Harvest Grains mix would be terrific in a "white" (AP) sandwich bread! It would add both nutrition and flavor. I see KABC has a recipe for Harvest Grains Bread that calls for 2 1/2 cups bread flour and 1/2 cup of whole wheat. You could just use all bread or AP flour instead. I usually use 2 cups AP and 2 cups whole wheat with 3/4 cups of the grains mix to make 2 loaves. Do you use white whole wheat? You could try that, too.

[chocomouse]

Huge sale at KABC!! Lots of good flours on sale! Harvest Grains, First Clear, Super 10, Artisan Bread, most are about 5.00 off. I'm worried, because often this means they are going to/have discontinued that item. I just resupplied a couple weeks ago, but I can make room in my freezer and will go back there this week -- after I call to make sure the sale price applies to in-store purchases.

[chocomouse]

Except for the ham and the potatoes, we are ready to serve dinner at 6:00 this evening. We've been reduced from 14 to 7 people due to illness and employment. We just changed our plans for Christmas Day dinner with my sister and her husband due to the weather forecast; we have a severe weather advisory due to a prediction of ice over half an inch thick on the roads. Instead, we'll join them for dinner on Sunday.

[chocomouse]

I've never used mustard in rye bread. I don't measure the seeds, just pour some from the spice jar into my hand, but I'd say it's at least a tablespoon. We're having ham for Christmas dinner with family tomorrow night, so will have ham on rye sandwiches for our Christmas Day lunch. Unfortunately, my daughter's family is all sick, so they will not be here. She saw a physician today and was tested for Covid and flu, both negative, so it's sleep, fluids, aspirin. The grandkids, college students home for vacation, also tested negative. Her husband is not sick at all! We are all vaccinated and boosted, but I'm glad they will not be here to spread their love!

[chocomouse]

I made 2 loaves of buttermilk oatmeal bread. And I have the filling made and the dough chilling for Pecan Tassies, a recipe from lsb on the Old Baking Circle.

[chocomouse]

BakerAunt, that was one of the first rye recipes I ever tried, and I still use it as my base rye recipe! I usually add dried onion, sometimes add deli rye sour/flavor. I often sub dark dry, pumpernickel, or first clear flour. If I run out/short on pickle juice, it's OK, I use what I have or sub Greek or regular yogurt, although I do think the pickle juice yields the best rise and flavor. I do reduce the salt, and use 2 teaspoons of yeast. I never worried about the clash of pickle juice and yeast, never had a problem. Somewhere I have stashed directions for scaling it up for two 9 x 5 loaves.

[chocomouse]

I won't be changing my way of doing eggs either. I put the cold eggs into cold water and bring to a boil. Let sit, covered. Original directions said something like 20 minutes, but I always just forget and leave them, often foe an hour or more. Empty the pot and fill with cold water. Let sit while I gather up my equipment, ingredients. Crack the shell and roll the egg around on the ceramic kitchen sink until the entire shell is cracked/crumbled. Peel, making sure to get hold of the inner thin membrane. I've never had a problem, whether old or fresh eggs, the shell does not stick to the egg, no green ring around the yolk. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

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