[chocomouse]

That sounds good, Mike. Add some spinach or kale from your Aerogarden and you have a perfect meal!

I made Bailey's Chocolate Cream Pie from iambaker.net. It's sort of a mousse, sort of cheesecake, not really either. But it's no-bake and quick, easy to make.

[chocomouse]

Today I made the buttermilk maple bread recipe posted by Baker Aunt, my 2nd time making it, but with my additional adaptations. I subbed in one cup of whole wheat, and used AP instead of bread flour. As BakerAunt noted, and I found before, this loaf gets a lot of oven spring! I baked it (2 loaves, in cast iron) in my new counter top oven. I had turned off the convection and set the temperature to 330*. I need to make more adjustments using this oven, as the tops actually burned this time, and the bottoms were pale white. I have not cut into them yet, but I do think they are done. I'm going to try moving the rack down to the bottom level next. Other than bread, the baking option has worked perfectly for cookies, muffins, and sticky buns.

[chocomouse]

I made a pot roast with potatoes, onions, and carrots, along with dinner rolls.

We still have 4-6 inches of snow on the ground. That's good, in the woods, it will help insulate the ground and keep the sap running for maple syrup. The sap needs warm days, around 35-40* is good, and cold nights, around 25-32*.

[chocomouse]

I've bought my seeds, but I don't start any plants inside except herbs; I buy from local nurseries. My gardens, in the ground and raised planters on the deck, will be about the same as last year. I am, however, hoping to learn from some of my first-year-on-the-deck mistakes. We're still eating lettuces and spinach from under the grow lights, but the aerogarden is done 'til next fall.

[chocomouse]

We had chicken breasts baked with spinach and mushrooms, and cavitappi with alfredo sauce, and broccoli.

[chocomouse]

I made rye bread, using the KAF recipe "Caraway Rye Bread" which I have made a number of times. I used pumpernickel flour, and pickle juice in place of most of the water. It is a slow riser, so I left it for 3 hours on the counter in a cool kitchen; I then got an oven-spring of over 2 inches. The texture of this bread is always excellent.

[chocomouse]

Leftover, from the freezer, turkey-mushroom-spinach-veggies soup, with egg salad sandwiches on fresh oatmeal whole wheat bread.

[chocomouse]

This morning I prepared 4 salads for our cold dinner. Believe it or not, a real treat when the temp will be going down into single digits; it makes me think of summer : potato, broccoli, three-bean, and seafood.

[chocomouse]

That pizza looks so good Len. You can't beat a cast iron crust!

[chocomouse]

Kudos to Will! Gorgeous. And he's been doing this for how long?

[chocomouse]

Kimbob, great shaping on your bread! Magnificent!

[chocomouse]

Thanks, Mike, I'm pretty sure they do. I have the 15" Lodge, and love how the crust comes out.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by chocomouse.

[chocomouse]

Tonight we had pizza, the first time I cooked pizza in the Breville. It came out good - crispy and browned on the bottom with melted lightly browned cheese (but not burned) on top. I cut my recipe from 3 to 2 cups of flour, and next time will try only 1 3/4 cups. The pan that came with it is not nearly as nice as the cast iron pan I've been using, and a lot smaller - but it fits into the oven.

[chocomouse]

It is an awesome, sweet rig! I have no idea how to run it. I loved the old-fashioned set up we had for 37 years (and my husband's father and grandfather used for I would guess, 50 years). That was when I hauled in armloads of logs and shoved them a couple at a time into the arch to keep the syrup boiling. And stuck a thermometer down into the boiling mass of sticky stuff to see if it was getting close to 219* yet. That's all done electronically now. We just need to monitor, in case something goes wrong. And it does -- every week it's something else! My husband and son have all the tubing hooked up to the trees now, and will start tapping tomorrow.

[chocomouse]

Kimbob, my husband doesn't like chicken either! And I love it - could eat it 3-4 times a week. I think what he actually doesn't like is "picking" at his food, eating it off the bone; he doesn't like fish, like trout or salmon steaks for that reason also. I think boneless chicken is fine, but also feel the bone-in gives it added flavor. He eats the chicken without complaint, but I'm careful to not serve it too often.

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