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BA your cake sounds delicious and Joan, your dinner looks yummy!

I baked some chicken meatballs by making the ones for piccata and subbing in Greek seasonings. I served them with sautéed zucchini and the end of my spinach arugula mix and tzatziki sauce (Boar's Head). I have some more for tomorrow and I froze the rest of the meatballs for future meals.

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I made two loaves of my Harvest Grains Bread (adapted from KAF) I've doubled the recipe and use half bread flour and half WWW. This time I decided to use the 8 ½ x 4 ½ inch pans recommended. I really took the time to let it rise - because it was chilly here, it took a long time. I did put it in when it was ½ " over the rim instead of the full inch. It did rise, but looking at the slight blowout on the side I probably still underproofed it a little.

Question - should I expect a dough with lots of whole wheat and grains in it (it has the harvest grains and cornmeal) to take longer in the second proving? And should the finished temp be around 200?

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I adapted a salmon and rice dish from NYT. I brought home a piece of blackened salmon from work, made orzo instead of rice, added a spinach and arugula mix instead of straight arugula. I didn't have shallot for the dressing so I used some Penzey's granulated onion and dried dill instead of fresh. I really enjoyed it and have more for tomorrow.

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Mike, your meatloaf sounds a lot like mine. Only I do one egg per pound and nothing else is measured - I just eyeball it. Sometimes I use BBQ sauce, and change up the breading component and added vege. I had someone who was surprised I use cheese in mine - I think. It's necessary😁

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I've been reading about everyone's delicious meals and glad to hear that colonoscopies are over. I'll have mine in the spring (I think).

On Monday, I made a mushroom stroganoff from NYT - I read all the comments and incorporated several into the recipe which I think made it easier. The recipe recommended serving over mashed potatoes or buttered noodles, but I had two sweet potatoes I needed to use (baked than mashed) and they don't need butter. I enjoyed it for 3 nights and put the rest of the mushrooms in the freezer to enjoy over pasta some night when I don't feel like cooking.

We finally have a confirmed date for my reverse shoulder surgery. February 12th at 12:30 pm - a long time to be fasting 🙄 I am looking forward to getting rid of the pain.

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BakerAunt, what wonderful neighbors and of course Annie!! I'm glad to hear Scott will be OK and I agree that you bake something wonderful and give Annie chicken and waffles.

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Joan, it is very good even 2 days later - I have a couple of quarts to freeze. Another time I would cut the chicken into smaller pieces

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I started a two day soup project - well, I'm making it a two day project around everything else I need to do.

This morning I took a couple of rotisserie chicken carcasses out of the freezer and made chicken stock and then I roasted 3 chicken breasts for Ina's Chicken Pot Pie Soup - tomorrow I will prepare the vegetables and make the soup. I need to have something easy on hand for the long work days this week - I often forget to have something prepared and end up with tuna or cheese sandwiches - warm soup seems better.

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I tried a new recipe from King Arthur - Golden Grains Bread - and a bonus is it's baked in the long baker.

It calls for AP, whole wheat, semolina and harvest grains blend - I subbed bread flour and WWW. I did not use the optional brown sugar or malt. I made a parchment sling. It was a beautiful dough when it came out of the bread machine. I have realized with this loaf that I have a bad habit of underproving my dough which explains a lot of my issues. I did the poke test, and the imprint held but when I went to cut the slits it filled in. I probably should have stopped at that point and continued the rise, but I was afraid I'd already deflated it. I keep assuming that because I'm in the South, I should prove it for less time. Next time I won't second guess the timing - it's definitely dense and doughy but it will be fine as toast. The sling worked perfectly and it didn't stick to the pan.

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Interesting article. I don't buy honey crisps here in Georgia - the couple of times I tried them, they were very disappointing. I remember trying them at home when they were first available seasonally and I really enjoyed them.

[cwcdesign]

I had a piece of toast with avocado and melted cheese

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Yesterday I made "my" mac and cheese from James Beard's recipe. After all these years it's still my favorite. I made a half batch since it was just me. I decided I wanted to add broccoli to it just to give me some vege. They didn't have broccoli crowns at HT, so I bought a bag of fresh Green Giant florets in the produce section which a friend had recommended. I steamed it in the microwave. After I put the broccoli in the pan, I realized I better make a full batch of the cheese sauce. I gradually added the sauce to the broccoli and pasta until I thought it had enough. I had 2 cups of sauce left over and I made a huge amount of mac and cheese. I froze the extra sauce and 2 1 pound packages of mac and cheese. I still have enough for a couple more meals.

Next time I would use 4 ounces pasta and ½ bag of broccoli. I also would not use mozzarella for some of the cheese - it was a little bland. But, I am enjoying it.

[cwcdesign]

Hi Aaron. I did feed it last night, but because it was a larger feeding 4oz each of starter, AP and water I put it in my large glass mixing bowl and then put a piece of Saran over the top lightly. This morning it had really risen and was very active and bubbly - before I left for work, I put it in the jar and back in the fridge. I'm pleased with how it came back.

One note I should make - normally I would have stirred the hooch back into the starter, but it was very dark and had a strong sour (but normal) smell so I drained it off.

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Joan, I am sorry for your loss - it's never easy.

On Sunday, my friends came for dinner and I made pizza. I made the 72 hour dough from Baking Steel which is always good. I made 3 smallish pizza's - sauce just crushed tomatoes with a little olive oil and a little salt and oregano. We all had mozzarella. Sue had pepperoni and green peppers. Richard and I had anchovies, green pepper and olives (I went to slice my onion and it was bad, so no onion). Sue took half hers home (Richard ate all his) and I had half of mine for lunch today. Good friends and good dinner.

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I have been feeding our starter since Thanksgiving day. It has been in the fridge for 10 months. I started out feeding it with rye and the first couple of times it didn't budge. I kept reading that it needed a warm place 70-75, and my condo is at 68, so I decided to wrap it in a terry hand towel to see if that helped and it did! Yesterday morning I switched to AP and today it is very much alive. Feeding it one more time tonight and assuming it's still behaving, I'll be able to move it back to the fridge before work tomorrow.

Yesterday, I made the KAF fudge brownies as my friends were coming for dinner - I give them most to take home and freeze a few for me.

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