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Thanks chocomouse, but I did cook them for only 12 minutes turning the tray halfway through. My oven is hot and I always set it 14º below the recommended time - I used my chef alarm to determine the oven temp way back when I was overcooking just about everything.

Of course, Claire posted her video a week after I made the cookie dough 🙄 The issues were definitely in the mixing as I could see what the dough looked like in her mixer. She also talked about the actual making of the dough balls and I probably let them get too soft. She does say, in the book as well, that you should refrigerate the dough at least one hour.

[cwcdesign]

I need to go back to the drawing board with my ginger molasses cookies. Mine came out dense and puffy, not flat and chewy - the flavor is good though.

I think I must have over mixed it because of the directions, I went by her description rather than her time and that took way longer than the time she said. I also might try making them all in one day instead of freezing the cookie balls.

Another mistake I probably made was she said you could refrigerate the dough up to two days. I did that and then created the balls and froze them.

[cwcdesign]

Great article and on point!

I am slow at chopping and I have come to assume that these recipes are the cooking time not the prep - I love the ones that say 10 minute prep - you'd better have "meal prepped" all your ingredients ahead of time as it takes 10 minutes to gather them!

They also don't take into account the vagaries of various stove tops - I finally learned to up the time and temperature of Pioneer Woman recipes - after all she has a fancy gas range that can heat up and cool down in seconds - mine never cooked in the short amount of time she gives - I have an old glass flat top that does not behave well at all. If a recipe says medium heat, I usually start at medium high, or I'll be there all night.

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I got my booster (Pfizer) on Saturday - my arm was a little sore and I had a minor headache but that was about it - the injection site is sore tonight, but we had a busy day at work.

I was in Harris Teeter yesterday. I’m surprised at some things that aren’t available right now, like my favorite flavor of salsa - they had the other flavors from the same brand. The pasta shelves have plenty, but not completely stocked - no orzo and hasn’t been there for a while. I needed AP and bread flour. They had KAF AP, WWW, organic bread flour and organic AP - no whole wheat or regular bread flour. I bought the regular AP and the organic bread flour which was a dollar off the price.

And, they didn’t have my favorite whole milk - organic valley

[cwcdesign]

BakerAunt - Shipyard Galley was our favorite sandwich place at home - Jan made great bread back in the day when bakeries were scarce - chocolate chip cookies and Will lived on their chicken salad at school. Thanks for the memory!

[cwcdesign]

6 cups of bread flour

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The way the recipe was written, it didn’t include the water in the ingredient list. The first step was to proof the yeast in ½ cup in the bowl of the mixer. Next you add 2 ½ cups water to the bowl, the flour and the salt. So I guess it would be 3 cups total

[cwcdesign]

I baked my focaccia today and the color is beautiful, but it did not rise very much on the end I cut into - it wasn’t as airy as it should have been and the crust is crackly.

I think I can figure out ALL the mistakes I made starting with the liquid, over mixing, then I think my first proof was too long and over baking.

So to start, Claire uses ADY and I have never figured out if you add the amount of proofing liquid to the liquid in the recipe - I googled it and could find it. I called KABC and asked the baker on the hotline. He said just follow the recipe without adding it. I’m wondering if I should have since the dough wasn’t very loose - ½ water for proofing + 2 ½ cups for the recipe an 6 cups bread flour. The dough wasn’t as loose as it was the last time I made it (I’m pretty sure I added it in). She says you can’t overmix it, but I thought maybe I had. Even though I marked the bowl, I do think it was overproved. Then I had to relax the dough twice for stretching in the pan. The overnight rise was fine, but since it’s hot and humid here, I may have left it on the counter a few minutes too long attempting to multitask.

I should have gone with my gut and switched it to the top rack after 20 minutes - it was golden and she said it should be brown - I know better for next time. We’ll still eat it and I nay still give part of it (the higher end) to my friend who I’m taking dinner to after her mom’s surgery on Thursday.

[cwcdesign]

I made dough for focaccia - it’s in the fridge for an overnight rise. Will top with garlic and rosemary and bake tomorrow

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I made mac n cheese for comfort food tonight - I actually made it yesterday to bake tonight. I also roasted some cherry tomatoes and had some leftover sautéed spinach. It was perfect for tonight.

[cwcdesign]

Yum, Joan

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The other day, one of my co-workers was chatting with a guest and asked her if she had started her Christmas shopping yet. She replied that she wasn't going to shop for her family and go all out. But - what she was going to do was wait until November, buy up all the hot things she could find and put them up on eBay - Merry Christmas! (eye roll)

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Welcome KathyD, BakerAunt is in touch with Kid Pizza - he celebrated his birthday not too long ago.

I made the dough for chewy ginger molasses cookies from Claire Saffitz’s Dessert Person. The cookie balls are in the freezer waiting to be baked on Thursday to take to my manager and her mom who is having full knee replacement surgery on Wednesday. I’ll also be taking my vegetable barley soup and some kind of bread which will depend on my schedule next week.

[cwcdesign]

Will is out of town, so I have been creating for myself this week. I found a kale Caesar salad that I adapted - it had shredded kale (I like Lacinato or dinosaur kale), shredded Brussels sprouts and roasted sweet potato rounds. It also had roasted chickpeas, but I didn't include those. I added in avocado and I was able to have it for a few days.

On Monday, I made whipped feta with roasted olives to share with a friend over wine. The olives were incredible. I will definitely make again. My whipped feta didn't work quite as well as the last time, but it's still something I enjoy.

Last night I had planned to make a ramen dish, but I didn't want to work that hard. So, I took the butternut squash I had prepped for it, roasted the rest of the Brussels sprout in olive oil, maple syrup, salt and pepper. I removed the sprouts from the pan since they were done and then added the squash, cremini mushrooms and a couple of sliced apple bourbon chicken sausages with a little more olive oil, syrup and s&p. It was really good and I have dinner for tonight!

[cwcdesign]

I got my flu shot on the 8th and am getting my booster on Saturday - my doctor recommended 2 weeks between the shots. I planned it for Saturday as we have Sunday and Monday off, just in case . . .
So far, the only one of my acquaintances who has had problems is the person who had both her flu and booster at the same time - she was down for a few days.

One of my reps was in last Wednesday - there may be a lot of my Christmas stuff I won't get to put on the floor. At this point, I am calling to see what is available and on hand. Many of the vendors are letting us know what is no longer available and that there are no new orders allowed if we want to get it in time. The order I placed with my rep is for Easter!

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