[cwcdesign]

I just got a set of cookie scoops for Christmas and made the quickest batch of cookies ever, so I know I'm going to love them.

Microplane, OXO pizza cutter I received for Christmas. I agree about the scale. Whisks, peelers, bench knifes, KAF silicone mat for counter (not oven) - in my tiny kitchen it saves lots of clean up - Chicago metallic sheet pans. Years ago, I put a grapefruit knife in one son's Christmas stocking, because he was eating tons of grapefruit. I use it for getting seeds out of squash and separating avocados from their skin - rarely for grapefruit. I have a juicer that my mom gave me - she used it for my stepfather's freshly squeezed OJ (and he died in 1999!) but it helps because my hands can't squeeze juice anymore. I also find it quicker and easier to grate cheese by hand.

After we downsized, I've learned I can live without a lot of gadgets I had.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by cwcdesign.

[cwcdesign]

BA, I enjoyed the articles - thanks for posting.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by cwcdesign.

[cwcdesign]

Mike, I'm so glad your son is safe. I knew he was with Google, but didn't realize it was YouTube

[cwcdesign]

Hi all! I feel like I fell off the turnip truck - We've had such crazy weeks at work that when I get home, I just want to veg - I haven't even been lurking much. So there has not been much cooking or baking in my house. But, on Wednesday (prepped on Tuesday) I made Chicken Juniper, often named Elegant Chicken in old community cookbooks, for Will's 25th birthday. That's the one with dried beef, chicken breasts, bacon, cream of mushroom soup and sour cream. It's probably his favorite comfort food. I got all the ingredients to make him the KAF Kitchen Sink Carrot Cake - it's a really good recipe, but they're still sitting on the counter a week later!

BevM, I'm with you about hurricane season. I'm originally from Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts where we were in prime hurricane territory. In 60 years of bad storms we never had to evacuate. Now I live on Saint Simons Island in Georgia. Because it's the furthest west point on the East Coast, hurrricanes were few and far between - they would often head up the Florida Coast and then head for the Carolinas. In the last two years we've had two mandatory evacuations and last year we couldn't return for a week. At least, we were fortunate to have minimal damage where we are, but still - yuck!.

[cwcdesign]

Many thanks to all of you. I apologize, but I didn't have time to even look here until yesterday and then I didn't have time to write. We are crazy busy at work this week so I had to work on my birthday and then go pick up Will at the Jacksonville airport at 11:30 Monday night. I did get to go out to dinner with friends and had a glass of wine very early, then tea and a Coke on my way to the airport. We went to the restaurant where Nate was working so he gave us great service! I had fried oysters! Will drove home and went in at 7 so I could have a couple of hours before going in at 9.

It really was a treat to see all the happy greetings when I finally got here. Thanks again.

[cwcdesign]

Thanks BA, how do you deal with the powdered sugar taste o4 does the cream help with that?

I still think the Irish Cream taste needs to be bumped up

• This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by cwcdesign.

[cwcdesign]

Last week when I took the Irish Chocolate Cake to work, one of my coworkers asked about it because he liked it, partly because of the alcohol. I told him there was another cake I had been wanting to try - Bailey's Dark Chocolate Guinness Bread with Bailey's and Guinness. I explained that I didn't want to try out a new recipe on everyone. He asked if I'd make it for his girlfriend whose birthday is Sunday. Since mine is Monday, I said yes. He's also our steward which has to be the worst job in the department - dirty dishes, trash, toilets, cleaning and just about any heavy lifting job that occurs. So he bought the Bailey's for the glaze - I had everything else on hand. I made it last night and will take it in for him today.

It was very easy and Will and I both tasted the batter which is nice - I will definitely make it again. But . . . isn't there always a but? The recipe said to bake it in a 9x5 pan - I should have baked it in an 8x4 or doubled it. If I had been paying attention, I would have realized that less than 2 cups of flour was not going to make a very tall loaf - it looks like I cut the bottom off the loaf. That's an easy fix. Also, the recipe had you mix in all of the Guinness first and then the flour - next time I will do flour, Guinness, flour.

My biggest problem was the glaze. I think the proportions are off and I could taste the powdered sugar even after I let it sit overnight. I also thinned it too much trying to up the Bailey's flavor and I had leftover glaze. It drizzled onto the plate.

1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons Bailey's
2 teaspoons cream (I used whole milk)

Any thoughts on how to improve it? Should I leave out the cream/milk and use Bailey's? Should I get some Irish cream flavoring to add? What about the proportions?

[cwcdesign]

I think KAF said 190 for a cake - I was taking it out way before that probably was around 167. The most recent blog was on tea breads - they recommend 200-205 for those, but I think that cake would be dry at that point.

It took 55 minutes in the star pan (recipe range was 50-60). I would take the cakes out at 50 because the cake tester would b3 clean.

[cwcdesign]

I've not liked spaghetti squash in the past, but saw a recipe (I think I wrote about it in another link) that looked really good and thought I'd try again. I roasted the squash, cut in half and seeds removed, which was a better texture. The recipe recommended squeezing the moisture out before using which I did. The problem I have with spaghetti squash is that it doesn't really absorb the sauce ingredients; it just stays spaghetti squash and I'm not a fan of its taste. Too much work. I prefer using cauliflower to save carbs.

[cwcdesign]

Mike, snap and snow peas are good options because they go a little longer into the summer than regular peas. We always had strawberries and asparagus, but of course asparagus takes a long time to establish.

Here is one of my favorite sites for daydreaming
https://www.kitchengardenseeds.com/seed-index/fruits-and-vegetables/asparagus.html

I currently don't have time or land for vegetables and I'm still not sure what does well here in our heat. Our chef is trying to establish a small garden in the planters right outside the Market, but we have to go through the powers that be at the company to move that along. My job this week is to track down the head of landscaping to see if we can accomplish that.

[cwcdesign]

Welcome Patty! Glad you've decided to join us.

Last night I made zucchini cheesy bread which is a low carb type of recipe - at least they didn't call it pizza! We like it very much. You make a "dough" with shredded zucchini, egg, cornstarch and cheese, patted it on a sheet pan, bake and then add more shredded cheese and bake again. Then serve with marinara for dipping. It's way more filling than you'd expect.

Mike, even though salt is not an issue for me, I've started reading the sodium levels at the market because, why not - it should be healthier for us. I am amazed at how much sodium is in things, so I've been looking for lower sodium at a lower price - Yesterday I ended up buying Silver Palate low sodium marinara - it was 2/$6 and had 115mg per serving. It was quite good especially with the cheesy bread. Most of the others weighed in between 380 and 480 and that included organic ones!

[cwcdesign]

On Friday I made "my" Irish Chocolate Cake to take to work on Saturday. I used the Vegalene spray in the bundt pan and the cake had a nice look after I turned it out. I used my 10 cup star pan so the cake rose a little higher than in the bigger pan. I also took its temperature so it didn't have the wet center it usually does. It was very moist and Will said it was my best yet.

[cwcdesign]

I made a walnut crusted chicken from myrecipes.com on Thursday that we really enjoyed. We both agreed that the dijon mustard in the buttermilk/mustard marinade needed to be increased as well as marinating it as long as overnight. I need to make more of the crumb mixture and probably toast the walnuts for more flavor.

For St. Patrick's Day, I made a baked casserole of deli corned beef, cabbage and potatoes. I'm glad I know as much about cooking as I do because the recipe had a list of ingredients without telling you how to prep the individual ingredients, nor did it specify in the recipe! For example, it told you to cook the onion (medium) and the garlic (one clove), but did not say to chop or mince. Can you imagine the poor person who might have tried to cook the onion and garlic whole - or not slice the potatoes for layering in the pan? Anyway, it was really good and I will add it to my recipe file with the recipe corrections.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by cwcdesign.

[cwcdesign]

chocomouse, I gather you have power. My brother on Buzzards Bay was still without power. As he was on his back porch checking on the generator, a tree fell on his car and partially, but not badly on his house. Needless to say he was rather shaken as he watched it. Of course it didn’t fall on SIL’s car which is basically dead. I have a photo but I don’t know if I can figure out how to post it here - it’s in my messages. I tried to paste it but all it did was post the label

• This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by cwcdesign.

[cwcdesign]

My sympathies to your family Joan. I wish you all peace.

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