Italiancook
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BakerAunt, I make many frittatas. I never use a recipe, so I don't know if I have anything to offer you, but I'll try.
A. For 2 people, I use a 10" skillet. For 3 or 4 people, I use a 12" skillet.
B. I add the ingredients to the skillet in the order it takes them to brown or become translucent or soft.
C. If I'm using a watery vegetable, I let as much of the water evaporate before I add the eggs. In my estimation, the eggs will pull the frittata together while the water will loosen it.
D. After all the veggies are the color or consistency I want, I add the eggs. I whisk them well before I add them to the pan. In theory, I'd like the eggs at room temp just enough for condensation to be on the shell. In reality, I'm usually so busy chopping veg that I don't think of the eggs until I need them.
E. Usually, but not always, I turn the stove burner down a notch before adding the eggs. My theory is that this allows me to better use a spatula to move around the eggs from the edges so liquid egg can more into the sides of the skillet. Then I stand and wait.
F. When I think the eggs are cooked everywhere but on the top, I transfer the skillet to the oven. Make sure you're using a skillet whose handle can go in the oven!
G. I bake it at 350*, with the oven door closed, until I think the top and middle are cooked. I can't tell you how long; it really depends of how many eggs you have & how much cooking there was on stovetop. Generally, I look for some browning on the top & when pressed with a finger, it seems set. But I often don't use the finger test, because the frittata is extremely hot & I don't want to get burned.
H. If I'm in a hurry, I'll put the frittata under the broiler to finish cooking. Usually, I put the rack in the upper middle. I'd never put it right under the broiler, but I've also been known to put it wherever the racks are at the time -- I don't like moving racks around. I broil at the highest broil setting, with the door ajar. Again, with broiling, I also look for some browning & for it to look completely set.
I. When the frittata is cooked completely, I let it sit for a few minutes on a cool stovetop burner or a rack, maybe 5 or more. Then I cut it into serving pieces. I've never made one with cheese in it, but if I did, I'd let it sit for closer to 10 minutes.I don't know, BakerAunt, if any of this helps. I'm just not sure what's causing your frittata problems. This has never happened to me. If you're using a recipe, it may be a problem with the recipe.
Len, I still appreciate your instructions for freezing pizza dough, but I haven't done it yet. My husband's back went out, which led to a flurry of activity. There's now a new orthopedic mattress in the house, and we're in search of a recliner more friendly to his back. I had also wanted to make and freeze 5 pounds of mashed potatoes. The mini-bread pans I planned to use are clean and wrapped, but the 5 pounds of gold potatoes for the project is being used for meal-at-a-time mashed potatoes.
In the meantime, I also bought KABC's pizza book. I don't plan on using it right away, because I have KAB pizza recipes we've tried and liked. I'm going to use those recipes for the dough freezing project.
This link looks so long I question whether it will work. I mention it only because it's a really good, different cookie. I use KA Lemon Juice Powder instead of extract or fresh lemon. I scoop the dough and freeze the balls and package in serving sizes. Guests are pleasantly surprised to receive fresh-baked cookies for dessert. One relative is especially fond of these with blueberries.
Thanks, Len, for your detailed pizza dough/freezer instructions. I've put them in a Word document, and that will be my guide on my dough-making days next week. I'm thinking I have enough frozen mozzarella to spend two days making pizza dough for the freezer. I've always admired how round you make your pizzas. My dad could do that, but I didn't inherit his ability. My pizzas are always rectangular. With your instructions, I think I can achieve round pizzas. Thanks!
Mike, your tomatoes look delicious!
Len, your pizzas always look picture-perfect and oh so delicious! I enjoy watching your innovations, especially your eggplant pizza. I have questions about when you freeze pizza dough for future use:
At what stage do you freeze it? After the first rise? After the second rise? Do you thaw it overnight in the refrigerator? Do you bring it to room temp before you use it?
I have a large supply of Sam's mozzarella portioned out in the freezer. I need to use it up. I'd like to spend a few hours just making pizza dough for the freezer. Then, I can use the mozzarella with different types of dough over a reasonable time without having to make fresh dough every time.
Thanks for your help.
I appreciate you sharing your Ankarsrum Mixer adventures with us, BakerAunt. I seriously considered one a few years ago but didn't buy. I really want a product with a paper instruction booklet. I didn't want to have to watch a bunch of You-Tube videos in order to learn how to use it. I also decided against it, because my perception at the time was that it'd work best for 2 or more bread loaves. Usually, I make only one. In addition, I wasn't convinced it'd work on one batch of cookies or one cake better than my Kitchen-Aid. So I'm reading everything you type on this topic with interest. Thanks for taking the time to share.
BakerAunt, I admire that when you wanted cookies for tea, you baked a fresh batch. I'd no longer do that, but I still like to have cookies at-the-ready. So I prepare the dough in advance and freeze it in cookie shape. If the cookie has a lot of fat, think chocolate chip cookies, I scoop them out with a round scooper. I don't take the time to roll them into a complete ball. I don't object to having a flat side.
I place these dough balls on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet. I flash freeze them on the pan for 1 hour. Then I place a tea-time serving plus one or two for my husband in Kroger sandwich bags. (Kroger brand cheaper than national brand.) I put the sandwich bags inside a Ziplock gallon freezer bag & freeze. I write the baking time and temp on the Ziplock bag. My experience is that frozen cookies will bake completely from frozen at the upper baking limit on the recipe. But you'd need to experiment with your oven, since ovens vary.
For less fat cookies, such as anything with oatmeal, I scoop them out onto the waxed paper. Then I use the bottom of the small, round cylinder of my Cuisinart food processor to gently, slightly press each cookie ball to form a cookie shape. Because, less fat means the frozen cookie will bake up round, not flat if they're not flattened a little. I don't completely flatten the cookie. Maybe only half-way or less. That way, the cookie will rise a little and still be a flat cookie shap when baked from frozen.
I bought two 1/8 sheet pans from Williams-Sonoma (Gold Touch, but I think they're now branded as W-S.) They're non-stick. When I need a cookie or two, I pull out a sandwich bag from the Ziploc freezer bag & place them on the 1/8 sheet pan. I take them out and place on pan at the same time I start preheating the oven. I don't recall having ever greased a pan for this, but maybe I have. I think that if the recipe had called for a greased pan, I'd grease the tea-time cookie sheet. The 1/8 sheet pan holds 4 cookies -- 5 if I don't mind they run together. If a recipe wanted a grease pan, I would have written that on the Ziploc bag.
I no longer make a normal batch of cookies just to have in the house. Too much temptation & too much working making and baking them all in one day. I make a batch, follow the protocol I've stated here & freeze all except what we'll eat in a day or two. Been doing this for ages, and my "future self," as you once said, thanks me everytime.
In addition to baking for the neighbors, I think Annie deserves a special meal. I vote for chicken and wafffles.
I hope Scott fully recovers quickly.
BakerAunt, so you could enjoy your vacation, I searched for a collapsible fine mesh collander for you. I found the following one at Sur la Table:
https://www.surlatable.com/product/sur-la-table-collapsible-colander-steamer/9021668The reviews don't mention size of holes in relation to farro, but they don't look fine mesh to me. Below is what I do whenever I need to strain chicken broth:
I line the collander with cheese cloth to make sure nothing unwanted seeps through the holes. I don't own a fine mesh collander. The cheesecloth catches all the bones, veggies & debris such as peppercorns. I buy cheesecloth at a local grocery store, but I imagine it's available online. One package of it isn't very much cloth, so I always have 3 or 4 packages in the kitchen. If you took it on a trip, you'd also need to pack clean scissors to cut it. I use my kitchen sheers.
The following online stores did NOT have a collapsible collander: Lehman's, Vermont Country Store, Williams-Sonoma -- at least it didn't pop-up for me.
September 21, 2025 at 7:45 pm in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of September 21, 2025? #47371You all probably know about this, but it was news to me when I saw it on the Jazzy Vegetarian this week. The host made a 1-ingredient frosting. When she pulled the cake out of the oven, she put chocolate chips on top. She used an offset spatula to spread them all over the top as they melted.
Tonight, I made my easy brownie recipe. They're cakey brownies. Once out of the oven, I spread 1/3 cup Ghiradelli chocolate chips on top of the 8"x8" brownies.. It didn't take long for them to melt as I spread them around. What a great timesaver! The bonus was that the chocolate seeped into the natural pores of the brownies. When cooled, they tasted like fudgey brownies, not cakey brownies.
Thanks, Joan and BakerAunt for weighing in on the banana shortage at my store. Mike, I appreciate the good information you posted on bananas.
BakerAunt, I believe Kroger is one of the groceries you shop. If so, does your Kroger have a banana shortage? My online Kroger has a limit of 2 bunches of bananas. The site says there's a shortage. Last year, I read two or three articles about an upcoming banana shortage because of disease. The articles didn't lead me to believe it'd happen this soon. Do you or any other posters know anything about this?
Joan, with all your friends giving you bananas for bread, I'm thinking there's no banana shortage in your area. Is that right or wrong?
Thanks, Mike. No matter how many times I say I'm going to get there, I'm just not in the modern age when I need or want something new. I never think about searching the internet for it. I just call around to local stores, and if none of them have it, I scratch it off my list of needs/wants. So thanks for your research, Mike, and for telling me the words you used to search.
Sorry I took so long to respond to your gracious photo of how your bird feeders are attached, Mike. I've been investigating where I might buy that set-up & wanted to respond after I found it. No such luck. Instead, I'm going to show your photo to my yard man. I believe he has the skills and tools to fabricate one for me. Thanks for letting me see yours.
Lovely deck, Mike. Are your bird feeders attached to the deck rail? If so, how? Or, are they on poles in the ground?
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