[Italiancook]

I'll try the vinegar cleaning before I resort to the steam-clean feature.

[Italiancook]

In my case, the self-cleaning feature has been a boon for the appliance store. In my previous oven, I calendared to run the self-clean cycle every 4 months. Around Year 5, the oven temps went haywire. I tried adjusting them based on instructions in the owners' manual to no avail.

The range I have now, a GE Profile, doesn't have a self-clean feature. It has a steam-clean cycle. According to the instruction booklet, the steam runs for 30 minutes, then the owner has to clean the oven. Does anyone know whether the steam-clean feature will cause the oven to bite the dust?

[Italiancook]

Mike, as I recall, America's Test Kitchen or Cook's Country made those noodles. You can probably find their recipe on You Tube . . . or their website, of course.

[Italiancook]

So glad, chocomouse, you were able to save the day and salvage the cake!

Len, your buns look great!

I made a batch of the Allrecipes.com "Best, Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies." It calls for a 1/4 cup scoop. I portioned out the cookies onto a wax paper-lined baking sheet and froze them for 90 minutes. Then I placed the dough balls in freezer bags and froze. Either next week, or mid-January, I'll bake them and give them to a service company with Double Chocolate Brownies, a favorite of the technician who takes care of my house. I baked 3 to taste-test. Because I'm giving the cookies away, I used real brown sugar instead of Splenda brown sugar blend. I think they're better with the Splenda blend. But no one will complain when they eat them -- yummy.

[Italiancook]

Mike's comment about it being too early for dinner plans reminded me of my grandmother. No matter the day, she started planning lunch and dinner as soon as the breakfast dishes were washed. Maybe she did this, because she worked a night shift at the hospital.

[Italiancook]

I was on the Lehman's website this evening, looking at their New items. They now have lids for regular and wide-mouth jars. lehmans.com Lids listed as USA-made. I don't can, so I can't compare the price. https://www.lehmans.com/category/new#/perpage:500

[Italiancook]

I don't think I'd feel comfortable with a neighbor feeding fox. There's a fox den behind a neighbor's backyard. It's fun to sit out in the early morning and see a fox scramble across the backyard into the next yard. I worry about the neighbor's small dog, but I don't really know if a fox would bother with it.

[Italiancook]

Wow, Joan, what a fantastic price. After months and months of not finding Gold Medal Unbleached AP flour during this pandemic, it has returned. My husband found 4 unbleached 5 lb. bags at each of two stores. I only have room for 2, so he didn't buy more. I'm happy, because now I can use another of Cass' suggestions for the Portuguese bread. He said to use half KAF AP and half Gold Medal AP.

[Italiancook]

My pet peeve is that so few people are wearing masks. I just don't understand this widespread disregard for the health of other people. After I received the vaccine in October, I thought my life would return to normal. My first shopping trip out proved me wrong -- too few people wearing masks.

[Italiancook]

I admire your wife's energy and dedication to the birds. Now, I have another reason not to have feeders -- opossums. We also have them.

[Italiancook]

This evening, I mixed the dry ingredients for Oatmeal Coffee Cake and put the lid on the bowl. In the morning, I'll melt the butter (I'm using half butter and half light olive oil). While the butter is cooling, I'll read the news then make the coffee cake for breakfast. It calls for orange zest and all I have are tangerines. Right or wrong, I think of tangerine zest as more bitter than orange. So I'm going to use 1/8 teaspoon orange oil.

I still haven't made Portuguese Bread, Cass. This week, I was waiting for a doctor to call to discuss whether I should have the Covid booster. Because I didn't know when he'd call, I didn't want my hands in dough or to be involved in any other baking project. I didn't want to be distracted from the important phone call. He called late afternoon today. But tomorrow is promised to a workman and Friday to the grocery. So I'm unsure when I'll schedule the fun task of baking a new bread.

[Italiancook]

I enjoyed the article, Mike. I wanted bird feeders this spring. I researched and talked with a feed store employee. I was all set to buy when someone told me they have to take in the feeders at night because of the deer. We have deer, so I squelched the plan. I'm unwilling to carry feeders in an out. I switched to hummingbird feeders. I planned to have a neighbor make a special contraption to hold the feeders off the deck railing over the ground. Then I read -- I believe Mike said this -- that raccoons like the sweet hummingbird food. We have raccoons and I didn't want to encourage them to climb on the deck and lean over to swipe the feeder. So I've given up on enjoying birds.

[Italiancook]

Yes, BakerAunt, I felt like I was on Chopped when I pulled the boneless, skinless chicken thighs out of the bag. It felt like a challenge, since I had no fresh veggies. Food Network's website came to the rescue and I didn't have to contend with a panel of judges.

[Italiancook]

When my husband went to the store, I asked him to buy chicken. The only instruction I gave him was to make sure it hadn't been injected with a solution. He came home with 6 skinless, boneless, chicken thighs. I didn't have fresh vegetables to make a stir fry, so I went to foodnetwork.com. I chose a Food Network Kitchen recipe called, "Slow-Cooker Chicken Thighs."

The recipe clearly says to coat the insert with cooking spray. I forgot to do that. I warned my husband he might have a mess to clean, since the recipe calls for honey, ketchup, and soy sauce. But all was AOK, and the cooking spray wasn't needed. Clean-up was easy. Recipe calls for a 1" piece of ginger that I don't have. Internet says to sub 1-1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, but I'm not a big fan of it. I subbed 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger and am happy how it turned out. I served this on white rice -- Minute Rice, with the sauce spooned on top the rice. I will make this again. I've always been pleased with the Food Network Kitchen recipes I've tried.

The recipe says the cook can make a cornstarch slurry and cook in slow cooker, to thicken the sauce. I didn't do that and don't think it's necessary.

[Italiancook]

Yesterday, I made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. I subbed 1 cup buttermilk + 1 tablespoon for the 1 cup milk. The batter was thick enough that my 1/4 cup pancakes didn't spread and were too small. In the future, I'll use 1-1/4 cup buttermilk and maybe an extra tablespoon.

This morning (Sunday), I made pineapple muffins. I used my go-to muffin recipe and added an 8-ounce can crushed pineapple. They were delicate and delicious but needed more pineapple taste. Next time, I'll use the juice from the can as part of the buttermilk.

The muffins didn't brown even though I cooked them 3-1/2 minute longer than normal. I had used regular bake, but in this new oven, the fan doesn't run on regular bake. In the old one, the fan ran on regular bake and aided browning. I guess I'll have to figure out how to use convection so the fan runs.

[Author]

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