[Italiancook]

Thanks for your generosity, Mike. I'll give the semolina pasta recipe to my friend tomorrow, when the holiday is over. I'll be sure and tell her where it came from.

[Italiancook]

Joan, I'm glad your sister is doing better. I know what you mean about the dust. I skim the Food Network website every day. Not to glean recipes, but to see what products for sale they're featuring. I've found a few products that were just what I needed. One of them is a 3-step ladder that has wide steps. I wish the handle at the top was taller, but the ladder is what I had been looking for. I used it last night to clean the top of the refrigerator. I don't know when it was last cleaned, but not during year 1 of the pandemic. Consequently, there was a ton of dust on the top. I can't believe I was cooking and baking with such a dusty mess. Windex and paper towels caught all the dust bunnies, and now it's health department clean.

I made blueberry pancakes yesterday. I threw caution to the wind and used baking powder instead of my medically necessary substitution of baking soda & cream of tartar. I wanted to have pancakes with rise instead of flat pancakes. They were pleasantly high and looked beautiful. Tasted good, too. But I can't make a habit of using baking powder.

Mike, do you have a recipe for semolina pasta using volume that you'd be willing to share. I bought a friend the KitchenAid pasta extruder that makes pasta with holes in the middle. After I bought it, I read the reviews. Some people had issues with the recipe that came with the extruder. So I bought her some semolina and suggested she sub some of the flour with semolina. She didn't say this, but I think I confused the issue. I tried the website KitchenAid recommended, but the recipe for semolina pasta there is by weight. So if you have one by volume you can share, I'd like to give it to her. If not, that's fine. I know you bake by weight.

[Italiancook]

BakerAunt, I've seen the citrus pan online -- maybe KABC?. It's one I've considered buying. My bunny pan has arrived. We quarantine packages for a week or two before opening. So I can't comment on what it looks like. After the busy-ness of the next three weeks is over, I'm going to use my grandmother's chocolate cake recipe to make bunnies.

Today or tomorrow morning, I'm going to bake blueberry muffins.

[Italiancook]

I made a buttermilk yellow cake before breakfast. Maybe the "before breakfast" was my problem. The recipe says to bake at 375*. I preheated the oven to 350*. I caught the error with 10 minutes baking time left. I cranked oven to 375* and added 2 minutes to the cooking time. I was concerned that the 4 eggs be fully cooked. The end result was that the top and sides are too brown. Surprisingly, the bottom looks fine.

After 5 minutes out of the oven, I used a paper towel to hold the first layer's pan. Successfully, I caught the cake coming out of the pan with my palm. Unsuccessfully, I moved my fingers and pulled apart some of the cake top. Determined not to do that on the second layer, I didn't move my fingers. When I tried to flip over the cake onto the rack, the cake hit the rack and slid 3/4 of the way off the rack, headed for the floor. I threw the pan onto the counter and in the nick of time, caught the cake layer.

I don't anticipate any problems when I make blueberry muffins and pancakes later today. Those will be after breakfast.

[Italiancook]

BakerAunt, should I store the Grease in the refrigerator or at room temperature?

Thanks for telling me not to soak the pan. That would have been my first inclination. You bought your bunny pan at a good price. I think I paid $26.00 + change, but I'm not positive. I rationalized it because I saved $12.00 plus change. My TJ Maxx never had the great things you've found there. Must be a locale situation. Not that I would have purchased a specialty pan; I just haven't seen them there at all. Thanks for letting me know that Williams-Sonoma has good sales after the holidays. I've never thought of checking them out after the holidays. I'm glad you posted the Grease recipe. It saved me the effort of searching for it. Others may also benefit from you posting it. My child had Type 1 Diabetes, so I didn't bake when he was growing up, because he couldn't eat sweets. I didn't start baking regularly until 2011, so I appreciate all the tips you all give on this site.

• This reply was modified 4 years ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, all, for your suggestions to my stand mixer dilemma. BakerAunt reminded me that I can use my food processor for pizza dough. I've used it for Vienna Bread, so I know I can do one loaf of bread in it. I was so involved with "woe unto me" that I forgot I had an option. cwcdesign, I've never before baked a no-knead pizza or bread, and you have a good idea. Thanks to both of you! Mike, I have a friend nearby who has access to a website for people giving away things for free. I probably could pick up a bread machine through the friend's contacts. Alas! I have no where to store it, so I can't look into that. But thanks for the suggestion!

BakerAunt, I took the plunge: I bought the bunny pan. It'll be my first and probably last cakelet pan, but it's too cute to pass up. KABC has it on Clearance. I don't know if that means clearance until next Easter or clearance forever, but I thought I better grab it while I can. Right now, I have no where to store it. But I have a new household ladder that I can use to clean out the shelves in the coat closet. That should net me a bunny pan space. I don't even own a bundt pan because of storage.

One or two of the reviews complained about the paws not coming out of the pan. How do you grease your bunny pan? You didn't mention a problem with the paws or ears coming out of the pan, so whatever you've used is what I want to do. Another complaint was cleaning the paws and ears, because residue is difficult to reach. So I bought the bundt pan cleaning tool they sell.

• This reply was modified 4 years ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

I won't be baking bread or making pizza dough for 4-6 weeks. As I mentioned a few days ago, my stand mixer developed a problem with bread and pizza dough. The lift head jumps up and down when mixing. I called the manufacturer. Since it's under warranty, they're sending me a new one. But, it will take 4-6 weeks to arrive. Out of desperation, I asked if I could downgrade to the model below mine. That's also on backorder. The rep didn't blame the delay on the pandemic, but given all I've read about manufacturing problems during the pandemic, I'm thinking it's pandemic-related. I just hope it's here before 6 weeks.

[Italiancook]

Your Boston Brown Bread looks wonderful & tasty, Mike.

[Italiancook]

Janiebakes, Welcome! I imagine we'll all be enriched by your baking/cooking comments here. Thanks for joining us.

[Italiancook]

Interesting about the WWII recipes. Long before the pandemic, I purchased a series of 4 Great Depression recipe/Depression history books. Reading the stories was distressing, because I had relatives who were homeless during the Great Depression. So I gave away the books after reading the first one. I wonder if there will ever be a similar series for the pandemic.

[Italiancook]

Delicious-looking bread, Mike!

[Italiancook]

I made a spinach & garlic, bacon, and artichoke pizza today. The spinach wasn't fully thawed, so I couldn't release all its water when I squeezed it by hand. I think that contributed to the center pieces of the crust being somewhat soggy. But it also could have been that the center of the pie crust was thinner than the outsides. It's been a long time since I made a pizza, so I was a bit rusty with shaping. The recipe I used didn't have any semolina, so that would have also contributed to some sog. In spite of that, the pizza was delicious! I used only mozzarella -- the only cheese I had on hand.

• This reply was modified 4 years ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

BakerAunt, re: your loss of a good honey supplier: I have never found a store-bought honey that I liked or would be willing to use in bread. But I found honey at lehmans.com that I like, that also adds good flavor to bread. It's called Tonn's Pure Premium Ohio Honey. Link below. It's pricey at $21.99, but it's 32 ounces. In addition to doing a good job in and on bread, it enhances ribs. Lehmans.com also has other honey, but I haven't tried them. Lehmans.com also carries Tonn's Pure Buckwheat.

https://www.lehmans.com/product/tonns-pure-premium-ohio-honey/#

[Italiancook]

Challah French Toast is my favorite. What a yummy meal you're having!

Re: KABC Bakers' Special Dry Milk -- is that really a milk product or something else?

[Italiancook]

Mike, you Challah are amazing! Congratulations!

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