[Italiancook]

I don't know if they still carry it, but I have seen maple sugar in a Vermont Country Store catalog, in case anyone is looking for a source. My dear grandmother refused to buy me store-bought maple syrup. She made her own. I have no idea what she put in it, but I couldn't abide the stuff. She made the world's best pancakes and ruined them with the homemade syrup. It was the only thing she ever made that I didn't like. I hated to disappoint her, because she stood over the stove stirring the concoction.

[Italiancook]

Mike, your advanced search feature works great. I easily found my lost cake recipe. Thanks. I'm so glad I posted it.

[Italiancook]

Sweet City's website didn't work good for me, but I discovered they carry SAF red yeast. Didn't price compare with KABC, and really, the price depends on shipping costs, too.

I wanted to bake a yellow cake (buttermilk), but I've lost the recipe! I posted it on this site, so I hope I can find it. Since I couldn't bake that, I settled on making my beloved stepmother's Apple Cake. I've dreamed about her twice in two weeks, so it seemed fitting. I only had Fuji apples. I don't know if they're a cooking apple, but they didn't turn to applesauce. The recipe called for 1 cup butter. I used 1/2 cup butter & 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. light olive oil. The finished cake seemed tough. I assume the oil substitution was to blame, but it was tasty. Also has raisins and walnuts. Next time I want an apple cake, I'll use the KABC recipe to see how half oil, half butter works with that.

I admire all the baking you all are doing this month. And kimbob, all that stollen! You've made many people happy.

[Italiancook]

I have a pot roast on the stove. It's for tomorrow's dinner with mashed potatoes, gravy, and vegetable medley.

[Italiancook]

My sister and I had a lot of fun with the Sears catalog one year. We cut out the people, mounted them on cardboard and had paper dolls. We dressed them with clothes we cut from the catalog.

[Italiancook]

My husband cooked a ham steak with mashed potatoes for lunch. Delicious even though he didn't include a green vegetable.

[Italiancook]

Here's a silicone brush that KABC is currently selling: https://shop.kingarthurbaking.com/items/silicone-pastry-brush

[Italiancook]

Congratulations on your perfect swirl, Joan. I'd sure like to have 2 slices for my nighttime snack.

[Italiancook]

That's good info, Mike, that LeCreuset sells them. I hadn't thought of using a paper towel to brush away the flour, but that would have worked. Thanks for the tip.

[Italiancook]

I ran into their "sold out for the season" sign yesterday. My husband enjoys store-bought Panettone at this time of year. Because of the pandemic, he's not going to the store that sells it. I wanted to buy him the Panettone mix from KABC, which they have in stock. I needed to buy the paper pan to bake it in, but those are "sold out for the season." Apparently, I didn't come up with idea soon enough.

[Italiancook]

Speaking of ovens, I keep reading that there's a shortage of appliances because of Covid. Because of manufacturing close-downs and lockdowns and difficulty securing foreign-made parts. Even new home builders are having trouble obtaining appliances for their homes.

[Italiancook]

I agree, Mike, that having only one pastry brush is not preferable. I just don't know where to buy good ones. I spent a small fortune on a 3" brush from KABC, and that's my only one. It works great brushing butter on the large circles for the butterhorn rolls. But for smaller projects, it's too wide. Once, I went to a local cooking supply store looking for pastry brushes. They had some kind of rubbery brushes with spaces between the "bristles," and rounds at the tips of the "bristles." The clerk waxed eloquently about how wonderful they are. I bought only one, and it was annoying to use, so I threw it out. It didn't hold liquid the way the clerk said it would. Maybe my New Year's resolution will be to find more pastry brushes. It's funny I have only one, because I'm well-stocked with other tools.

[Italiancook]

My beloved stepmother insisted that bread be put into a cold oven for baking. I've done that all my adult life. Then I came across recipes to preheat the oven. The rolls I made today called for a preheated oven. Is it more correct to start with a cold oven. Or, doesn't it matter if you adjust time?

BakerAunt, when I baked the blackberry muffins this morning, I put Swedish Pearl Sugar on top -- the correct way. They came out of the oven looking much prettier. Thanks, again.

[Italiancook]

When I made butterhorn rolls today, I cut the dough into 4 pieces to roll out. By the time I reached the fourth section, I was careless. I put too much flour onto the pastry board. Some of my rolled butterhorns had flour on parts of them. I actually own only one pastry brush and it was in melted butter. I brushed away some of the flour with my fingers but there was still a noticeable amount left. When they baked, the flour was visible.

I didn't intend it as an experiment. But I welcomed the opportunity to bite into a floury section of the roll. The flour didn't feel gritty, and it didn't detract from the taste of the roll. Would I intentionally leave flour on a roll or bread? No. I think it makes the product look unfinished.

[Italiancook]

Interesting you mentioned the oven spring in a hotter oven, BakerAunt. My smaller butterhorns didn't expand very much during the second rise as compared to the properly cut ones. But they rose beautifully in the 425 degree oven. No one would ever guess that they had been cut too small -- I even had a hard time guessing which ones they were.

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