[Italiancook]

Mike, your marbled rye looks scrumptious. So pretty, too. Thanks for the photo. Do you know how it freezes? Do rye breads lose their flavor while in the freezer?

[Italiancook]

What makes it overly expensive for me is its short shelf life after opened. Three or four days. I can't use it up in such a short time. Maybe I've had a container that said to discard after five days, but I'm uncertain about that. Having said that, I have to say:

Mascarpone makes a wonderful tomato cream sauce for rigatoni. I add some to hot red tomato sauce and stir. If the sauce isn't as light and creamy-looking as I want, I add more mascarpone. If I have frozen peas, I toss in a few peas. Pasta tastes great that way. Mostly what I use mascarpone for is for parfaits. I prep sliced strawberries with sugar the day before. I layer strawberries, room temp mascarpone, etc. until parfait glass is full. It's a luxurious eating experience, but the mascarpone needs to be room temp. If I have angel food cake or sweet cream biscuits, I'll make them a light layer -- light in quantity, not calories.

Mike, I always develop pop quiz anxiety when you post Italian-related questions. It puts my moniker to the test.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, Mike, for letting me know Reinhart's recipe is on the web. I appreciate your marbled rye instructions. Maybe there's a loaf of it in my future. I believe I'm up to it now. When I was a newlywed, I really made a mistake trying rye bread before I'd even made a loaf of white bread. I have no idea what I was thinking.

[Italiancook]

Beautiful, Mike! I don't understand -- why does it have to rest for 24 hours before slicing?

[Italiancook]

BakerAunt, I am certain the rye flour I used came from the grocery store. I'm unsure whether the recipe I used was on the bag or from my one and only cookbook at the time. I'll try chocomouse's suggestion of KAF Sandwich Rye. I don't have Reinhart's book, Mike.

CORRECTON: I may have misled people when I wrote that I used half butter and half olive oil in my yellow cake. I subbed the olive oil, using 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil for 1/2 cup butter.

[Italiancook]

I made The Neely's (Food Network) Asparagus Soup. It's really an easy soup to make and tastes scrumptious. Unfortunately, it makes only 1 quart 1 cup. I usually make a double batch so I have a quart for the freezer. I just didn't think about it when I was admiring the asparagus in the market.

[Italiancook]

I'm late to the party, and the cake's all gone, but Happy Birthday BakerAunt!

[Italiancook]

I'm still happy with my KA Artisan mixer. I think though, that the wider bowl would be best-served with the "beater paddle," whatever that's called. The one they make that looks like it has rubber along one side. This has been my opinion for as many times as I've used the white-coated paddle. When I own the fancier paddle and have an opinion on that, I'll post again.

[Italiancook]

Mike, I've enjoyed reading about your 2020 challenge to yourself. I tried rye bread when a newlywed. Don't recall where the recipe came from. Either the recipe was wrong or I was wrong, because we disliked the bread. Never again tried rye.

I find the discussions about steaming and misting interesting, too. I've never done either, but I have a couple of recipes that suggest it. I don't like hard crusts, so I don't go in search of the perfect crust. Probably would make a couple of my breads better overall, though.

I baked a yellow cake today. I used half butter and half extra virgin olive oil. I'm somewhat surprised I can't tell the difference. Can't even taste the EVOO.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

Congratulations, chocomuse! You've accomplished a great deal making bagels. Food Network hosts would call your "rustic." The taste is what counts.

[Italiancook]

I use olive oil for everything. I put Extra Virgin Olive Oil in pancakes, quick breads, and everything else non-cake that calls for butter or oil. If it calls for butter, I use some butter & sub rest with olive oil. I sautee everything in EVOO, even though it has a lower smoke point than other oils. The exception to this is biscuits, where I stick with butter. I gave up making crepes a few years ago, but I did use butter for them. For cakes and anything delicate, I use light olive oil. I don't own canola oil for reasons Len mentioned.

[Italiancook]

I buy cream of tartar from bulkfoods.com I don't recall what I pay for shipping, but I'm pleased with their product and the delivery time.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by Italiancook.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

Well, I missed your 300th question, Mike. I've seen Food Network hosts bard (can I use it that way?) meat. I've never done it. I guess that means I don't cook real lean meat.

[Italiancook]

My first knowledge of browned butter happened about ten years ago. I needed a quick dessert to make on the morning of a luncheon. I hadn't had time to make dessert the day before. I chose a Chocolate Madeleines recipe on Martha Stewart's website. It calls for lightly browned butter. They are delicious; the guests enjoyed them. I am glad you posted the link, BakerAunt. I may experiment with brown butter now that I've read it. I'm currently subbing light olive oil for some of the butter in most of my baking. But I still think I'll have opportunities to brown butter.

[Italiancook]

That's it, rottiedogs! I'm glad you found it. I sliced my loaf of this Snickerdoodle Bread for the freezer. Of course, I had to taste test one slice. I like it. Good and cinnamony. I didn't top it with the sugar/cinnamon mixture. I don't like crunchy things falling off while I eat. The bread is AOK without the topping. Currently, I'm out of cream cheese, but plan to buy some before I defrost any of the slices. I think the bread would be good with plain cream cheese on top.

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