[Italiancook]

I baked "Chef Zeb's Hot Milk Cake" from KAF as a cake. I had whole milk leftover from using this recipe for cupcakes. I frosted it with a lemon glaze.

[Italiancook]

I had country-style ribs in the freezer, cooked. I made BBQ sauce to go with them for lunch. Served them with small, boiled Yukon gold potatoes. I didn't have time to make a veggie salad, but we were full with just the 2 items.

[Italiancook]

Since you brought a lime tree to the cold north, I have to ask, BakerAunt. Is it an indoor tree? I can't imagine it'd survive snow and frost outside. When I was a kid, we lost many peach seasons to frost. If it's indoors, even with heat on, can it survive the colder nights? That question is based on the premise that you turn your furnace thermostat lower at night. Just curious.

Congratulations on growing one lime! That's an accomplishment.

• This reply was modified 7 years ago by Italiancook.
• This reply was modified 7 years ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, BakerAunt. I've never ordered from Penzey's, but this offer will at least send me to their website.

[Italiancook]

I had posted about making "Chef Zeb's Hot Milk Cake" as cupcakes with ganache frosting. I was disappointed in the height of the cupcakes. I had given a dozen of them away. This morning, I picked up the plate on which I had placed them for giving. The recipient effused about how delicious they are. She said the ganache icing was good and chocolatey. While I had an issue with the recipe, the height didn't matter to the recipients. They are delighted to have received them.

[Italiancook]

Rascals, I echo all the other sentiments. Sorry to hear you're suffering. Hope you can continue to come to this site for a long, long time.

[Italiancook]

As far as I know, we have no miceable holes, but the steel wool is an excellent idea, BakerAunt. Thanks for passing it along.

I'm laughing at myself: As I thought about what I posted, I remembered I had mice-proofed the house a few years ago. Or so I tell myself. My husband and I bought devices that plug into electrical outlets. The plug-ins supposedly emit a sound that only mice can hear, and the sounds sends them running back outside. Maybe they actually work and that's why I've never seen a mouse.

But I did see a frog attached to the bedroom wall once. I awoke one morning to find the critter on the wall behind the bed. I wasn't alarmed, having grown-up in the country, but I also had no intention of grabbing it.

I roused my husband from bed and told him he needed to catch the frog behind his head. He didn't believe me until he looked. The frog was probably the most scared of the three of us, but he/she was soon happily on the ground outside. We have no idea how the frog made it in the house and up the stairs without being noticed. I had someone check our house for openings and none were found. He surmised that it came in when the door was opening to bring groceries into the house.

[Italiancook]

Okay, I know I probably have mice given the close location to woods, but I quit chasing after them a decade ago. At that time, I realized the poison I put in the basement probably meant they'd die in the walls. I quit setting traps when a contractor said, "For every one you catch, there are ten that get away." I've never seen a mouse in the house, so I don't fret about uncleanliness in the kitchen from them. I have a cat who'd probably play footsie with a mouse rather than attack it. But all these posts on mice make me think I'm a negligent homeowner. I guess I'll send my husband on a trap-buying spree now that I know so much more about bait.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, Mike, for reporting what you found.

[Italiancook]

I also send my thanks. I tried to print the cookbook without success. Maybe it'll work tomorrow. I'm pleased that many of the recipes have short ingredient lists. I have to buy real brown sugar -- normally use brown sugar Splenda in all baking -- but I'm brining a turkey breast for Thanksgiving and need real brown sugar for the brine. I will make the Brown Sugar Cookies with the leftover brown sugar. Thanks for thinking of us, BakerAunt, with this link.

[Italiancook]

Aaron, offhand, do you know the brand of vanilla Costco carries. I just searched their website. I looked for "vanilla," "pure vanilla," "vanilla extract," "liquid vanilla," and "McCormick vanilla." I didn't find it under any of those terms.

[Italiancook]

Thanks for this information, Bev. I'm going to check it out.

[Italiancook]

Rascals, the cupcakes taste delicious. Nice texture. I can recommend them for the taste. My only concern was with the height of some of the cupcakes. Next time, I'll just make fewer than 24 to achieve the rise I prefer.

KAF has an excellent banana cupcake recipe online. It's "Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting." The taste and the height are just what I want.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, KIDPIZZA, for your stroganoff assistance. I've noted your suggestions so when I'm next in the mood for beef stroganoff, I can try your way. That may not be a year, though. Stroganoff has never been a craving of mine.

[Italiancook]

This morning, I baked cupcakes from KAF's "Chef Zeb's Hot Milk Cake." Iced them with ganache. It's reported that this recipe makes 24 cupcakes. It did, but I wasn't pleased with all of them. Most of them did not rise to the top of the cupcake liner. If I use this recipe again as cupcakes, I'll make only 20 or 18. I like cupcakes to at least reach the top of the liner.

One dozen of these was given away. After they were all frosted, I felt so tired that I decided I was going to quit baking to give-away. It's not just the work of baking, but also the effort of delivering. Later in the day when I handed the plateful of goodness to the recipient and watched the joy it gave to the family, I decided it was worth the effort to bake for others. Guess it's a good thing I learned that, since Christmas giving is just around the corner!

• This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by Italiancook.

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