[Italiancook]

Rascals & Cass, below is a link to the chart I use to convert butter to olive oil. I've had good success with it. Cass, I'd be interested in your opinion of the accuracy of the chart, if you have time to fiddle with it. I should say that so far, I've only substituted in the tablespoons, so my success is limited to those measurements. I haven't tried it in larger amounts.

http://www.amazingoliveoil.com/substitute-olive-oil-for-butter.html

[Italiancook]

This morning, I baked "Quick and Easy Coffee Cake or Muffins" from http://www.breadworld.com (Fleischmann's). It is an easy recipe, but I wouldn't call it quick. From start to finish, it took 2-1/2 hours, but that included greasing the baking dishes and gathering and replacing canisters. I'm not complaining about the time, because the coffee cake tastes very good. And, the recipe makes 2 coffee cakes, or one cake with 12 muffins. I opted for the 2 cakes so I could put one in the freezer. I'm starting to incorporate olive oil in my baking. For the butter, I used 2/3 olive oil and 1/3 butter. Finished product still tasted good enough to serve to house guests. I don't think I'll ever have the courage to use all olive oil in baked goods. After all, butter makes food taste delicious.

[Italiancook]

I pulled everything out of the pantry to make broccoli soup. When I took the broccoli out of the refrigerator, I discovered it was past it's usable life span. Since I was in the mood to make soup, I looked in the refrig to see what I could find. I had 8 oz. mini-portabella mushrooms. Went to the Internet. On Food Network, I found a Wolfgang Puck recipe for Mushroom Soup. It used a pound of mushrooms, but I thought I could have 2 lunch servings by cutting the recipe in half.

Because I'm trying to use less butter in cooking, I went to the olive oil substitution chart and used that instead of butter. I didn't have a shallot, so I used a yellow onion. I didn't have cream, but I had half 'n half. In spite of my substitutions, the soup was good. I think it would have tasted better with butter and been thicker with the cream, but at least I had soup.

[Italiancook]

RiversideLen, I'm pretty sure they're supposed to go cut-side up, which would make the seam on the side. You'll notice in the picture that they have a cute, layered finish. By putting the seam side down -- cut ends were the sides, I ended up with buns that were shaped like you'd buy in the store . . . with a solid top, not a cute, layered top. So I'm fairly certain they're supposed to go cut-side up on the parchment. Hope I'm not leading you astray.

Even though the appearance of mine wasn't like the KAF photo, they taste good, and the onion flavor comes through. I used more than 3 tablespoons of dried minced onion to cover the dough.

I should warn you: Some reviewers complained that the buns were too brown or burnt with the stated cooking range. So I cooked mine for 18 minutes and found the tops quite brown. I had used the egg white/water. Mine are pretty with the extra brownness, but any longer in the oven and I would have had burnt product.

For my taste, they're too sweet when used for a ham & Swiss sandwich. Next time, I'm going to reduce the sugar to 1 or 2 tablespoons. But when I tasted one plain, I didn't detect the sugar, just the delicious onion flavor.

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

[Italiancook]

RiversideLen, your piping looks good to me. I've never piped. I think it's great that you're doing that.

This morning, I baked KAF "Onion Buns." Mine do not look like the ones in the recipe photo. This was my first time making buns, and I've never made cinnamon rolls. I think my mistake was in how I placed the buns on the parchment. The recipe doesn't say this, but I think I was supposed to place the buns cut-side up on the pan. Instead, I placed them seam-side down, which meant the cut sides were facing sideways. I have buns, though. They smell like they'll taste good with ham and Swiss cheese for lunch. We rarely eat deli-filled sandwiches, but I'm going to have to try these again to see if my theory is accurate.

[Italiancook]

Rascals, below is a link to the Amish White Bread recipe I use. I reduce the sugar to 1/4 cup, but next time, I'm going to try 2 tablespoons. In my kitchen, the rising times are much shorter than suggested in the recipe. The test I use for when it's proofed enough (first rise), is when a gentle finger-tip in the dough stays put. In my oven, the dough rises considerably during baking.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/6788/amish-white-bread/?internalSource=hub%20recipe&referringContentType=search%20results&clickId=cardslot%201

[Italiancook]

I baked 2 loaves of Amish White Bread as posted in Allrecipes. While it was baking, I made egg salad to make sandwiches with the bread for lunch today. Now, I'm waiting for the bread to cool enough to slice it. 3 halves of the bread are for the freezer.

[Italiancook]

All this talk reminds me that I've been meaning to try KAF "Onion Buns" for eons. I bought dried minced onion specifically for that recipe. If it's not expired, I'll make these over the weekend, if it's not raining. I grew up hearing that you never bake bread when it's raining. I don't know if humidity from rain really changes the amount of flour you have to use, because I've never tried it. The "Onion Buns" use both onion powder and have dried minced onions on top.

[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, 7 months ago by Italiancook.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 7 months 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.

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