[Italiancook]

Mike, I hadn't thought of a marble board. I was thinking only granite. I appreciate you mentioning it and checking to see who might have one online. I found that one of the sites had one without any description. A different site's reviews were fraught with accounts of products arriving broken. The company graciously replaced the broken ones. I don't recall why I nixed the third site. You put me on the right track, so I checked Amazon.

I found one sold by Sur La Table. So I went to Sur's website, where they're offering free shipping for it (yesterday). I decided I preferred to buy it from the store. A call there said they had one. It's a long trek from my home, but hubby and I went there. I took him, because it was reviewed as having a shipping weight of 25 pounds.

Now, the marble slab sits atop my movable island waiting for its first project. The problem is that the legs it's on slide on the countertop. So I have to go to Walmart and buy a non-slip product to put under the legs for using it. From the reviews, I knew this was a problem before I bought it. Nevertheless, I'm pleased with it and planning its maiden voyage. Thanks, Mike!

• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by Italiancook.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

I made cabbage soup from "Cook-Ahead Cookery." It's based on sweet/sour. I reduced the brown sugar to 1/4 cup. It calls for a chunked apple. I used 3/4 of an apple. It was still too sweet for me, although I froze the leftover & will eat it. Next time, I'm deleting the brown sugar and will use only 1/2 of an apple. I removed the apples before serving and freezing. I'm thinking this soup needs something besides vinegar and apple and tomato for flavoring. If you make cabbage soup, what do you put in for flavoring? I'm thinking maybe caraway seeds, but really have no clue.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

Thanks for clarifying your comment, BakerAunt. I know there used to be a working orchard in Indiana. I'm not so sure they'd have a website, so if you can't find one, you may want to start asking produce managers and the farmers at the market.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, Mike! I'll check those websites today or tomorrow.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, Mike, for the suggestion. I hadn't thought of that. After Labor Day, I'll call a couple of independent countertop companies & see whom they suggest.

[Italiancook]

Welcome back to posting, Joan. I offer my condolences on the death of your cousin's husband.

[Italiancook]

Tomorrow or Monday, I'm going to make KAF's Apple Cake. Went to the market today to look for baking apples. They had Granny Smith, which I didn't buy thinking they'd be too sour for cake. Pink Lady, Gala & Fuji were my other choices. No Winesap, which I wanted, but I haven't seen a Winesap in decades. I came home with some Gala's & Fuji's. Wasn't sure which to gamble on. Now that I see your comment about Gala apples for pies, BakerAunt, I will use Fuji's and hope for the best. Would y'all have chosen the Granny Smith's? If you think I should use Granny Smith's, I'll send my husband on a mission for them. Having grown up on an orchard, I know it's important to use the right apple for baking. It's just that none of the varieties I grew up with are sold around here.

My mother always used Winesaps for pies. I used to use McIntosh's to make applesauce, but haven't seen a McIntosh in stores this century, so I quit making applesauce.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

While I'm on this website, I'll mention that I'm making olive oil & garlic sauce for spaghetti for dinner tonight. I bought a loaf of ciabatta bread to go with it. Romaine salad will be the green part of the meal.

[Italiancook]

BakerAunt, thanks for posting Cass's helpful information. Now I know what to do the next time I have dough that retracts when rolled. Thanks! Cass's info about testing for proofing made me curious: What do you do if you overproof dough? Do you have to punch it down, form it into a ball & restart the proofing process?

[Italiancook]

The blueberry muffin recipe I use comes from the Better Homes & Garden New Cookbook. My son always liked them, but we all preferred a recipe from a cookbook that was lost in a move. Don't recall the title. It used canned blueberries. We preferred the rich blueness in the muffins as compared to the cleaner blueberry presence of fresh blueberries.

I appreciate the streusel topping recipe, BakerAunt. As a rule, I don't use streusel when it's called for. The recipes usually use more flour whose tasted I don't enjoy. Your recipe has way less flour, and I think I'll enjoy it. I wrote it down as my go-to streusel topping. Thank you! Maybe blueberry muffins with this streusel topping are in the offing. I won't make the whole wheat ones whose link you posted, because I can no longer eat whole wheat flour.

[Italiancook]

I laughed aloud when I read KIDPIZZA's comment about Ft. Knox. I agreed with him over the weekend when it took me almost five minutes to be approved to login. After I thought about it, I realized I had not correctly read the directions.

Thanks, BakerAunt, for letting us know Cass is okay and moving, although moving is a stress.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, chocomouse, for the report on the KAF Jordan Marsh muffins. I printed this recipe today to make in a few weeks when guests are here. I would not have tried it until the day I wanted to serve it. Now, I'll stick to my tried and true blueberry muffins, although I may put sugar on the top as KAF recipe does. Did you think the top sugar added anything positive to them?

[Italiancook]

Here's a link to, I believe, the Parker House roll recipe from Omni Parker House. It's almost identical to the one in the WSJ. I didn't put the rolls in a roasting pan. WSJ piece said to put them on sheet pans. You'll see these look rectangular, not ovalish. So maybe the original ones were rectangles. But I like ovals better, even if it's not authentic.

https://www.omnihotels.com/blog/zagat-iconic-parkers-restaurant-parker-house-rolls/

[Italiancook]

If overproofing is what leads to the pop open, I was probably saved from that by a discussion I read recently somewhere on the KAF site. I learned to test the dough when I think it's risen the required amount, instead of waiting until the time suggested in the recipe. As I recall, for the Parker House Rolls, the first rise was until doubled in bulk, about 1-1/2 hours. With the KAF discussion in mind, I tested the dough at one hour. It tested proofed, so I went on with the next step in the recipe. In the wintertime, that might be a different story.

I just checked "The Wise Encyclopedia of Cookery." It says to brush one side of the dough rounds with butter before folding. Then brush the tops with butter. Instead of dipping both sides in butter. I may try that next time, because dipping them became quite messy.

[Italiancook]

Mike, none of my Parker House Rolls opened up. They all stayed closed. I think the secret is the butter application.

The recipe I used came from the WSJ article you posted a while ago. It's probably behind a paywall now. It's an adaptation from Omni Parker House, Boston. I checked out the KAF blog you posted. Mine don't look like theirs. Mine are prettier, more ovalish instead of rectangular. I think the reason mine didn't pop open is that after I cut the circles, both sides were dipped in butter, placed on parchment-lined tray, then folded. Most, I folded over completely, as recipe said, but some I did only 3/4, because a TV chef had done that. I think the ones I folded over 3/4 look prettier -- or at least more interesting.

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