[Italiancook]

I used my new blade to make blue cheese dressing. It didn't clank and clamor, as I had worried. It did the job, but of course, all it was doing was chopping half a clove of garlic while mixing blue cheese, mayo & sour cream. For me, the real test is the first time I need to chop hard veggies.

[Italiancook]

If you have time & haven't eaten/given away all your eclipse cookies, please post a picture. I'm curious.

[Italiancook]

I baked 2 loaves of "Cuban Bread" from "The Complete Tightwad Gazette." I like this recipe, because it only takes 90 minutes from start to finish. I didn't like the appearance of one of the finished loaves (boules ? they're round). It had a side blowout. Online sources say this can be caused by uneven oven temp, or something else I've forgotten. I think mine were from poor slashing. I was in a hurry when I slashed. When the finished loaves came out of the oven, I could tell by both of them that I my hurry had led to poor slashes.

I also reduced the salt from 1 tablespoon to a guesstimated 2 teaspoons. Definitely, I used less salt. One online article makes me think that could have helped cause the problem. So I won't reduce the salt again.

The blowout loaf is for bruschetta for tomorrow's lunch & French Toast on Tuesday, so I hope it tastes okay and looks somewhat normal inside. I'm going to freeze the one that looks okay.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by Italiancook.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by Italiancook.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by Italiancook.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

I made blue cheese dressing for chef's salad. My husband's plants have an abundance of tomatoes, so we'll be using the dressing all week for salads.

[Italiancook]

Yesterday, I baked Almond Fruit Bars from Martha Stewart's website. After they were in the oven, I wondered what I was thinking. I couldn't understand why I'd make a recipe that has 2 types of sugar and store-bought jam that has 2 types of corn syrup -- so much sweet. I ended up throwing them in the trash after baked and cooled . . . but not before having 3 servings. They're delicious!

• This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

Mike, I checked out the Austrian Malt Bread recipe. I've always thought I don't like malt, after trying an ice cream malt. Does the taste of the malt come through in this bread, or is it the secret ingredient that flavors without anyone knowing what it is?

[Italiancook]

Rascals, have you read the ingredient list for store-bought bread? You could be tasting a lot of things. I recently read the list for bread I bought. I wanted to see if it had yeast and baking powder. I was shocked by the long ingredient list. Right then and there, I made the decision to eat only homemade bread. The next day, I made 2 loaves of bread, cut them in half, and froze 3 halves. This morning, I took one half out of the freezer and my husband will make BLT's with it tonight.

But I understand how your daughter feels. When I was a child, I wouldn't eat the homemade bread my dad made. I wouldn't eat store-bought bread either. I heard many a lecture about the starving children in China who'd love to have a slice of bread. But between the two types of bread, I preferred store-bought.

[Italiancook]

Rascals, I always thought that, too. But I recently read KAF's blog & found an article about how to make homemade crackers. It was still there a couple of seconds ago. I'm thinking I might try the cheese cracker recipe they have. Just to say I've made crackers once.

[Italiancook]

I have always bought cream by brand name, without reading the box. Now, I'm going to analyze the words on the carton. I've enjoyed this discussion.

[Italiancook]

The recipe calls for 1-1/2 tablespoons yeast, BakerAunt.

My first reaction, when I saw the loaves rising so fast, was to think there was too much yeast for the reduction in sugar. I put that idea away when I thought about the heat from the under cabinet lights.

I thought about the yeast when I saw the slight splitting at the ends of the loaves. I think, but may be wrong, that too much yeast would cause that. But, I think over-proofing would do that, too. Maybe I didn't test the proofed dough soon enough, but at the time, I was thinking, "There's no way these can be fully proofed in half the time."

I'm going to make these again, but reduce the sugar to 2 tablespoons. I'll reduce the yeast too, because I think you're right. One recipe reviewer said that with 1/4 cup sugar, it'd produce "fluffy" bread, which turned out right. Another reviewer said 2 tablespoons sugar nets a "classic farmhouse white bread." That's more what I'm looking for -- that would describe the white bread my dad made when I was a kid.

[Italiancook]

Yes, BakerAunt, the bread did firm up as it cooled. I've cut each loaf in half for the freezer. Inside, it looks and tastes fully cooked. I had one slice with boysenberry fruit spread. If I make it again, I'll use less salt. In the meantime, I'll search around for Wonky's recipe. Thanks!

[Italiancook]

I baked 2 loaves of Amish Bread for the first time. Used allrecipes.com recipe. I baked this one other time and turned it into Raisin Bread. Now that I've baked it just as white sandwich bread, I have some questions. Keep in mind that this is only my first time baking sandwich bread. Normally, I make Italian or Cuban Bread. Questions:

(1) How brown is a loaf of white sandwich bread supposed to be? Or, do you go by the temperature? If so, what temperature do you seek? The loaves I made are light brown, and I didn't think to check their temperature. The recipe said to bake 30 minutes, and I did, in a preheated oven.

(2) When I bake Italian and Cuban Breads, I don't temp them. I bake them the recipe-suggested time and make sure the bread sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. When I tapped this sandwich bread, there was no hollow sound. Instead, the bottom "gave" when I tapped it. I assumed this was because it's supposed to be soft bread, not crusty like the ones I usually make. Did I err?

(3) I have hot-burning under the cabinet lights. I used them to rise bread during cold weather. Today, being hot weather, they probably worked to my detriment. Both rises took half the time than the recipe suggested, because of the heat from the lights. I was working in the kitchen during the rises, so I kept on the lights.

The finished products have cracks on the ends at the top of the bread pan area. In other words, below the dome of the bread, but only on the short ends. Do those mean the bread rose too high while resting?

The bread is cooling, so I don't know what it looks like inside. The recipe calls for 2/3 cup sugar. I used only 1/4 cup, which one reviewer said makes a fluffy loaf. At any rate, I'd never use 2/3 cup sugar for plain white bread.

Thanks for any ideas you have on this.

[Italiancook]

On Sunday, I made lamb loin chops, broccoli & cauliflower. The veggies were for the fridge for this meal and later in the week. Today, I made braised pork chops. I followed BakerAunt's lead & saved the leftover braising liquid to make gravy when eating leftover pork chops. I have a chicken in the slow cooker. I had planned on having it for dinner, but the pork chop lunch was large with broccoli and fried potatoes. Now, there isn't enough hunger for a chicken dinner. I'm going to use some of the chicken to make chicken fried rice this week. Other than that, my cooking for the week is over. It's leftovers.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, Aaron, for the information.

[Italiancook]

Joan, although the recipe says you can use other pie fillings besides cherry, I have never made it that way. I use only cherries, because it looks so pretty and I prefer the taste of cherries over any other fruit. My motto is, "Why mess with success." The color in Cherry Flip pops on a buffet table.

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