[Italiancook]

I hadn't thought about the rice being starch, Mike. Thanks for reminding me of that. Yes, the cold rice had clumps. We had the Chicken Noodle with Rice soup for dinner, and yes, the clumps fell apart.

[Italiancook]

Thanks to all for your responses. They certainly give me flavors to which I can look forward.

Mike, I bought a Zojirushi rice cooker. I think it has 5 settings, one of which is sushi that I'll never use.

For the most part, I'm like BakerAunt and like rice to go with other foods. So pre-rice cooker, I wasn't in the game for lots of flavor. Now that I can have decent rice, I want to optimize the flavor.

To you experienced rice makers, please allow me to pose another question. I made white basmati rice today. I had a pot of chicken broth in the refrig when I learned a friend was ill. So I offered Chicken & Noodle with Rice Soup. I made the rice in the morning then refrigerated it. Late afternoon, I placed the chicken in a quart container, added the noodles and rice, then broth. I noticed the rice has clumped together. Is that normal for refrigerated rice?

[Italiancook]

Since so many of you freeze yeast, I wonder: How long does it last in the freezer? Does freezing it give it an super long lifespan?

[Italiancook]

It sounds like I'm the only one who keeps yeast in the refrigerator. I simply can't give up freezer space to the yeast container. After a year, I occasionally do a proof test to make sure it's still viable. If I kept it in the freezer, I'd still do that.

Mike, thanks for your instructions on putting links in a post. But it was Greek to me. Next time my computer tech comes here, I'll have him show me how to do it. In the meantime, I'll use the copy/paste method that S_Wirth mentioned.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, S_Wirth, for the instructions. I know how to copy and paste and should be able to do that. Here I've been thinking posting a link was some technical computer magic that I would never be able to do. But I now think I can do this.

[Italiancook]

I contacted Fleischman's about this several years ago. I was told that if I freeze yeast dough, I have to increase the amount of yeast. I don't recall by what percentage. I can't recall whether I contacted KAF or read this on a blog, but KAF also said to increase the yeast. Again, by what percentage, I don't recall.

On October 5, 2016, KAF posted a blog about freezing yeast rolls. I'm sorry, I don't know how to post a link, but if the title of their blog is, "Freeze and Bake Rolls: A Head Start on the Holidays." It has a note about increasing the yeast if the dough is going to be frozen longer than 2 or 3 days.

I haven't tried their method but intend to do so soon.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

These stories go a long way in making me feel better about wasting so much money and labor on last week's flopped endeavors.

[Italiancook]

Cardamom tastes great in cooler weather, Baker Aunt. I thought about putting it in my pancakes, but decided against it. Now that you've reminded me how good it is, I'll add a little cardamom to the remainder of the pancake batter. As for baking, I was too busy flopping cooked food to bake.

[Italiancook]

I discussed my flopped meals in another thread. I also had a couple of successes after my three flops. I made braised pork chops with fried potatoes and caramelized onions. I also made a pancake breakfast-for-dinner.

[Italiancook]

I am laughing out loud over your story, Mike. Be sure and tell your wife I am NOT laughing at her. I am laughing because it's a new bride story. I have one of those, too.

I was a newlywed. I had never met my in-laws, but friends of their family were coming to town. I really wanted to impress them, since I figured they'd tell all to my mother-in-law. I went to the local butcher and explained that I needed a cut of meat that would showcase my culinary abilities even though I didn't have any at that time. I also mentioned that it was such a special occasion that I was willing to break the budget.

He sold me a prime rib roast, wrote down cooking directions, and explained how to carve it. He assured me my in-laws would receive rave reviews about me.

I felt so proud when my guests and my husband were seated in the dining room waiting for me to bring out the roast. The kitchen and dining room were connected by an open doorway. Everyone had a clear view of me as I walked to present my roast.

As I walked toward everyone, I knew the meat looked gorgeous. Not just to me, but to my husband. His face was beaming with a huge smile. I knew I had a home run. It was at that exact moment that the unthinkable happened.

My roast lurched forward and fell off the platter onto the dining room floor!

My mother's-in-law friend saved the day. She jumped up, ran to the roast, picked it up and said, "I can fix this."

She washed off the roast, put it back in the pan and shoved it in the oven long enough to dry off the water. She put it back on the platter, had her husband carve it, and yes, we ate it. I was too mortified to pay any attention to how it tasted.

Many decades later, after her death, I asked around my husband's family to find out if this quick-thinking woman had shared my failure with my mother-in-law. She had not.

So I do not laugh at your wife; I laugh with her . . . as one bride to another.

[Italiancook]

navlys, it sounds like your goblins sent some of their friends to my house. Thanks for sharing. I'm glad you "got back on the horse" and everything has turned out for the good. I guess I'll return to the kitchen, but I put the 3 pound chuck roast in the freezer. Until I know I'm over this messing up spell, I don't want to take a chance on such an expensive cut of meat.

Thanks for your input, Mike. It may be that my oven is not heating properly, since the chicken & rice didn't cook through. Other than that, I have to blame myself -- human error. Lack of focus, probably.

[Italiancook]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I feel better now. I remember my mother saying a year before she died that she didn't know how to cook anymore. So a week of time/money "disasters" worried me. I'll take BakerAunt's advice and stay out of the kitchen today. Tomorrow, I'll make pancakes -- surely I can't mess them up. Although spaghetti sauce sounds fool-proof, too, Mike. Bread . . . I don't dare try that for a while after this week. But I was thinking about making a loaf over the weekend. Not now.

I guess I need to send hubby out for an oven thermometer to make sure my oven is heating properly. But I don't really think it's the oven. It's probably me.

The Cubs won; I lost.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

Oh, RiversideLen, straining is an Excellent idea. I wish I had thought of that. They're already in the freezer. Since I've marked them for family only, I'll probably strain them after they're thawed.

My concern was that the dried crunched leaves might damage the digestive tract. But Mike says he leaves dried bay leaves in his marinara -- I took that to mean crumbles of them -- so I guess we'll be alright. I had a bowl of this soup for lunch. If I live to tell about it tomorrow, I'll assume my mistake was "no harm, no foul."

I'm going to post the recipe for the Carrot Soup in the recipe section . . . if I can figure out how to do that.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, Mike. I just tasted the soup. It tastes okay with the blended bay leaves in it. I did find a tiny piece of the crunched bay leaf on my tongue. I guess I left some of the green without blending it to smithereens. There are also thyme leaves in the soup, so while I was blending, I assumed the tiny specks of green were thyme.

I'm curious: When you left dried bay leaves in your marinara, were they whole where you could pull them out later? Or, did they crumble into little pieces?

I'm going to go ahead a freeze this soup. I'm going to label it as for family only, not gifts.

[Italiancook]

Actually, BakerAunt, that mashed potato casserole looks mighty inviting. Maybe there's enough moisture in it that it could be frozen . . . based on what I read in the first link, I am of the opinion that liquid is probably the key to successful freezing of mashed potatoes. Thanks for the links!

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