[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!

[Italiancook]

Neither the recipe nor the video stated the purpose of the yolk & cream, Mike. It is a good question. I'm planning on making, freezing, then baking the Duchess Potatoes in the next week or two. Recipe makes 8. I'll brush 6 of them with the liquid but not the other two. I'll let you know the results. I'm curious, too, now.

[Italiancook]

BakerAunt, both articles are helpful. Thanks so much for your research. I guess I should have Googled the question but didn't think of that. The first article says not to freeze sour cream. My twice baked potatoes have sour cream in them, so I won't be doing that. The second article makes it sound like boiled potatoes are the answer. I like that idea, because I can see the gravy being of use. She can thaw the boilers, mash them with a fork and cover in gravy. Probably more healthful, because the skins would be eaten. Not mashed potatoes, but still doable and probably good. I appreciate your help!

• This reply was modified 9 years ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, Mike, for your reply about baking powder & salt.

BakerAunt, Ina Garten's Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits are on the Food Network website. As I recall, the recipe calls for 1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt. I used 1 teaspoon and will try 3/4 teaspoon next time. The cheddar has salt, so I think I'll be okay with the extra reduction.

The recipe makes 8 large biscuits. I found I could not eat an entire biscuit, because it was so large. Next time, I'm going to cut the dough into smaller-sized biscuits. I can't recall if the recipe says this, but on her video, Ina put a little grated cheddar on top of the biscuits after the egg wash. I think that's a good step.

• This reply was modified 9 years ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

I made a large ham & potato Fritatta. I put one slice of it in the freezer to test if it can be frozen and microwaved and still be edible. It if is, I'll be making Fritattas for the freezer in the future.

I made a double batch of chili for the freezer. I know, it seems like I feed the freezer more than ourselves. I always freeze a lot in the fall & winter so I don't have to cook as much in the spring & summer. I think that's a carryover from my childhood growing up on an orchard. Spring and summer were busy times of the year where most of the cooking was my mother canning.

[Italiancook]

I made Ina Garten's Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits. This time I remembered to put in the butter! Some of the reviews said they were too salty, so I left out 1/2 teaspoon salt and thought they were too salty. Next time, I'll reduce salt to 3/4 teaspoon, but I think there's some science to needing a certain amount of salt for the baking powder to act. I'm uncertain. Is there a science reason behind adding salt with baking powder?

The biscuits are good. I froze all of them but the taste test. Later in the week, I microwaved one to go with a bowl of chili. That released more of the cheddar flavor. I'll make these again.

I also baked plain ole muffin tin dinner rolls. I gave 8 to a person from church who is shut-it (along with frozen soups). The remaining 4 I froze.

[Italiancook]

When I married, my mother sent me a newspaper article with a recipe for sourdough starter. I didn't think I could depend on myself to feed it on schedule, so I tossed out the article. I find it interesting, BakerAunt, that your sourdough does ok without scheduled feedings.

[Italiancook]

RiversideLen, I'm glad you mentioned water usage. I've always thought I'd use more water by doing the dishes by hand. My grandmother was a nurse, before dishwashers became a staple. She would not fill a sink with clear water for rinsing the dishes. She thought that put germs on the dishes. She washed them in a sink of soapy water then had me rinse them under running hot water over the other side of the sink. I always thought that wasted a lot of water. So when I made the decision to be a dishwasher fanatic, I told myself I'd save water. That probably wasn't true with the machines on the market in the early years of my homemaking, but I think it's true now.

[Italiancook]

Mike, you made me laugh out loud with your tuna can remark.

I have complained to the store about the shrinking tuna can. Didn't do any good, of course. I think the problem is that fruit is usually sold by the pound and tuna by the can (or bundle at Sam's). So either way, the store receives more of our money.

[Italiancook]

Today or tomorrow, I'm going to make a batch of chili for the freezer. In a way, that's soup . . . okay, by a stretch. I love fish chowder. I also enjoy making vegetable beef soup. Next week, I'm going to try for the first time KAF recipe for potato & garlic soup. It's made in the crock pot. I also enjoy eating broccoli soup & French carrot soup. But since they're smooth soups, it's more like drinking them. I make a tomato-based Italian cauliflower & spaghetti soup that's good. I like Stracciatella and love summer minestrone. I guess I'm just a soup person. I eat soup 12 months out of the year. If I don't feel like making soup or thawing it out, I cook rice or pastina in chicken broth & enjoy just a simple Italian meal. I don't like gazpacho; otherwise, I can't think of a soup I won't eat.

I hope to make chicken stock over the weekend. I find chicken stock frustrating. It never makes as much as I need. But, it does make delicious soups.

[Italiancook]

I laughed out loud when I read your response, BakerAnut. Thanks for starting my day off the right way!

Seriously, I don't believe I cook or bake more than the rest of you. I don't know from where all these dirty dishes come. Knowing me, I'll probably create a log to record when I run the dishwasher and what's in it. I think the difference between y'all and myself is that I'm lazier -- I don't want to wash anything by hand that can safely be put in the dishwasher.

[Italiancook]

Hmmm . . . your responses make me wonder what I do to run the dishwasher every day let alone more than once a day, but I do. Skillets and dutch ovens are the only items that are washed by hand. Thanks for your responses.

[Italiancook]

luvpyrpom, thanks for letting me know about the milk. I guess the difference between your experience and mine is the difference in relishes. I guess I'm going to have to make cranberry-orange relish and try the bread with it. I like the bread with Williams-Sonoma's relish, but the apples in it change the taste of the final product. I'm hoping that adding 1/4 teaspoon orange oil will help.

Maybe other don't mind, but I do not like the super-sizing of fruits and vegetables. My favorite cookbooks are from the 1970's and early 1980. When using them, I have to remind myself that vegetables were smaller then and adjust the amount of veggies I use for the recipes.

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