[Italiancook]

Thanks for thinking about this, BakerAunt. I've certainly given a lot of thought to it. But I hadn't thought about draining the relish. That makes a lot of sense. I'll do it next time. Unfortunately, that may be a week or so, since I have to have ripe bananas and now have none.

I've also decided to eliminate the milk in the recipe, since the batter was so soupy. My Banana Bread recipe uses the same amount of bananas as this one, but obtains all it's liquid from the mashed bananas.

Since I don't know how the flour was originally measured, I will use the scoop method next time. I may opt not to sift the flour, although I really don't know whether that will solve anything.

There will definitely be a next attempt, because I know how special this bread is when made as my mom did. So thanks for helping me think this through. I'll let you know after I make it again.

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

[Italiancook]

Thanks, S_Wirth for the assist. Next time, I'll scoop the flour.

BakerAunt, the bread bake time was okay. I inserted the cake tester to the bottom of the pan, and it came out clean. But I was worried about it, so I cooked it an additional five minutes. That made the top way too brown.

Yes, it's totally possible that the relish I used is wetter than what Mom used. Maybe I'll cut it back by 1/4 cup next time.

I've eaten restaurant Banana Bread that has the texture and moistness I achieved today. I don't really like the texture of it. Since it's the restaurant's normal, over time, bread, I have to imagine that it's a fully baked product, as I think mine is.

Maybe all I need to do is scoop the flour. Maybe I'll try that next time and use the full amount of relish. I hate to change more than one variable at a time. Or, more probably, I'll scoop, then check the consistency before adding relish. It if seems soupy, I'll cut back on the relish. Yet, it is supposed to be a moist bread.

[Italiancook]

I'll look forward to reading your reports, Mike. I hope you are able to achieve good rest once you're home.

[Italiancook]

Bread is out of the oven. The loaf smells exactly like my memory of it.

The loaf came out of oven with a rounded top. During cooling, the top went down. Now, it's a flat-topped loaf, and that's exactly the way all my mother's loaves of this bread looked. So I'm calling it normal and will add a note to the recipe about this.

I'll report back tomorrow after I eat a slice of the wrapped, 1 day old bread.

[Italiancook]

luvpyrpom, I've often wondered whether I could freeze mason jars. I've been afraid to try; I didn't want a bunch of glass in my freezer. Are your jars made for the freezer? I know there are some that are marketed as being made for the freezer.

[Italiancook]

luvpyrpom, I'm going to make the Cranberry Banana Nut Bread tomorrow. William-Sonoma's relish has arrived. It won't be a replica of my mom's, because the W-S product also has apples -- dried, I think. Since you're interested, I'll post the recipe tomorrow or the next day, even if it doesn't work for me. You can tinker with it if you want, if I don't have success with it.

Thanks for your investigative work with Ocean Spray, BakerAunt.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, rottiedogs, for the link to the relish.

[Italiancook]

Actually, now that you mention it, cwc, I don't know for certain my mom used a product from a jar. The only thing I can recall seeing her do while making this bread is crack the walnuts. I just assumed the cranberry orange relish came from an Ocean Spray jar. Maybe she made the relish from scratch while I was at school and I never knew it. Other than cracking the walnuts, which she did the evening before she baked, I never saw her make this bread. I just remember coming home to a scrumptious odor and eating the moist bread. Mom made a lot of loaves of this in November & December to give to people. It is a special bread.

As soon as the Williams-Sonoma relish arrives, I'll make it, and IF the recipe works, I'll post it. I hesitate to post it first, because I don't know if it came from my grandmother who routinely messed up recipes people requested from her.

[Italiancook]

Another note you may want to make concerns the frying time. As I recall, the KAF recipe says to fry the Welsh cakes for 2-1/2 minute per side. I found it took the first side much longer than that, with the second side being a little less time. But I have a stovetop that leaves a lot to be desired. KAF does say to fry on medium-low. I burned three of mine, because I had the heat up too high.

[Italiancook]

BakerAunt, that makes sense. the jarred sauce would have been cooked because of canning. I didn't thank of that.

[Italiancook]

BakerAunt, Ocean Spray's Cranberry Orange Relish that's online uses uncooked fruits. You whirr cranberries, an orange with the pith, and sugar in the food processor then freeze or refrigerate. It sounds so simple I have no idea why I have not done it long before now. I don't know how to do links, so I can't post a link to the recipe. I've read online that the recipe is on the bag of Ocean Spray cranberries, but I've never looked to see if that's accurate.

[Italiancook]

Thanks for the info, BakerAunt. My mind is blank right now. I can't recall if I make any dishes with pasta that I may want to freeze. For soups, I package them in quart deli containers. One quart will feed us for one meal -- 2 serving per quart.

[Italiancook]

I made KAF Welsh Cakes for breakfast this morning. They look and smell just like my childhood memory of them, even though my family called them cookies. They were not as dry as the family recipe, but they are still not very moist. Nevertheless, the were deliciously addictive.

When I made the family recipe, my husband did not like them. In one sitting, he ate 4 of the KAF Welsh cakes.

Using a griddle and 1 skillet would be the best way to tackle these, unless you have 2 griddles. I used 2 skillets.

The recipe says to refrigerate half the dough while handling the other half. If I make these again and have time, I'll divide the dough into 2, and refrigerate both balls for 30-60 minutes. I thought the butter was too soft in the half I cut and cooked right away.

[Italiancook]

I had planned to bake KAF Welsh Cakes, but the week got away from me. They're on my agenda for this week.

I've been obsessing over a recipe of my mother's. Cranberry Banana Nut Bread. I loved it when a child. It uses cranberry-orange relish that Ocean Spray no longer makes. Their recipe for it is online, and every October I say I'm going to make it as soon as fresh cranberries are in the grocery store. Every year, it never gets done. This year, I Googled to find out who makes this relish. Apparently no one. I ended up buying Apple-Orange-Cranberry Relish from Williams-Sonoma. When it arrives, I'm going to try it with Mom's recipe. I'll post her recipe after I try it with this relish, IF the recipe works. I've never before tried it.

[Italiancook]

Another week where I don't remember what we ate, because it wasn't memorable. Last night, I made Cauliflower & Pasta Soup from "Italian Family Recipes from The Romanoglis' Table." I had planned to package it for the freezer, but by the time it was cool enough to do that, I could barely stay awake. I put it in the refrig and will process it when I finish with this website. I know from experience that the pasta will have swelled overnight, so I'm concerned about the thawed product. I think it would have been better to freeze it last night.

I've never frozen anything with pasta, so I don't really know how it'll turn out when thawed. Some Internet articles suggest it'll be sticky and mushy when reheated. They say to freeze cooked pasta you need to stop the cooking process before the al dente state. I read those after the soup was cooked.

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

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