Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
I keep my opened yeast in a small mason jar in the freezer. I use it straight from there. The excess I store in smaller Ziploc containers in the freezer, too. I haven't had good experiences in freezing yeast doughs - the last couple of times, they didn't rise very much before I put them in the oven.
I've slowed way down in my baking these past months - just too much to try to eat. This past week I made Italiancook's Cranberry Banana bread - 2 loaves in the freezer. One I'll be taking out soon as I think I found the cranberry relish I had made a couple of years ago. We'll see how it turns out with the new relish recipe. I also wanted to try a new recipe I saw on Pinterest - Maple Caramel Bacon Crack - it was way too sweet for my personal taste, I think next time I'll cut back either on the brown sugar or just eliminate the maple syrup. I've been meaning to get back into bread baking but just haven't had the mojo hit me to get back into the bread baking.
November 6, 2016 at 10:41 am in reply to: Did You Cook Anytbing Interesting the Week of October 30, 2016? #5406Not much cooking - I'm really struggling in trying to cook smaller portions so I'm not eating leftovers for days. And I'm trying to make room in the freezer to get ready for the holiday baking. This past week I made braised shiitake mushrooms with tofu over baby bok choy. I also made roast pork with carrots. I was able to find the sirloin pork roast at Costco that's pretty small and enough to feed 1-2 people.
No, it's not just you. I've many a baking days like that, too. I've burnt two loaves of challah and a huge pan of brownies once. Didn't bring anything to work that weekend. Coworkers asked me why I didn't bring anything - when I said I had burnt everything, they said that they would still eat it. I've cut back on my bread baking drastically since the beginning of the summer so I'm sure I'll be making more mistakes as I try to get back into bread baking again.
Not much in baking this week. Tried cranberry Christmas cake from Barefeet in the Kitchen blog. No leaveners in it except for eggs. They were the only leavener for the whole cake. Definitely will be making this cake for family and friends. Also made vanilla scones as I had bought a small bottle of vanilla paste from a spice shop within reasonable driving distance. I was told to substitute one to one ratio in any recipe. I couldn't taste or smell the difference in the vanilla scones.
November 2, 2016 at 11:42 am in reply to: Did You Cook Anything Interesting the Week of October 23, 2016? #5353I tried to make pasta carbonara, the first time I over cooked the eggs and the second time I got it right. Tried to bring the leftovers to work and it became the scrambled egg thing again. I wonder if pasta carbonara can be made as a baked casserole. Also made a chicken chow mein, braised beef shanks with daikon radish and carrots. Also made cranberry-pear chutney, added some orange juice to give it a bit of orange flavor. Couldn't taste it after it cooked so next time I may just substitute all of the water with orange juice.
I haven't had any trick or treaters here for years. It's pretty dark and raining buckets so everyone takes their kids to the malls for their trick and treating.
Mike, I like your idea of small toys instead of candy. It reminds me that I have to start buying little trinkets and such as I make a huge Saran ball for Christmas to entertain the kids while the adults try to get dinner on the table.
Oooo, soups are my favorite! I like Manhattan clam chowder, minestrone, ham and bean. I have a nondairy version of potato and corn chowder and I can tweak that into the Boston clam chowder. I also like to make congee and I make an Asian style chicken and dumplings soup. And I grew up eating "sweet" soups, too. If I only had a large enough freezer!
As it's just my mother and I, we use the dishwasher about once or twice a year. Plus, with my mother's alzheimers, she likes the routine of handwashing dishes. She always interrupts the dishwasher's drying time so it's just easier to handwash.
I did use all the milk in the recipe. I think my relish might be a little more drier than the commercial kind. I'm anxious to try again with the extra banana. But I just took out a zucchini bread so will have to wait until that's gone before I try again. The bananas I use are quite large, too. I don't think I've ever seen small ones in the supermarket. I have a family favorite of banana bread that uses 7 large bananas.
I made Italiancook's Cranberry Banana bread using the cranberry relish I had leftover from Thanksgiving last year. It was very good, everyone loved it. I also made the KAF Gingerbread Bundt cake for work. Everyone said it was like a cross between molasses and gingerbread cookies. Otherwise not much else baking as it was a busy work week.
Mike, I love your challah. I've done the 6 strand before, my challenge is to roll each strand the same length. I've been thinking about using the challah dough to make Dutch Crunch bread as I'm not sure what the flavor the topping is.
October 24, 2016 at 2:47 pm in reply to: Did You Cook Anything Interesting the Week of October 16, 2016? #5231Mike, those chocolate candies look yummy!
Italiancook, I use a rice cooker, it's a small one I got from Target. I do cook my brown rice on the stovetop. One tip if you do get a rice cooker, do not wash your rice in the cooker. With the swirling and water when you wash the rice, it can scratch the nonstick surface. I've learned (the hard way) of washing the rice in separate bowl and then putting it into the cooker. And as it's just my mother and I eating the rice, I just make a pot, keep extras in the frig and microwave the leftovers. You can also freeze rice, too.
What I made this past week was beef burritos without cilantro for my work lunches. I wrap each one in saran wrap, place in ziploc bags, and freeze. I just take what I need for lunch that day. Otherwise, not much else other than the basic beef pot roast and/or take out for the week.
Italiancook, I wanted to share with you that I made your Cranberry Banana Bread last week. It was delicious. I did use my own cranberry relish I had in the freezer. I think next time I will increase the banana up to 4 bananas as it was a little dry for my own personal taste. I like the tang of the cranberry in the banana bread. I did the method of measuring 2 cups of flour and sifting afterwards. It didn't even sink that much after cooling. I'm thinking that if you want more orange flavor, maybe adding a little of the Fiori di Sicilia? I'm going to try to tweak my own cranberry relish to have a little more orange flavor.
Not much baking this week. Made Angel Food cake from a box. Haven't mastered making that from scratch yet.
Italiancook, like you and BakerAunt, I've stopped ordering from KAF website. I think they dropped me off their emailing list and I never got a reminder to renew my Baker's Bucks. So I missed all my coupons. Plus, I can buy KAF flour locally here. May have to pay a few more cents per bag but at least I can get it.
Didn't do much baking - made a batch of KA Honey Bars as a retirement gift for my dog's groomer as it is her absolute favorite. Also tried a new recipe - Beef Curry Puffs. Beef curry wrapped in puff pastry. It's was a great hit at work and at home. Now I just need to experiment to see if I can thaw out the puff pastry, make the puffs, and then refreeze. I"ll just have to make some and see how they turn out at a later date.
-
AuthorPosts
