Mike Nolan

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  • in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of July 23, 2023? #39962
    Mike Nolan
    Keymaster

      You could try what I do--stop the mixer, add the flour, take a piece of parchment and wrap it around the bowl as a cover, then start the mixer and let it run for 20 seconds or so, after which flour spills are unlikely. (I picked up this tip in an online class, if that had been the only thing I learned from that class it would have been worth the class fee.)

      Why parchment instead of a towel? Well, if for some reason the mixer blade catches the parchment, it just rips. If it were to catch the towel, it'd drag it into the bowl. I've never had it happen, though.

      in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of July 23, 2023? #39960
      Mike Nolan
      Keymaster

        We had take-out.

        in reply to: Raccoons and other Pests #39955
        Mike Nolan
        Keymaster

          I recently read a story where larger animals like deer and mountain lions are becoming more urbanized, they're willing to avoid or ignore the cars and the people to get to easier sources of food, water and shelter.

          in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of July 16, 2023? #39948
          Mike Nolan
          Keymaster

            The Strawberry-Blueberry Zucchini bread is probably not a recipe I'll repeat.

            I had another piece of it today and while the flavors have mellowed out, making it less assertively cinnamon, as my wife put it, it isn't worth the carbs.

            in reply to: 2023 Garden Plans #39947
            Mike Nolan
            Keymaster

              As I understand it, the reason too high or too low moisture results in fruit falling off is that the vines don't get enough of the right nutrients. Not sure what nutrients lend themselves to stronger vines though.

              in reply to: 2023 Garden Plans #39946
              Mike Nolan
              Keymaster

                I picked a billy club today, a 44 ounce zucchini. It was totally hidden except from one angle.

                in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of July 23, 2023? #39945
                Mike Nolan
                Keymaster

                  My son made black raspberry syrup last year, then used the residue from removing the seeds with a Foley to infuse some black raspberry vodka.

                  in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of July 23, 2023? #39943
                  Mike Nolan
                  Keymaster

                    We're having tacos/nachos, trying to avoid a lot of cooking, since it hit 100 today and is still 98 outside.

                    in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of July 16, 2023? #39938
                    Mike Nolan
                    Keymaster

                      We froze most of the zucchini cake, Diane says it is great right out of the freezer, the chocolate chips are a little crunchy but the cake is not. This recipe is a definite keeper.

                      in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of July 23, 2023? #39935
                      Mike Nolan
                      Keymaster

                        We had tuna salad sandwiches tonight, a good summertime dish on a hot July evening. The temperature topped out at 87 on the lower patio here, though it felt warmer, probably low 90's officially.

                        in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of July 23, 2023? #39932
                        Mike Nolan
                        Keymaster

                          The strawberry-blueberry zucchini bread is not quite what I was expecting.

                          I think I'd cut the cinnamon in half, and that's unusual for me because I often wind up doubling cinnamon from what recipes call for. The berries are pretty much drowned out by the cinnamon. However, this was the first one that I couldn't taste the zucchini at all. I think the cinnamon masks the cucurbitacin.

                          Adding the blueberries probably contributed to having too much moisture, the blueberries seems to burst in the oven and the area right around any of the fruit looks a bit like raw dough. (I don't think it is really raw, the internal temperature was 205 when I took it out, the total baking time was 20 minutes more than what the recipe called for.) The pictures on the site I got the recipe from has a bit of that, too.

                          sbb

                          It just calls for a loaf pan, it doesn't say what size. I used a 9x5, I don't think it would have fit in a smaller one. It sort of collapsed a bit as it cooled and more after being removed from the pan.

                          IMG_0611

                          https://www.thefoodhussy.com/strawberry-zucchini-bread/

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                          in reply to: 2023 Garden Plans #39931
                          Mike Nolan
                          Keymaster

                            Probably an issue with too much or too little water, both can affect the ability of the vines to hold on to the fruit.

                            Have you had much wind lately?

                            in reply to: Kitchenaid Mixer #39924
                            Mike Nolan
                            Keymaster

                              For any bread I've made several times, I go by eye and ear as much as by the windowpane test. I can look at the dough then listen to how it is slapping around in the mixer and have a pretty good idea when it is sufficiently developed.

                              in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of July 23, 2023? #39923
                              Mike Nolan
                              Keymaster

                                I'm making a strawberry-blueberry zucchini bread today.

                                Maybe I'll try some peanut butter zucchini cookies later on, though it is supposed to get pretty hot here. The high is supposed to be in the high 90's through Friday. But it has been cloudy all morning and the temperatures haven't skyrocketed yet, so I figured I could get away with doing a zucchini bread in the small oven.

                                in reply to: Kitchenaid Mixer #39920
                                Mike Nolan
                                Keymaster

                                  I mix most breads longer in the mixer than I used to, I concluded most of them weren't getting sufficiently developed.

                                  In an online class last year, the instructor used a piece of parchment wrapped around the top of the bowl to keep the flour from spilling out.

                                  When I make semolina bread it is a two-stage bread, so I make the flying starter in the mixing bowl. After it has matured, I add the rest of the flour and other ingredients, including more water, then wrap the parchment around the bowl for the first minute or so of kneading to keep the counter clean.

                                  Then I fold the parchment to fit my 3/4 sheet pan. The parchment is 16x24, the pan is 14x21. I don't have a good use for 2 or 3 inch wide parchment strips or I'd tear them off. Maybe I'll try to use several of them them to line the loaf pans for zucchini bread to keep it from sticking.

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