Mike Nolan

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  • in reply to: Happy Pi Day #38717
    Mike Nolan
    Keymaster

      Today's chicken pot pie, using Susan Purdy's hot water crust recipe:

      IMG_0414

      IMG_0415

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      in reply to: Maple Sugar and Maple Syrup #38707
      Mike Nolan
      Keymaster

        That's an interesting question about how warmer winters are affecting the maple syrup.

        I always thought the darker syrup came later in the season as the weather warmed up, maybe that would happen faster after a warmer winter?

        in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of March 12, 2023? #38699
        Mike Nolan
        Keymaster

          I've been so busy on another project that I forgot to start up the weekly topics. :sigh:

          in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of March 5, 2023? #38694
          Mike Nolan
          Keymaster

            My wife has decided she really doesn't like the semolina bread made with the whole grain durum flour, though she likes the honey wheat bread, which is 50% whole grain wheat; maybe I just need to add a bit more honey to it?

            Anyway, I will be looking for a reasonably priced source for semolina that is mostly endosperm. I may wind up just ordering another 50 pound bag of it if I can't come up with a more local source.

            in reply to: Cupcakes are out — Cookies are in! #38678
            Mike Nolan
            Keymaster

              See my comments on regional GS cookie differences in the other thread.

              in reply to: Girl Scout Cookie Shortages #38677
              Mike Nolan
              Keymaster

                I saw another story on Girl Scout cookies that went into the differences in product depending on which of the two bakeries they use it comes from, they showed pictures of the thin mints from both bakeries and there were major differences between them. One is more minty, the other more chocolatey, they said.

                https://www.wideopencountry.com/girl-scouts-cookies-map/

                Which bakery supplies which state may change from year to year, too.

                in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of March 5, 2023? #38676
                Mike Nolan
                Keymaster

                  There's a lot of variance in food prices around the country, some of it is due to regional supplier availability, but Californians have to deal with an increasing number of regulations on food, some of which are affecting national trends.

                  Eggs were $1.92 a dozen at Aldi the other day, and they had a good supply of them.

                  It doesn't appear flour prices are going to go down much any time soon, though. Costco has 25 pound bags of Ardent Mills bleached flour for $10.99, but I think 12 pound bags of KAF AP went up a little, though they're still under $10.

                  I didn't look at the sugar prices at Aldi, but I did see someone loading what looked like several dozen bags of sugar into her car, along with numerous bottles of oil.

                  Have you checked the restaurant suppliers to see if you can place a will-call order? You may need a tax permit or NFP determination letter from the IRS.

                  The semolina/durum flour I have is from Azure Standard. I've made 3 batches of bread with it so far, and the last one came out pretty good, but I can still taste some bitterness from the bran. (Maybe that's like your situation with honey, I can taste it because I know it's there.)

                  I haven't tried their other flours yet, but I think they're mostly whole-grain flours. Their prices on rye berries and tapioca flour were both quite good. Their freight charges are much lower due to their delivery method (you pick them up at a nearby drop site, most likely a shopping center parking lot), it's about 4.5% for freight to here, and I got 40 pounds of stuff for under $5 shipping. I think to the east coast it is more like 8.5%, but that may still beat most shippers.

                  in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of March 5, 2023? #38667
                  Mike Nolan
                  Keymaster

                    We had chili from the freezer tonight.

                    in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of March 5, 2023? #38666
                    Mike Nolan
                    Keymaster

                      I made more chewy peanut butter cookies today.

                      in reply to: Brod & Taylor ‘Sourdough Home’ #38663
                      Mike Nolan
                      Keymaster

                        I don't see why the Brod & Taylor sheeter wouldn't work for crackers, but they're not something I've made in a long time (and wasn't very successful with back then), so I don't have a go-to recipe I'm familiar with to test it on.

                        I've got a pretzel recipe I'm familiar with, I might try that and make pretzel crackers.

                        in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of March 5, 2023? #38652
                        Mike Nolan
                        Keymaster

                          Venison burgers and sausage are about all the local deer hunters make, a boring use of the meat.

                          in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of March 5, 2023? #38649
                          Mike Nolan
                          Keymaster

                            Some of you must have a lot of venison in your freezers.

                            in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of February 26, 2023? #38646
                            Mike Nolan
                            Keymaster

                              The primary advantage the pan has is it tends to keep the rolls more uniform, without developing bends. If you're making sub sandwiches, that's a big plus.

                              You still have to shape the rolls by hand.

                              Putting baguettes in a couche serves a similar function during final proofing, it probably also affects how they rise and how the surface ripens, which would impact how easy it is to slash them.

                              Transferring them to a peel or pan for baking using a baguette flip board is something I've not had a lot of practice with.

                              in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of March 5, 2023? #38642
                              Mike Nolan
                              Keymaster

                                We had ham steak with pineapple rings and a side dish of macaroni and cheese.

                                in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of February 26, 2023? #38641
                                Mike Nolan
                                Keymaster

                                  Good luck finding that sandwich loaf pan, though, King Arthur dropped it years ago and although I know it is a Chicago Metallic product, I've never seen it on their website or on other sites that carry their pans. I've seen a similar pan, but it is more heavy duty and quite a bit more expensive.

                                Viewing 15 posts - 1,591 through 1,605 (of 7,515 total)