[Mike Nolan]

Rottiedogs, is your sweet potato pie in the recipe collection here? I see two recipes for it, but neither have your name on it.

My wife is a big fan of baked sweet potatoes, but I don't think she's ever had sweet potato pie. I'm not a fan of pumpkin pie, so anything other than pumpkin pie is worth trying. (I'm not a big fan of baked sweet potatoes, either, though I do like sweet potato fries.)

[Mike Nolan]

I really hear you on the differences between cooking for a group and cooking for just two people.

I can think of a lot of things I'd love to make, but we'd be eating them for a month! Even a pot roast lasts us over a week.

And I think some recipes just work better in larger sizes. Cheesecake is definitely one of them. Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake will work in an 8x8 or 10x0 pan (half recipe), the last couple of times I've made it I've made one of each size and froze one. Even then eating the 10x10 one seems like too much cake, we sent half of the last one home with some friends who were visiting (outside).

About the only thing I've made in quantity lately are soups, where we can freeze it in meal-sized portions. Tupperware makes an 8 1/2 cup container that is just about perfect for that. They're usually only sold as part of sets, but I managed to find about a half dozen of them for sale online, so I've got plenty of them these days.

[Mike Nolan]

Cranberry sauce is terrible, dried cranberries aren't bad as a snack or in breads.

[Mike Nolan]

Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow will be ham with potatoes au gratin and apple pie. The ham has been marinating in pineapple juice since yesterday.

I'm going to make mashed potatoes and stuffing on Friday or Saturday, with a turkey tender just to have SOME turkey sandwiches. I was going to do a bone-in turkey breast but they seem to be sold out already. Guess a lot of people are planning smaller gatherings than normal, I'm seeing tons of whole turkeys in the freezer cases.

[Mike Nolan]

I got some pie dough out of the freezer yesterday, and got Jonagold apple pie filling out on Monday, as I'm planning to make an apple pie today for Thanksgiving dinner.

[Mike Nolan]

I made a batch of bagels today.

What shows are currently in production that actually feature cooking and baking these days? Not many of them on The Food Network, they're mostly staged competitions or travelogues. (I can't say I've ever learned ONE thing about cooking from Guy Fieri.)

[Mike Nolan]

I won't buy brined turkeys or breasts or ones injected with turkey stock. They taste too salty, and that probably means the sodium levels are off the scale. Plus, I don't feel like paying $1.49 or so a pound for salty water.

[Mike Nolan]

I'm making Semolina bread today.

[Mike Nolan]

Is that a play on the 'dead cat bounce'?

[Mike Nolan]

Personally, I think glass feels cooler, and it will have a larger thermal mass than a plastic bucket, which will slow down temperature rises, but for the most part heat isn't being generated when dough is rising.

[Mike Nolan]

As long as you only use it to rise dough, I would think hand-washing it would be quicker and sufficient.

[Mike Nolan]

I remember buying bakery breads that had a light dusting of flour on them.

As I understand it, the flour affects how the crust forms, because it draws some of the moisture out of the surface.

It can also be used for decorative effect.

[Mike Nolan]

I made about 1100 grams of apple pie filling today from 10 Jonagolds. I'll probably make an apple pie with them, either this week or for Thanksgiving.

[Mike Nolan]

I'm making a pot roast with a 7 bone chuck roast, and it smells wonderful.

[Mike Nolan]

If you google it, there's a lot of mixed opinion on whether Vaseline is good for burns. Several MD sites recommend against it.

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