Wed. Jul 8th, 2026

Mike Nolan

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Viewing 15 posts - 4,036 through 4,050 (of 8,008 total)
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  • in reply to: Is Interest in Sourdough Waning #28235
    Mike Nolan
    Keymaster

      I haven't done a lot of work with proofing baskets, in large part because I like free form loaves where most of the slices are the same size, but I've found inverting the loaf (so what was the bottom in the basket becomes the top in the oven) a bit challenging, too. If it doesn't rise much above the rim of the basket, you could cover it with a peel or that large offset spatula and flip it over

      I think it is a motion that would require some practice. But baking has a lot of those.

      in reply to: Is Interest in Sourdough Waning #28227
      Mike Nolan
      Keymaster

        If you get a large wide offset spatula, you can use that to safely lower a boule into a hot Dutch oven. KAF used to sell a 'cookie spatula' that works well for this, but, like so many great products, they don't have it any more.

        in reply to: Is Interest in Sourdough Waning #28226
        Mike Nolan
        Keymaster

          A starter that is left in the fridge will develop into one that is dominated by cold-liking bacteria, which changes the type of acidity you get to one that is a sharper 'bite'. If you like that kind of sourdough, it works. (I can never remember if it is acetic-acid bacteria or lactic-acid bacteria that like the cold.)

          If you bake bread more than about 3 times a week, you can adjust your feeding schedule so that you feed first, then pull out what you need to bake with a few hours later. (That's what commercial bakers do, they don't throw away good flour!)

          My rye starter went bad a few months ago and I haven't built a new one yet, but I'm holding off on much new recipe testing until after my cataract surgery, the first of which is later this month. I've been building preferments for some of the breads I bake, letting it sit anywhere from an hour or two to overnight. Overnight is long enough to start to develop some sourdough tang.

          in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of January 10, 2021? #28225
          Mike Nolan
          Keymaster

            I saw something that said netflix was starting a cooking competition show that involved leftovers (just what we need, another non-reality cooking competition show!), I didn't see anything about the food network doing it. But the food network is almost never about cooking anymore!

            in reply to: Sad Findings #28215
            Mike Nolan
            Keymaster

              I remember Jozy, though I didn't interact with her much. Sorry to hear of her passing.

              in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of January 10, 2021? #28197
              Mike Nolan
              Keymaster

                I don't think Mrs Cindy ever had a logon here, otherwise I could reassign the authorship of that thread to her. I suppose I could create an account for her, but that's kind of creepy.

                FWIW, here's the Southern Living recipe for Angel Biscuits, which they call a cross between biscuits and Parker House rolls

                in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of January 10, 2021? #28187
                Mike Nolan
                Keymaster

                  The cord is probably about six feet long, we have it plugged in to an extension cord, because the closest outlet is blocked by a desk. (It would have reached that one.)

                  I'm thinking I may eventually put a small UPS (uninterruptible power supply) in that room, my son tells me that the clock and possibly some other data can get reset if there's a power outage. (It may forget things like when the garden was set up and when it was last fed, and I don't know if there's an easy way to reset those.)

                  It does NOT need to be near a window, we just put it there because that was the most convenient place for it. We also set it on a coffee table so that we don't have to get down on our hands and knees to work on it. My wife can work on trimming it while sitting down.

                  My son has his (he now has at least 2 of them) on a counter in his basement laundry room, but he telecommutes and his desk is just around the corner, so he's down there for several hours most days.

                  If you get the farm system (24 pods) and have a wireless network, you can monitor your gardens from a cell phone, I think some of the smaller ones can do that as well.

                  I think we'll eventually be getting salads nearly every day from ours, we do have some tomato kits that my son ordered (I probably wouldn't have ordered them and I'm not sure when we'll use them), but I'm more interested in salad greens and herbs. My son has been growing tomatoes, bok choi and poblano peppers.

                  I think with 2 or 3 farm gardens you could pretty much grow your own leafy vegetables year round. You'd still need to buy root vegetables, though.

                  in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of January 3, 2021? #28176
                  Mike Nolan
                  Keymaster

                    We had mac and cheese with some fresh salad from the Aerogarden. We're harvesting from it every 3-4 days, usually getting enough for 2-4 salads depending on how big we want them. As a few more plants get into their prime picking range, we'll probably have to start picking every other day.

                    in reply to: Barley Flour #28170
                    Mike Nolan
                    Keymaster

                      I have ordered several things from walmart.com, including a 24 pound tub of wheat berries, sometimes they're better priced than Amazon, sometimes they're not. I see several sellers of barley flour on Amazon as well. I haven't tried ordering from them since the walmart plus plan (or whatever it is called) started, I don't know if that affects anything, like shipping costs.

                      Natural Grocers appears to have barley flour at a pretty good price, but there isn't one in Indiana.

                      in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of January 3, 2021? #28166
                      Mike Nolan
                      Keymaster

                        Today I'm making a batch of chicken noodle soup.

                        in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of January 3, 2021? #28158
                        Mike Nolan
                        Keymaster

                          I'm making semolina bread today.

                          in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of January 3, 2021? #28152
                          Mike Nolan
                          Keymaster

                            I am making a batch of bagels today.

                            in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of January 3, 2021? #28147
                            Mike Nolan
                            Keymaster

                              I'm starting a batch of chicken stock today, and making spaghetti with meat sauce for supper.

                              in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of December 27, 2020? #28133
                              Mike Nolan
                              Keymaster

                                Macarons are one of those things you either get or don't get.

                                I made some chocolate macarons for a dessert pot luck a few years ago (back when people were still doing pot lucks), and almost nobody even tried them. I think I took 24, I brought back 20 and I know I ate at least one at the pot luck.

                                This was before anybody local was selling them (at $2.00 or more each).

                                in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of January 3, 2021? #28122
                                Mike Nolan
                                Keymaster

                                  One of the older professors in my wife's department tripped over an electrical cable in his back yard a couple of months ago and broke his upper arm so bad they had to replace the upper arm bone with a titanium one.

                                  He's going to be in recovery mode for several more months and will not be teaching any in-person classes in the winter/spring semester. He used to ride his bike to campus in good weather, not sure when he'll be able to resume that. He was running 4-5 miles a day, he's back up to about 2 miles a day, but at a slower pace.

                                Viewing 15 posts - 4,036 through 4,050 (of 8,008 total)