[Mike Nolan]

Date sugar is an ingredient you're more likely to see at a store that specializes in mid-eastern or Indian foods, although Bob's Red Mill also sells it. (But they sell a lot of products that most stores don't stock.)

I saw an online article yesterday about cooking with maple syrup or maple sugar, it had one recipe that used a cup and a half of maple sugar!

[Mike Nolan]

My grandmother was German, she used a lot of ground cloves when cooking meats. I find cloves can be overpowering, more so than nutmeg or allspice.

[Mike Nolan]

Our older son has used a couple of those services, although he's a pretty good cook from scratch.

[Mike Nolan]

We had tuna salad sandwiches.

[Mike Nolan]

They closed Interstate 80 yesterday from around Grand Island to the western Omaha suburbs, and they haven't said when it'll be reopened. If you look at the cameras on I-80, at least one of them shows a semi across the middle of the roadway. On the news last night some of the accidents looked incredible, dozens of vehicles, mostly semis.

Our niece was visiting her mother and they're hoping to head for home (Des Moines) some time today, but even in Iowa travel is still 'not recommended'.

We think we got about 10 inches of snow here. Our driveway is still being dug out, but the street hasn't been plowed yet (we're on a bus route so we get plowed even when they don't do the residential streets), but we're not planning to go anywhere today.

[Mike Nolan]

The article says that the researchers destroyed 12 microwave ovens doing the research.

[Mike Nolan]

Tonight we're having meatballs in marinara with mushrooms and cheese toast.

I'll post my meatball recipe tomorrow.

[Mike Nolan]

I'm making Vienna Bread today, plus another batch of custard.

[Mike Nolan]

I made this a second time, using a little less water. It still seemed a bit slack, so I did two stretch and folds to add some structure, and I baked it another 3 minutes (total of 48.)

Here's a slice:

[Mike Nolan]

For a 100% whole wheat bread, it's a fairly open crumb. Here's a slice. (Keep in mind that this was made in an 8" loaf pan, not a one-pound pan):

[Mike Nolan]

I made the 100% whole wheat bread that you do in the food processor again. I used a little less water this time, it still seemed a little slack after the bulk rise so I did a couple of stretch and folds before putting it in the 8" bread pan. The final rise took less than an hour. It did not collapse this time. I'm baking it for 48 rather than 45 minutes because it didn't seem quite done in the center last time.

I'll let you know how it came out after it is cool enough to slice but it smells great again.

[Mike Nolan]

We had tacos tonight.

[Mike Nolan]

Stir fry beef and broccoli here tonight.

[Mike Nolan]

Garlic is used way too much, many restaurants use it as their dominant flavoring.

Interestingly enough, when we were in Northern Italy in 2006 (Turin), we found very few restaurants used garlic in their cooking, even the pizza was garlic-free. Southern Italian cooking is more prone to use garlic, but even there I'm told it isn't as omnipresent as it is in 'Americanized Italian' cooking.

[Mike Nolan]

I've seen garlic used in desserts, mostly on shows like Chopped. Black garlic might work, I suppose, it has a strange sweetness to it, not that I'd dare try it at home.

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