Mike Nolan

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  • in reply to: Dying chives #3000
    Mike Nolan
    Keymaster

      I've always grown chives outside, and once you get them started they're very hardy from year to year, in fact the problem is they spread out and migrate to other areas of the garden. We have a big patch of chives in the front garden that, as far as I know, neither of us put there, we can probably thank the birds for it.

      People say basil is self-seeding, I've never had much luck with that. I've had better luck with oregano, we've had a couple patches of it that have come up multiple years, though I'm not sure I've seen it this year (but I haven't specifically looked for it, either.)

      in reply to: Recipes uploaded from the BC, by original poster #2984
      Mike Nolan
      Keymaster

        With my wife on a 20 carb diet, cooking here has been greatly simplified, lots of steaks and fish and the occasional roasted chicken or ham steak for proteins, salad or broccoli for a side dish. No potatoes, no bread, no sandwiches, not even burgers.

        in reply to: Dying chives #2980
        Mike Nolan
        Keymaster

          Rosemary is zone 7 or 8, freezing will kill it. It will survive here if planted in a pot and brought in over the winter, but it needs plenty of sunshine and apparently more TLC than we give it, because we almost always lose it over the winter, probably by failing to water it properly. My wife's sister, who has published a book on gardening, has a big rosemary plant in her living room that she's had for years, so it's possible to keep it going here in Nebraska. But she has a nice south-facing window in her living room, we don't.

          in reply to: Happy Independence Day #2878
          Mike Nolan
          Keymaster

            I pretty much gave up on doing fireworks a year or two after we moved into this house; our neighbors for blocks in every direction more than make up for it, it sounded (and smelled) like World War 3 by about 10 PM last night.

            • This reply was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by htfoot.
            in reply to: Recipes uploaded from the BC, by original poster #2843
            Mike Nolan
            Keymaster

              The fall-off in posts is a little disappointing but not surprising. I'm sure lots of folks missed seeing the relatively abrupt discontinuance by KAF. We also don't have the benefit of casual viewers from other parts of the KAF site wandering into the forums. I know I don't bake as much in the summertime, I assume others may be similarly inclined.

              I had assumed all along as I was drawing up plans for my own site that it could take a year or longer to build up traffic to the point where it looked like it was worth the effort. Getting a decent base of recipes up should help jump start that process, but getting a library of instructional blog posts and a reputation for well-written instructive articles may help even more, by drawing folks in looking for help and by moving us up the list in the search engines.

              With over 1200 recipes on the site, the need for a better recipe search process is becoming apparent.

              • This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by Mike Nolan.
              in reply to: Swedish Limpa Bread #2773
              Mike Nolan
              Keymaster

                Aside from ordering it from King Arthur Flour, I've never found a supplier for first clear flour here in Nebraska, and neither could my neighbor, who supplies local restaurants and bakeries. Apparently it is seldom used outside of the northeast, where it is a key component of a New York deli-style rye bread.

                As to what it is, here's a better definition than one I could write:

                http://www.theartisan.net/flour_descriptions_and_definitions.htm

                • This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                in reply to: Questions about judel’s Chocolate Soufflees recipe #2766
                Mike Nolan
                Keymaster

                  I don't make dessert souffles very often, but I make cheese souffles about once a month except in summertime, and aside from the base the instructions are fairly similar.

                  I'd change it to 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar, and mix in 1/4 of the egg whites before folding in the rest. (This is called 'lightening' in egg white/souffle recipes, it helps make the folding in part easier because the souffle base is less thick.)

                  • This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                  • This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                  in reply to: What are you planting in your garden this year? #2667
                  Mike Nolan
                  Keymaster

                    They had a big tub planter out at Sams that was kind of tempting. We wound up putting just 5 tomato plants in this year (2 brandywine, 2 roma and 1 that I think was either early girl or better boy) rather than my usual 25. I see a few tiny tomatoes on them, but I don't expect any ripe ones for another month. The farmer's market tomatoes have been pretty good though.

                    We did get the cover crop (buckwheat and alfalfa) seeded in the tomato garden bed last week, we've got lots of tiny plants coming up. The plan is to let them grow until they bloom, then till it under and possibly put in a second buckwheat planting in September. Alfalfa is a perennial, but farmers have been rotating grain crops with alfalfa for years, so I don't expect major carryover problems if we do it right.

                    The birds got most of our black raspberry crop this year, it wasn't going to be a bumper crop anyway, though.

                    • This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                    • This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                    in reply to: Sourdough Rye Bread #2665
                    Mike Nolan
                    Keymaster

                      For me the main challenge with rye breads is to keep the dough from becoming gummy from over-kneading.

                      Rising times for home recipes are ALWAYS approximations, local temperature and humidity conditions and even minor variances in moisture level (like a teaspoon more water) can have a BIG impact in how much it rises. On a really warm day, rising times are about half of what they are on a cool day for me.

                      I understand the vacation part, I had last week off and was at a seminar in Crete NE all week, though I actually did more baking at home than normal because I was baking for the group. My wife will be heading to London later this month and I'll be going to Indianapolis in August for my company's annual meetings, so my cooking/baking schedule will be totally out of kilter.

                      • This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                      in reply to: Sourdough Rye Bread #2641
                      Mike Nolan
                      Keymaster

                        I don't know how KAF's help desk software works, but the help desk software I'm familiar with lets a tech handle several conversations at one time, each in a separate window. It'd be pretty easy for me to mis-remember which window is which and give a response in the wrong one that becomes a non sequitor.

                        Production kitchen baking is quite a bit different from home baking, proofing and baking temperatures are more closely controlled, resulting in loaves that don't have to be checked for internal temperature by an experienced baker.

                        in reply to: Any suggestions for very low carb meals? #2622
                        Mike Nolan
                        Keymaster

                          Lots of good ideas, but I can't eat shrimp and my wife won't eat lamb and can't eat anything with garlic, curry, cilantro, red raspberries or saffron in it. (The cilantro isn't an allergy issue, but she has the genetic trait that makes cilantro taste like soap.)

                          Neither of us will eat liver or most other organ meats, though I will eat chicken hearts and beef tongue, though I've never cooked tongue. We both like liver sausage, strangely enough.

                          Fruits are OK in moderation. One medium strawberry is about 1 carb.

                          • This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                          in reply to: Sourdough Rye Bread #2619
                          Mike Nolan
                          Keymaster

                            Peter Reinhardt says rye breads should have an internal temperature of 190F. I've always used 195, because I find at 190 a rye bread can be a little gummy until it has cooled for an hour or longer, and our patience usually doesn't last that long.

                            However, I very seldom take internal temperatures on breads these days myself, if it looks done and smells done, I take it out. Many's the time my nose tells me my bread is done, and the timer I set for it goes off while I'm walking to the kitchen to check it. Sometimes I do the 'thump' test, but that doesn't work as well for some types of bread.

                            Some sources claim that sourdough breads don't have to be baked to as high an internal temperature as non-sourdough breads, but I don't know of any scientific study of that.

                            I've never had a rye loaf 'sing' for me, I've always thought that's more characteristic of a baguette which is being baked in a hotter oven, say 450 or 500. The singing is caused by rapid contraction of the crisp outer crust as it hits the cooler air.

                            • This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                            in reply to: Recipes uploaded from the BC, by original poster #2616
                            Mike Nolan
                            Keymaster

                              We're well over 1100 recipes uploaded now.

                              BTW, my Internet provider was having problems this morning, so the site was down for a couple of hours.

                              in reply to: Recipes uploaded from the BC, by original poster #2518
                              Mike Nolan
                              Keymaster

                                I left a message on her site saying I'd be happy to host the files on my server, it's got plenty of space. It'd be good to have them in more than one place, just in case one site develops problems.

                                • This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                                in reply to: Recipes uploaded from the BC, by original poster #2481
                                Mike Nolan
                                Keymaster

                                  Here's an updated list of 882 recipes uploaded from the KAF BC grouped by the original poster. This does not include 139 recipes that don't have 'by xxx' in the title, I think most of those are the individual's own recipes. (About 40 of those are mine, for example.)

                                  4paws2go 10
                                  Altardee 4
                                  ancameni 23
                                  anna 15
                                  anndyer 1
                                  annee 8
                                  annie9235 2
                                  beabaker 9
                                  Beach Dee 1
                                  Beachdee 34
                                  Bellesaz 3
                                  bettina 49
                                  bettina and naug 1
                                  biglakejudy 14
                                  bivs99 17
                                  bmwat1 9
                                  bocca 39
                                  booca 1
                                  Calico 17
                                  Carla 16
                                  Cindy Leigh 15
                                  Cyndiok 39
                                  Dachshundlady 33
                                  franciepad 27
                                  francipad 1
                                  frick 2
                                  GinaG 8
                                  Granny 1
                                  Janiebakes 4
                                  jej 96
                                  Karen Noll 24
                                  Kathyd 9
                                  kathyfromkansas 5
                                  Kimbob 58
                                  knead2quilt 3
                                  lahotfoot 1
                                  Livingwell (Pene 1
                                  Lorraine 1
                                  macy 14
                                  mike nolan and r 1
                                  Mrs. Cindy 5
                                  Mumpy 12
                                  naughtysquirrel 3
                                  nloxford 23
                                  omaria 5
                                  PaddyL 31
                                  pammyowl 3
                                  pat88 13
                                  patsacookn 6
                                  Petra (OBC) 4
                                  Pmiker 3
                                  psycnrs1 22
                                  Reagan 29
                                  Reagan and lorra 1
                                  sandi81 1
                                  sue/theviewfrom. 1
                                  Teachingcotton 6
                                  Twin2 27
                                  Uninvited Guest 17
                                  Virginislander 27
                                  wendyb964 1
                                  Wingboy 25
                                  wonky 1

                                  • This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                                  • This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                                  • This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                                Viewing 15 posts - 7,201 through 7,215 (of 7,369 total)