Mike Nolan

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  • 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 9 years, 1 month ago by Mike Nolan.
      • This reply was modified 9 years, 1 month 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 9 years, 1 month 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 9 years, 2 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 9 years, 2 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 9 years, 2 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 9 years, 2 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                    • This reply was modified 9 years, 2 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                    • This reply was modified 9 years, 2 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                    in reply to: Recipes uploaded from the BC, by original poster #2449
                    Mike Nolan
                    Keymaster

                      I understand the heat issue. I spent last week at Doane University in Crete NE, where it was in the 90's and I kept moving from one air-conditioned building to another. Sunday I came down with a 101.6 fever, which I attribute to the many rapid changes in temperature. I'm OK now, but I felt lousy for about 48 hours.

                      I'll see what I can do about posting an updated count of recipes by original poster tonight.

                      • This reply was modified 9 years, 2 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                      in reply to: Any suggestions for very low carb meals? #2421
                      Mike Nolan
                      Keymaster

                        I'm learning a lot about the disconnect between carbs and calories.

                        in reply to: Recipes uploaded from the BC, by original poster #2420
                        Mike Nolan
                        Keymaster

                          How many more BC recipes do folks have waiting to be uploaded? Do I need to run another summary report?

                          I think Sarah said that Zen had saved them all, over 4000 recipes, but if she's been posting them to her site, I haven't figured out where.

                          I may need to start looking around for better search tools, especially for the recipe area.

                          I need to get a couple of blog articles finished and posted, I'm working on what will likely become a two or three part series on knives and how to sharpen them, but getting the photomicrography done right is taking a while.

                          We have over 50 threads captured from the BC now, too. Lots of good stuff in them.

                          • This reply was modified 9 years, 2 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                          in reply to: Recipes uploaded from the BC, by original poster #2346
                          Mike Nolan
                          Keymaster

                            As of earlier today, we have over 900 recipes posted. Thanks to everyone for your efforts!

                            in reply to: Any suggestions for very low carb meals? #2345
                            Mike Nolan
                            Keymaster

                              I've done several stir-frys in the last month, and have been experimenting with what ingredients go well together. Artichokes go well with mushrooms and snow peas, not so well with broccoli. I generally make a small amount of rice, though my wife usually doesn't have any.

                              in reply to: Any suggestions for very low carb meals? #2330
                              Mike Nolan
                              Keymaster

                                Apples and applesauce are fairly high in carbs, 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce is 27 carbs, but I'll look at that recipe.

                                BTW, if you're wondering where she came up with this diet, have you seen the infomercial with Jerry Mathers (the Beaver from Leave it to Beaver) for the Diabetes Solution Kit?

                                Since she started this program, she's been able to cut back on her blood sugar medication and has been steadily losing weight after having gone close to a year on a 1200 calorie a day diet without losing any weight.

                                • This reply was modified 9 years, 2 months ago by Mike Nolan.
                                in reply to: Any suggestions for very low carb meals? #2318
                                Mike Nolan
                                Keymaster

                                  She's also been eating a lot of omelets and fried eggs, but I'm not fond of either. I will eat a hard boiled egg if we have them on hand, or put some on a salad, but otherwise I like eggs IN things, not as the main ingredient.

                                Viewing 15 posts - 7,471 through 7,485 (of 7,632 total)