[Mike Nolan]

The guy who cuts our grass is supposed to be here today to do the lawn, he works the overnight shift at the railroad shop working on diesels, lawns is a side job. Not sure if the yard is dry enough to do it with a riding mower, but he's got a big non-riding one, too.

[Mike Nolan]

I've been increasing the amount of time I knead breads in the mixer, and it makes better bread.

It is possible to over-knead bread in a mixer, but it takes something like 30 minutes to do it. At some point the gluten structure just collapses. I've actually read one book that suggested you do it--once--so that you know what to watch for.

I think that same book said it isn't possible to over-knead bread by hand, you will collapse before the gluten structure does. 🙂

[Mike Nolan]

We had sandwiches tonight.

Getting more rain this evening, our yard looked bad before all this rain, too many weeds and not enough grass; we were hoping to reseed this spring with microclover and buffalo grass seed but decided to wait until September due to the drought-imposed voluntary watering restrictions. If I'd have know we'd have two weeks of monsoon season, I might have gone ahead.

And with all the rain, it hasn't been cut in two weeks and looks just awful. I'm going to start cutting it even shorter in the hopes of killing stuff off.

[Mike Nolan]

Yeah, I was thinking I'd do a temperature test rather than the toothpick test the next time around. We've given away 4 zucchini in the last two days, all in the 12-18 ounce range. There will be more to pick in a few days and I don't know how long this variety will continue to set fruit, possibly well into September.

I made semolina bread today. The last batch came out very dense, I probably didn't final proof them long enough. I was on the phone dealing with a customer support issue when the timer went off during final proof today, and as a result they got a little over-proofed this time. But they aren't bad looking about 5 inches wide x 3 inches high (at the peak) by 15 inches long, with a very open crumb. Taste good, too. I told Diane these loaves will probably be half the carbs per slice of the last batch.

[Mike Nolan]

I haven't done a pizza on the outdoor grill yet this summer, gotta plan on that.

[Mike Nolan]

I think I understand why mini-loafs of things like zucchini bread and banana bread are so popular at farmer's markets, they're easier to get baked all the way through without having the edges be unacceptably over-baked.

One other factor: This 8x4 zucchini bread weighs about 35 ounces, which is quite a lot. I plan to cut it into slices and freeze a good portion of it, like I did with the cinnamon/nutmeg/chocolate chip one I made a few days ago.

I might also try this recipe in a muffin tin. I'm guessing it'd make at least a dozen muffins.

[Mike Nolan]

This was baked in an 8x4 pan. Both of the zucchini bread recipes I've made in the past week have been underbaked, I just don't trust the toothpick test for quick breads, especially zucchini bread, which tends to be relatively heavy.

[Mike Nolan]

IMHO farmers markets have never been a way to save money, sometimes I even doubt whether its a way to get the best and freshest produce.

But it is a way to support farming.

[Mike Nolan]

Here's a picture of the blueberry zucchini bread. Even though I baked it for 15 minutes longer than the recipe called for, it still seems a little underdone in the center. I used fresh blueberries, maybe that increases the baking time?

Tastes a lot like a blueberry muffin. It's a 'stealth' vegetable dish. 🙂 The recipe calls for a cup of shredded zucchini, I used around 160 grams, which is probably over 1 1/2 cups.

Recipe I used:

https://www.italianfoodforever.com/wp-json/mv-create/v1/creations/1342/print

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[Mike Nolan]

tomato and salami sandwiches here, with a little cantaloupe and some blueberry zucchini bread (see baking thread.)

[Mike Nolan]

Depending on the exact model and seller, the bowl lift KA models can be found for anywhere from around $275 to over $500.

IMHO, $120 is a good price for such a mixer.

[Mike Nolan]

The other day I made a zucchini bread with cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate chips in it, it needed a little more time in the oven. Today I made one with buttermilk and blueberries, it smells a lot like blueberry muffins. I gave it about 10 minutes longer than the recipe called for and it came out of the pan cleanly but isn't cool enough to slice yet.

[Mike Nolan]

There are some tomato plants that don't have fruit on them yet, but I think at least one plant in each variety (8 of them) has several fruit on them, and some are getting close to tennis ball size, though no signs of color yet.

This cool damp weather has been a real boon for setting fruit. I think one of the spaghetti squash seeds I planted last Monday has sprouted, too.

I've got broccoli plants that are two feet tall but no signs of broccoli heads yet.

[Mike Nolan]

We have decided we prefer the Moomies buns for hamburgers, they're a little softer.

Neither recipe make what I would call the ideal bun for Chicago-style hot dogs, though. Still searching.

I think the BBGA recipe might make a good bun for Italian Beef sandwiches, they're dipped in au jus and need to not fall apart afterwards. Might also make good pizza bread. So, I'll probably make a batch of 5 using my Chicago Metallic sandwich roll pan, possibly next week.

I've got some Bueno Beef Italian Beef in the freezer, a 3 pound tub of it that I found at Aldi, of all places. (That weight includes the au jus, I suspect, I think it'd make 6-8 sandwiches.)

[Mike Nolan]

Here's a picture of the zucchini plants. This is actually two seeds in one hill, a bush variety like this might be better one seed per hill.

My wife like to tell the story of the year her stepmother's brother decided to grow zucchini. He thought you got one zucchini per plant, so he put in like 24 of them.

He was literally bringing big baskets of them from Omaha to Lincoln every weekend because he'd run out of people in Omaha he could give them to.

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