Wed. Feb 11th, 2026

skeptic7

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Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 1,304 total)
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  • in reply to: Adventures with my Ankarsrum Mixer #48483
    skeptic7
    Participant

      Thank you. Is an oil cake like a muffin recipe? Do you worry about glutein development? I can't remember making an oil based cake. I've made sponge cakes with no oil except for the egg yolks.

      skeptic7
      Participant

        I went to the grocery store (Krogers) as soon as I saw this. I can buy the store brand of frozen concentrate but they only have one variety. Minute Maid orange juice came in Regular, Extra Pulp ( Country style ), and Calcium supplement. I will miss Minute Maid but glad that some orange juice is available. Frozen concentrate is much better for bicyclists and anyone who has to carry the groceries home and is useful in some recipes.

        in reply to: Adventures with my Ankarsrum Mixer #48444
        skeptic7
        Participant

          Thanks for writing so much about your mixer. Do you think the Ankarsrum does a better job of mixing dough than your old machine? Do you like using it better? I found using a mixer gives me a moister bread dough as I don't need to add flour when kneading.
          Have you tried to make quick bread or cookies with it?

          in reply to: What are you Cooking the week of February 1, 2026? #48433
          skeptic7
          Participant

            I had pancakes for breakfast slathered with maple syrup and a little butter. Also a piece of ham. I ate all the pancakes ( 1/4 recipe ) instead of saving some for tomorrow.

            in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of February 1, 2026? #48422
            skeptic7
            Participant

              Chocomouse;
              I scald milk before using it to deactivate the enzymes. This does make a difference for whole wheat bread, and makes less of a difference when using white flour. The enzymes in normal powdered milk haven't been deactivated so I reconstitute and scald it. KAF special baker's powdered milk has been treated to deactivate the enzymes so it doesn't need to be scalded and can be added with the dry ingredients.
              Milk powder doesn't need to be treated for cookies and quick breads.

              in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of February 1, 2026? #48394
              skeptic7
              Participant

                I made potato rolls with raisins. This has come to be my default roll recipe with lots of butter and eggs and of course potato flakes. I made a point of getting enough milk to be able to bake this before the last storm. I don't have powdered milk here at my father's house, at my home I make sure that I always have some for baking emergencies. This is regular powdered milk and I have to reconstitute it and scald it before using it in bread. I have had KAF special baker's powdered milk before but stopped stocking it because I could only use it for baking. Regular powdered milk could be used in soup or for hot chocolate.

                in reply to: Adventures with my Ankarsrum Mixer #48388
                skeptic7
                Participant

                  Thanks for writing this up!! How much bread dough have you kneaded at one time? What do you think are the upper and lower limits?
                  Mincemeat sounds wonderful. I haven't seen any in the grocery stores for awhile.

                  in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of January 25, 2026? #48378
                  skeptic7
                  Participant

                    I did basic scones with dried cranberries yesterday. These are the basic scones with white flour and sugar, very tasty. I made 16 small scones instead of the 8 the recipe called for. These were very good and I only have one small scone left today,

                    Baker Aunt; I notice you use Barley Flour in many of your recipes. What advantage do you get from doing this? Is it just the taste?

                    in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of January 25, 2026? #48364
                    skeptic7
                    Participant

                      BakerAunt; Happy Birthday

                      Aaron, I did think your daughter was younger. A toque is much more elegant than a hair net; but you can ask her if she has any ideas. Perhaps a turban or a tignon or a French knit cap?

                      in reply to: Kitchen remodel #48339
                      skeptic7
                      Participant

                        Was the work triangle suppose to be range -- refrigerator -- sink? I think that utensil/silverware drawer needs to be handy for almost everything. Mix -- get a new spoon, fry -- get different spatula, while refrigerator and sink doesn't need to be as often available.

                        in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of January 25, 2026? #48337
                        skeptic7
                        Participant

                          Aaron;
                          Buy a white chef hat so she can stick her hair up and under it. She might think it more fun and use it. These are very amusing and I wish I had gotten one earlier. I've baked bread in a dutch oven too, and that works like a cloche in keeping the moisture in and having the heat evenly around the bread.

                          in reply to: Rustic Sourdough Wholegrain Bread in a Cloche #48334
                          skeptic7
                          Participant

                            Looks great! I'm glad that you are using the cloche top and working with a cold oven. Hot ovens are just so scary as your vulnerable hands try to move the bread and bread bowl and cloche top around, I'm impressed that you can slash the dough successfully. My bread normally tears when I try to cut it with my sharpest knife and I haven't got a special knife for that.

                            in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of January 25, 2026? #48333
                            skeptic7
                            Participant

                              It was so cold Sunday that I was looking for an excuse to run the oven all day. I laid plans for beef and barley soup made in the oven. I put beef, onions, carrots, celery, barley and a can of tomatoes in a magnalite cooker which had been my mother's, at 1:30 and cooked it at 290 for the next 4 hours or 5 hours. After a couple of hours the soup was at a gentle boil, and stayed that way. The snow didn't start till Saturday afternoon so I had time for a trip to the grocery store and got the barley. It was Quaker quick pearled barley which was not as good as regular pearled barley but much better than nothing.
                              The store had a run on sugar and Nabisco crackers of all things. I would have bought some crackers. The trip to the store Friday showed a distinct shortage of milk and bread and toilet paper as expected.

                              in reply to: Crystalized maple syrup #48124
                              skeptic7
                              Participant

                                When I canned this year's maple syrup last month, I tried my best to get all the maple syrup out of the plastic jugs. Then I put some water in the jugs to get the last bit of goodness and used it in a hot lemon and maple syrup drink instead of honey. This turned out amazingly good even if it didn't have the soothing affect on my throat that hot lemon and honey would have.

                                in reply to: The new Food Pyramid #48123
                                skeptic7
                                Participant

                                  I haven't looked at food pyramids for a decade or so, but went to the internet to see the new one. I plan to ignore this one completely. Its seems to imply that you should eat as much or more meat than whole grains. I don't think it even tries to graph how much of each food group should make up a balanced diet. I like the "My Plate" illustration better. Has a new version of this been released?

                                Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 1,304 total)