skeptic7

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  • in reply to: Maryland Sheep and Wool and other festivals #33809
    skeptic7
    Participant

      Chocomouse, I will be driving from Lexington, Ky to Virginia on Friday and then I'll be at Maryland Sheep and Wool on Saturday and Sunday. So I'll see you there.
      Kimbob; Didn't realize you were near the DC area too.

      in reply to: Any thoughts on Breadtopia #33643
      skeptic7
      Participant

        There are some nice things on the Breadtopia site that are rather expensive but cute. The larger kitchen scales, the cast iron pizza pan, some of the bread knives, and the expensive thermometers. Look around for something that you wouldn't buy if its your own money. I especially like the wooden bread board.

        in reply to: Hot Water Heaters #33576
        skeptic7
        Participant

          I saw directions on youtube for replacing a plastic faucet with a brass one. If you have a plumber at your house for other problems you might want to have this done. I thought about trying to replace my faucet with a ball valve by myself but was too scared of breaking something to go through with it.
          The screwdriver bit is a deliberate safety precaution. It prevents the hot water heater from accidently draining if someone bumps into it.

          in reply to: Scales #33574
          skeptic7
          Participant

            I have a scale but it doesn't have the accuracy for baking. Its a spring type scale that measures in lbs and ounces. It works for weighing the final weight of dough before I divided up into buns for baking, and making hamburger patties and freezing slices of meat into sandwich portions.
            When I was poorer, I didn't think a scale was worth the money. A scale used to be so much more expensive than measuring cups and spoons. Thats what used to annoy me about articles that claimed a scale was absolutely "essential". The scale mentioned above was a present. I sift my flour and measure carefully and am willing to adjust recipes by adding water or flour by the spoonful as necessary, and take notes for future attempts. A scale isn't going to compensate for dry atmosphere.
            Do they still make electric scales that can be plugged into the wall? I get tired of buying batteries for everything.

            in reply to: Hot Water Heaters #33573
            skeptic7
            Participant

              I am surprised that your hot water heater had a predicted life of 5 years. I replaced mine some years ago when it started leaking but it was much older than that. I don't remember how old it was but perhaps 15 years. I tried to drain it twice a year to prevent mineral build up. I do the same on my new one except this year when I haven't been around enough.
              Is this gas or electric? Do you have very hard water? I made an effort to get a water heater with a brass drainage valve and not plastic valve.
              I had to get a different plumber to install my hot water heater. My regular plumber said that his knees didn't allow him to handle hot water heaters anymore.
              Running water is a wonderful thing. I've had to keep my water turned off most of the time last week while waiting for the plumber. A bathroom faucet was leaking.

              in reply to: Toasted Sugar #33476
              skeptic7
              Participant

                I like the idea of making toasted sugar while blind baking a pie crust.

                in reply to: Any plans for Pi Day (3/14) on Monday? #33426
                skeptic7
                Participant

                  BakerAunt;
                  I made the pie this morning. I would have done it yesterday but ran out of steam. The days when I would stay up till 2:00 am to bake a pie are over. Does a pie improved if baked the day before? I always try to make Thanksgiving Pies, and Picnic pies on the same day.

                  It was my favorite apple pie with oil base crust and Gold Rush apples. The apples were a little soft and withered they have been in the refrigerator since Mid Summer. These are particularly good keepers and were actually tastier and sweeter then when just picked.

                  in reply to: Any plans for Pi Day (3/14) on Monday? #33400
                  skeptic7
                  Participant

                    I might do my favorite apple pie, but today will be a much better day for baking than tomorrow.

                    in reply to: A Special Little Wedding Cake #33315
                    skeptic7
                    Participant

                      When you change a cake recipe from butter to oil, how does the texture change? I've done both oil and butter based cakes, but I have never adapted a recipe from one to another. Also is there a difference if you beat the sugar and oil together instead of just counting the oil as one of the liquids? You said that the original recipe for this cake had been butter based.
                      Thanks. Idle curiousity is rearing its head.

                      in reply to: Covid 19 in 2022 #33309
                      skeptic7
                      Participant

                        The rules for masking are going away all over the country. There are lots of people who aren't wearin masks around here but NY Times still has Lexington, KY ( Fayette County ) as extremely high risks. I wish masks were still mandated and enforced until there is extra room at the ICU in most of the hospitals. There is still too many people gettig very sick.
                        I was grocery shopping this weekend and some of the clerks are now unmasked and many of the customers.

                        in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of February 27, 2022? #33300
                        skeptic7
                        Participant

                          Joan, Happy Birthday

                          I have a favorite pumpkin, chickpea and curry soup which I made last week with half a Medium size squash. I think it was a squash, it might have been a small pumpkin. Anyway half of it made about 3 cups of 1 inch cubed pumpkin for the soup. This left me half a pumpkin to spare. I decided I wasnted another pumpkin soup but with a different flavor theme. I decided to go with a Mexican style. I made soup with a can of tomatoes with chile, cumin, onions, 2 cans of black beans and the pumpkin. It came out with a decided chili flavor.

                          I also made a fast focaccio bread to go with this. I used White Lily Flour and its very odd using all white flour when I mainly stick with whole wheat. Also I had to bake the bread until it was brown on top whereas I don't worry about color with whole wheat.

                          in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of February 27, 2022? #33297
                          skeptic7
                          Participant

                            I did an apple pie recipe this weekend. I'm still with my father in his house so I don't have all my tools, but my father kept my mother's pie pans so I could use those. I used the smaller pie pan which took about 7 cups of apples. I read Mike's apple pie filling recipe, and cooked the apples before putting them into the pie. This worked better than I expected and the slices were easy to fit in the pie crust. I was afraid the apple slices would burn or crumble when cooked but they didn't. I boiled the juice and thickened it with some flour before adding to the pie. I thought since the filling was precooked the pie would take less time to cook but it took about as long to get the crust brown.

                            in reply to: A Special Little Wedding Cake #33296
                            skeptic7
                            Participant

                              BakerAunt;
                              That sounds like a very tasty experiment. I like the idea of freezing the cake layers before transporting them. It would make them less likely to tear while in motion especially if they were between layers of cardboard or in a small cake container. You could make another test cake and see if the texture changes after freezing and thawing.

                              in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of January 23, 2022? #33066
                              skeptic7
                              Participant

                                Thanks for the pizza link. I like looking at that pizza but I don't think I would want to make it. Its for people who really love the edge part of the pizza crust.
                                I've tried baking a pie with two pie pans like that. It was hard to pick up the half cooked pie crust to flip it over and the inner pie pan was hard to remove. I'd like to try cooking bread dough that way to make a bread soup bowl, but that would require something a little deeper than a pie pan. Perhaps using large muffin tins?

                                in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of January 23, 2022? #33037
                                skeptic7
                                Participant

                                  Italian Cook could you give the link for the youtube Video please?

                                Viewing 15 posts - 196 through 210 (of 1,232 total)