skeptic7

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Viewing 15 posts - 946 through 960 (of 1,222 total)
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  • in reply to: The 2019 Gardens #16298
    skeptic7
    Participant

      Most of my Rosemary survived the winter. I had three small plants indoors as insurance. I gave the youngest away and planted the others in the ground. They were fine living in a pot over the previous summer but weren't thriving over the winter, I think they were root bound.
      The Chinese chives were doing great March-April but now many of them are dying. This looks root rot due to the rain and bad drainage. I had a similiar problem two years ago and hope that these will recover eventually. Also the chives are covered with small black insects.
      The Amaryllis went outside about three weeks ago and are doing fine so far.

      in reply to: Happy Birthday S. Wirth! #16276
      skeptic7
      Participant

        Happy Birthday!

        in reply to: What are you Baking the week of May 19, 2019? #16275
        skeptic7
        Participant

          I called up a friend to whine about my ceiling. He had a comforting matter of fact attitude toward the hole -- things happen -- ceilings are often fragile -- you should have seen my hole. He also told me how to fix this and why my proposed method -- drywall clips -- wouldn't work well. However he also admitted that he personally hated drywall and working with it and fixing holes and had called in expert help to deal with his ceiling problem.
          It was nice to hear from a friend who didn't think "BIG DISASTER" "Careless stupidity", but more "poor you, that is going to be messy. Its a irritating fix not a disaster. Common mishap"

          in reply to: Chocomouse’s Breakfast Cookies #16274
          skeptic7
          Participant

            I like this! It has much less fat than the King Arthur Flour Breakfast cookies. I'll have to try this when I have time. Thanks for sharing.

            in reply to: What are you Baking the week of May 19, 2019? #16269
            skeptic7
            Participant

              I have been having attic repair problems. Tuesday I was crawling around on the attic when to get further under the rafters, I decided to crawl on the drywall ceiling instead of on the joists. This would get me lower to the ground and hence I could get further under the ceiling and toward the edge.
              The ceiling promptly cracked under the weight of my knee and sent my spray bottle and some dry wall into the room below. I looked at the hole -- realized that the ceiling had shown evidence of previous water damage and cracks and determined that I should make the hole bigger and try to put a drywall patch in.
              After 4 attempts. my ceiling is now partially patched and I have learned several methods of not patching a largish hole in the dry wall. a) don't expect to cut a drywall patch the exact size and expect it to stay in place while you plaster it in -- gravity is not your friend
              b) don't expect fiberglass tape and patching compound to hold it in place -- gravity is not your friend and wet drywall compound won't hole anything in c) when trying to cut out a nice smooth hole near already weak and cracked dry wall don't expect the hole not to grow bigger d) your nice piece of plywood cut for your existing hole isn't long enough for the new hole
              Anyway it was way too hot to bake for most of the week, but by Friday I was desperate.
              I did a quick bread for the first time in a crockpot. It cooked on high for about 3 1/2 hours and was moist and tasty. This was my normal whole wheat scone thing with 1/2 cup blueberry jam for flavor and color and sweetener. I guess I can't call it a scone as it was much more cake light in texture and color but it was good.
              Saturday I did whole wheat buttermilk bread with a cinnamon swirl in the crockpot. About 4 hours, 2 hours on low and 2 hours on high and cooked to 190 degrees. Much better than no bread and great with hot chocolate. It was a soft dough just a little better than a batter and I didn't knead it very much. Slightly too moist but great toasted and the cinnamon sugar gives a nice sweet surprise in the bread.

              in reply to: Mason Jar Lid Pies #16268
              skeptic7
              Participant

                Chocomouse;
                Cute idea with the small mason jars! I like the idea that you don't actually bake in the jars which could crack. How was your last festival? Is your oven working better now?

                I like the idea of using English Muffin rings rather than Mason jar rings. I reuse my mason jar rings and many are rather dented and tarnished.

                in reply to: Daily Quiz for May 12, 2019 #16008
                skeptic7
                Participant

                  Missed this one too

                  in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of May 5, 2019? #16000
                  skeptic7
                  Participant

                    I stir fry asparagus. Break it up into 2-3 inch pieces and stir fry with a little oil. Well with me its more of a braise. I add a little garlic or ginger for flavor. Heat oil until hot, add asparagus, stir around a bit and then add some water and cover the pan. Stir occasionally but mainly let it cook till its at the texture you want. The first frying in hot oil acts sort of the same way blanching does and improves the flavor and color in a way that boiling won't.

                    in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of May 5, 2019? #15999
                    skeptic7
                    Participant

                      Oven thermometers are wonderful. I was told to get one after a cake domed up when I was trying to bake it. I found that oven ran 25 degrees too high. My current oven says its finished preheating when its about 50 degrees off -- it will eventually reach the proper temperature if you wait long enough.

                      I baked an apple slab pie last Tuesday with Winesaps and Gold Rush apples which had spent the winter in my refrigerator. The apple slab has more pie crust than a round pie and I was hankering for the crust.

                      in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of May 5, 2019? #15965
                      skeptic7
                      Participant

                        I did individual chicken pot pies last night to use up some leftover pie dough. I keep forgetting how time consuming this is to cut up the celery and carrots and onions even when the pie dough is ready. But it tastes so good, even when you have other things that should be done.

                        in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of May 5, 2019? #15922
                        skeptic7
                        Participant

                          I baked whole wheat English Muffins Sunday morning and took them to Maryland Sheep and Wool to share some with chocomouse. She was in a little booth in the big barn selling yarn and crochet hooks.
                          I also baked some pumpkin cranberry quick bread to share with my other friends. Chocomouse was being good and avoiding sugar so she didn't want to taste any. I was sharing food with people since I had done so very little knitting this year. I only had one simple hat to show off.

                          in reply to: Daily Quiz for April 24, 2019 #15745
                          skeptic7
                          Participant

                            I got it!

                            in reply to: What are you Baking the week of April 21, 2019? #15744
                            skeptic7
                            Participant

                              When I was making fat-free biscotti, I used to beat the egg yolks with sugar until fluffy, and serately beat the egg whites until fluffy then I would gently fold the flour into the yolks by thirds, alternating with the egg whites. This made them lighter and fluffier and less hard.
                              If you are adding oil to biscotti, you can add it to the egg yolk and beat it till fluffy. Start by beating the egg yolks until fluffy and then add a little oil at a time.
                              One of the reasons I went over to doing full butter biscotti was because it was so much easier. I could do everything in one bowl with a good mixer.

                              in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of April 14, 2019? #15665
                              skeptic7
                              Participant

                                Chocomouse;
                                I hope to be at Sheep and Wool on Saturday. I'll stop by and see you in the morning. I will be broke this year due to attic insulation, car repairs and dental bills but I will look forward to meeting friends and eating lamb sandwiches.

                                in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of April 14, 2019? #15643
                                skeptic7
                                Participant

                                  Chocomouse;
                                  Are you still going to Maryland Sheep and Wool? What is the name of your booth? Unless something drastic happens I will be there and would like to meet.

                                Viewing 15 posts - 946 through 960 (of 1,222 total)