How is Your Christmas Cooking or Baking Coming Along?
8 years ago
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It's December, how is your build coming along?
Comments (72)I am proud, thrilled and ecstatic to say I am DONE! Or as done as we are going to get for now, anyway. We have been working on this house for over 5 years and we have nearly moved in. No CO yet...we will get that next month. I still have lots of little things to do like touch-up the nail marks on the trim and building a chase around the range hood vent pipe, but other wise I am done with the main part of the house. The sunroom needs flooring and trim still and the master bedroom and bath is not even started yet (except for framing), but it is so nice that all the hard work has finally paid off and I have a beautiful home now....See MoreRainy day baking and cooking... What are you cooking today?
Comments (24)Although it seems like a forgiving dough - I can taste that I cheated on the overnight ferment. Sorry your casserole dishes aren't big enough. I bake in a toaster oven so when my bread rises it burns on top. Another reason P a L'A is good - it spreads out more than up. I brush the bread with some slightly salty water right before it goes in the oven. But I lose that lovely floury rustic surface. Do you have a pizza stone? That helped me get a better crust back when I last had an oven - now I use it in my grill to make pitas. Also I read somewhere or another about using a SS restaurant dish lid as a cloche though I've never seen one large enough. I am currently jealously watching a neighbor build a stone wood-fired bread oven by his pond - the ultimate bread oven. He says he will advise me when I am ready to build one - and I definitely do not lack for rocks. However right now my 'yard' is festooned with logs, brush and firewood piles. Hopefully in the near future the logs will become a woodshed and I can move the firewood inside. Then maybe a bread oven - which will entail moving rocks. I'm tired just thinking about it all. Making some tea and toast and taking a nap....See MoreChristmas Baking, Cookies part 2: The Princess bakes
Comments (9)Yes, that's her "little" brother in the background, he's 15 now. (sigh) And if cookies are involved, you'll find him there, LOL. We started with her favorite, chocolate peanut butter no bake cookies. I reminded her that when she was small she HATED oatmeal, and so wouldn't even taste the no bake cookies. When she finally tasted one she loved it, and I keep telling her she's going to have to eat more to make up for all those years she could have been enjoying them and missed out. She is also very talented, because she is the only person I know who can cut the palm of her hand on a cookie scoop, LOL. She says it's because she's left handed, I say it's just a gift. (grin) Anyway, we kept on baking, and made her second favorite, snickerdoodles: She came over after work and by the time we finished those it was about 10 pm, so one more cookie. She wanted to try a new recipe, White Chocolate and Peppermint cookies. They were chewy and good, although quite sweet. She broke up the candy canes with my mortar and pestle while I made room on the freezer in the garage for more cooling racks. We were trying to hurry the cooling process along so she could get home, and the garage was pretty cold, so that worked well. OK, I think that's enough cookies for this year, although now I really want to try those cranberry lemon bars that Olychick posted, the one from the NYT recipe site. Merry Christmas, I'm making the sugar manufacturers very happy this year! Annie...See MoreHow About Sharing Your Favorite Cooking/Baking Hints?
Comments (64)Thank you for that tip to use an instant read thermometer for baking. That never occurred to me. I mean, duh! Question for the experienced bakers - do you think a pecan pie would be the same temp as pumpkin pie? I stopped making pecan pie at Thanksgiving because for some reason it just never seems to set anymore. No idea why. I used to make it every year, used same recipe every year, and then one year it was liquidy in the middle. The next times I would cook it longer and longer but it would never set. I'm thinking maybe I'd try again this year and use my instant read thermometer....See More- 8 years ago
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