Floof!! Waaaaay too early.
7 years ago
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Floof: Cherries!!!!
Comments (31)I am fortunate in that across the street is a lovely old sour cherry tree -- and the owner's family doesn't care for the fruit, so they let me pick all I can. I've planted my own, though -- a North Star tree, and 3 bush cherries (Romeo, Juliet and Carmine Jewel). The bush cherries have set fruit for the first time this year -- I can't wait to taste them! I would have to say that a fresh picked peach is my real favorite, though. Love getting them from the orchards up near Lake Erie. I had never had a fresh apricot before I moved to San Diego - the house we rented had a tree in the yard. I thought those lovely, so sweet fruits were some kind of peach until I baked them into a pie and discovered that they were apricots!...See MoreIt's too early for this
Comments (13)I was at an art event yesterday afternoon and was rather taken by the landscaping of the site (who needs art when ya got plants??). One area was planted with a wide swathe of Mukdenia rossii and even though it was in mostly shade, it had already turned its characteristic fall red color. I think it must have been some drought stress as mine in a similar situation but with plentiful irrigation is still very green....See MoreFestive Food Floof! Do you dare?!?!?
Comments (30)While I've been baking bread and challah (brioche type dough) all my life, the only yeast pastries I've made often are hamentashen in a sweet version of my mother's challah recipe. Last week, I had this sudden thought, "Pumpkin babka!" This has been a great year for pumpkins. So instead of figuring it out myself, I searched for recipes on the 'net, and found a chocolate with pumpkin dough, and one more like what I'd had in mind, which was pumpkin-pecan filling in a rich, soft dough. I usually have great results with blog recipes, and I was sleep deprived, so even though I reviewed the ingredients before saving the recipe, I didn't actually read them through for quality. BIG mistake! I don't know if it's meant to be a sabotage (the comments were useless, only discussing the pretty pictures in the post). It sort of reads, to my bread self like it was partially scalled with oopsies. I've done that scaling a recipe for myself in my head, without writing it down when I was tired. I don't know, for sure, but looking back, it also doesn't match the instructions in the demonstration. It's, um, whack! There were plenty of places where I had warning signs and should have stopped and read it over and quit, but I didn't. I was tired beyond thought. When I started the first step, and it said 2 1/2 TBSP yeast to 3 -4 cups flour, I should have stopped. I just figured she meant teaspoons, and adjusted accordingly. Then I read the gigantic amound of sugar and salt. I always adjust those to taste anyway, so I kept going. When it said 8 eggs and half a pound of butter, I just figured she knew something I needed to learn. Um. No. The result, as you who bake know, was a glutinous cake batter. I added about a cup of flour and ran it with the dough hook and let it "rise" (not that any rising was happening). Good thing I've learned so much about high hydration baking. I poured it out onto the baking mat. There was enough gluten development at this point that it didn't spill away, just made a stable lake. Much as I would have liked to use my big steel bench scraper, one can't on silicone, but a big bunch of cast flour on it, scrape up some goop with the small plastic bench scraper and push it over, led to a more stable mound. Still too soft for even a stretch and fold, but holding its shape as a mound. I covered and let it rise. And it did! And when I heavily dusted with more flour, it was manageable and rolled. It was too soft to twist nicely, but enough so that the middle has a nice distribution. You can't see the layers, though. The dough was still too soft and smushed together. And it was so soft that the outside was almost burning before the inside was done, and the corners were dry because of that. The filing was good. That's a keeper. So is the butteriness of the dough. The end result was fine eating, though not exquisite. I think if I added a little extra butter to the hamentashen dough it would be more like what one needs, and I think more filling proportionate to the dough. I had been surprised that it didn't call for toasting the pecans, but they came out great from raw. Because of the restriction I put on the excess sugar, it's really good with cranberry sauce! While chatting, i mentioned it to the Thanksgiving cousin, and that I'd put the second loaf in the freezer. She asked me to bring it, but I don't know if anyone ate any. At least I don't have to find someone to feed it to! Which is why one tests recipes ahead. I also tried to make the handkerchielf rolls. I don't think there's any saving that one. I mean, they're rolls but they have a kind of gummy mouth feel, and that's after I overbaked them a little! Nasty. The recipe was designed to sell the baking dish. I'm thinking I could rescue them with custard. Pumpkin bread pudding is in the offing. Maybe with a cranberry hard sauce. The worst breads make the best bread puddings!...See MoreFloof! Rate your year!
Comments (31)5/10 Tons of ups and down. I had Covid which finally showed up on a rapid test April Fools Day. It was not funny. At. All.... I was sick for 12 days at home until it finally came back negative, then took more probably 3 more weeks to feel back to normal once I went back to work. I was constantly out of breath doing the smallest jobs. I still have some brain fog. We went to BC to see my parents and sister, and also my nephew got married (again) in Harrison Hot Springs. So that was wonderful. My son and his little boy drove out with us and the four of us had such a good time driving all over the lower mainland. I ended up with bronchitis in October/November that was worse than the Covid! Nothing I took helped relieve the symptoms. With Covid Dayquil and Tylenol were my best friends. Didn't touch the bronchitis. I was sick for over three weeks and only took 3 days off work. I've masked ever since. Christmas was really nice. My kids always come over and this year my youngest son has a new girlfriend who has a 4 year old and they came for the day too. It's New Years Eve now and not sure who all is coming over for the Dutch Oliebollen tradition. My daughter for sure with her boyfriend. I'm making tons so if there are leftovers, YAY me! LOL...See More- 7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoamylou321 thanked raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
- 7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
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