Cooking – Marked Up

Cheddar

I’ve pretty much given up on every other sort of cheese – unless it needs to be melted; cheddar doesn’t melt well – and settled on cheddar as the type to have on hand. When I write “cheddar” on the grocery list, I mean a block of not-expensive cheddar that I can slice for sandwiches,Continue reading “Cheddar”

Skill or Luck?

In the best of times, I have issues with setting the timers needed to successfully make bread. For various reasons, which probably should be a blog post, I have a new phone. It upgrades and restarts itself every day, so far. Apparently, Android upgrades must be applied one-by-one in sequence rather than just skipping toContinue reading “Skill or Luck?”

When 70 Degrees is Not

Last winter, I complained that 70 degrees inside was not the same as 70 degrees outside because it can be 70 degrees inside and my butter is hard while when it is 70 degrees outside, the butter is soft. I even bought a thermometer to prove it. Well, today is a great day for theContinue reading “When 70 Degrees is Not”

Learning 2 Bake from Scratch – Retro

Pie Crust I thought I had this down, but if you’ve read about my last several pies, you know I did not. Since we have it again, I read the “how to make pie crust” section of The Joy of Cooking. One of the things that makes that such an excellent resource is that itContinue reading “Learning 2 Bake from Scratch – Retro”

Learning 2 Bake from Scratch – LXXXVI

French Silk Pie No pictures. It’s not worth the effort. They _look_ great. The filling is great. The crust is a disaster. Since I got the recipe from a random website (Sally’s Baking), here’s the filling: French Silk Pie Filling (aka chocolate custard)From: Sally’s Baking 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream or heavy whipping creamtwo 4-ounce quality bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate bars (113g each),Continue reading “Learning 2 Bake from Scratch – LXXXVI”

Challelujah

I felt like making something different. Colonial House makes excellent challah so I thought that I would give that a try. Besides, Jesus probably ate challah, if it had been invented by then and admittedly unlikely on the day after his birth. The recipe, from The Joy of Cooking (directions edited for brevity): Combine inContinue reading “Challelujah”

Learning 2 Bake from Scratch – LXXXV

Peppermint Cookies This was an experiment. It sort-of worked. I wanted cookies that looked like the round peppermint candies and tasted like peppermint cookies. They sort-of look like the candy and they sort-of taste of peppermint. To get the red and white swirl, I dyed half the dough red, rolled out a red layer andContinue reading “Learning 2 Bake from Scratch – LXXXV”

Learning 2 Bake from Scratch – LXXXIV.V

Apple Pastry Roses, Again Much better. Notes: I ran some tests with the scrap. I think a thicker crust par/blind baked without beans might be the path to a light, flakey crust. Christmas cookies, next week. I’m getting a bit tired of pies. Maybe it’s time for some cakes?

Learning 2 Bake from Scratch – LXXXIV

Apple Pastry Roses This was inspired by a YouTube Short, which apparently cannot be embedded. I should have rewatched before making them because I put the apples in upright instead of sideways. I thought the pastry was too narrow, but it turns out the apples were too tall. In any case, I decided to tryContinue reading “Learning 2 Bake from Scratch – LXXXIV”

Learning 2 Bake from Scratch

Salted Caramel Apple Pie This one didn’t get a number because I have no pictures and not too much to say. This is a Four And Twenty Blackbirds recipe. They (I made two) came out of the oven 10 minutes before we had to leave. No time for pictures. I let them cool in theContinue reading “Learning 2 Bake from Scratch”