After popping pain pills last night, I felt "OK" when I got up this morning. So back out to the yard to finish the remaining shrubbery. (Plenty of Monty Python jokes being exchanged.) Everything is planted and watered; we'll put the new mulch out there on Monday. We got cleaned up and went to Lowe's to buy new garden hand tools for me, gardening gloves, two new heavy duty hose storage reels and assorted "stuff." We plan to clean out and organize the garden shed on Monday, get the cushions and umbrellas out for the pool furniture, and maybe do some power washing. Fun times.
There is a 99.62% correlation between those who like Monty Python and those who like The Far Side. All others are to be given lifetime subscriptions to Marmaduke cartoons.
Today was a good day; gorgeous weather so I putzed around the yard and planted a few flowers. Decided to try out a new bread recipe I found for a soft loaf, using condensed milk. Loaded up the Kitchenaid and away we go. Didn't notice until the step that said "grease 2 loaf pans" that the recipe is for two loaves...dang. We don't eat that much bread but whatever. This was my first attempt at using the Breville to bake standard loaf pan bread, though I have used the proofing feature. @John Brunner , do you find that the crust gets a bit overdone in your Breville oven? (According to my trusty oven thermometer the oven temp was right on the money at 375 degrees.) I pulled the loaves out at about half the baking time and covered them with foil because they were getting pretty dark. Only the top of the loaves got dark... not the sides or bottom. So that was a learning experience. The bread turned out pretty good; it is indeed a soft and "yeasty" bread. I think the recipe has a little too much salt so I'll reduce that next time and bake in my regular oven to see how the results compare. I will also halve the recipe and make ONE loaf. I put the extra loaf in the freezer. I was going to send it to my sister-in-law but I was unhappy with the appearance of the dark crust, so I didn't want to send her "bakery seconds."
The only bread I routinely make is the Italian loaves, and they are way too long for that oven. I did make a single loaf pan in it once and it came out fine. I've also baked biscuits and not had an issue. I've done a lot of homemade pizzas and the temp seems fine...the crusts have not burned. I bet it's that recipe. Was that condensed milk sweetened, or did you mean "evaporated milk"? All that sugar may have made the yeast go bonkers and affected the crust.
I'm wondering if it was simply the proximity to the top heating elements. The milk was evaporated... not sweetened, but I have read that any milk product can cause additional caramelization which would mean a darker crust. The bread I baked in the covered LeCreuset bread baker turned out fine, but it was protected by the cover.
Interesting. I have a recipe from the Mormon Church for their version of Parker House Rolls that uses dry milk and not had a browning problem in my conventional oven...and I used to make those all the time. The only thing I've read regarding the difference is that the enzymes from some milk will interfere with the yeast, and that's why some bread recipes call for dry milk. Other than that, I cannot find a difference at all between dry milk and regular liquid milk...I always use nonfat dry milk because of its shelf life. I just scanned my bread recipes to find any that have milk in them, and am reminded that I made brioche in my Breville, and I do believe that the crust was pretty dark. I can't recall if I had to tent it. That recipe has a few eggs, 10TB of butter and some dry milk. Now I'm gonna have to make a loaf just to test it.
Yesterday I was experimenting with "2-ingredient biscuits" and today I'm thinking of making a pie. I have a lot of flour that I need to use up, plus I'm actually having fun playing in the kitchen. We're getting some repairs done to our wood fence in the back yard. My husband and sons have built (and rebuilt) the fence a couple of times in the past 20+ years due to hurricanes and whatever. There are two corner posts that need to be dug out and replaced, and 2 gates need replacing. I guess it's a sign that the hubby is slowing down since he isn't out there digging up those posts himself. Then there's the issue of disposing of the old materials and those big pieces of concrete that will be dug out, so it's just easier to pay someone to do it. It rained a bit this morning so the guy didn't show up, but hopefully he'll be here tomorrow.
Oooh, I'm getting puppy fever!!! This morning when I was watering the flowers in my front yard my next-door neighbor's English bulldog puppy ran over to visit. OMG, cuteness overload. The puppy is a beautiful light taupey brown color with BLUE eyes; her name is Maggie. The young woman who owns her was yelling "don't let her jump on you!!" and I told her if the puppy goes missing I will deny all knowledge and don't look in my back yard!! I'm not above dog-napping a cutie. Maggie looks very much like this... I've been on a baking roll (see what I did there?) this week; yesterday I made a custard pie and tried out a new type of pie crust. I'm a hapless victim of another Youtube video; I am so subject to the power of suggestion. "Best pie crust EVAR!!!" Um... no. This crust recipe is basically flour, vegetable oil, water, and salt. Just mix, roll, and bake. I'd give the crust a solid 2 out of 10, but at least it was easy. I used the simple custard filling recipe from my old Better Homes cookbook and every time I use that recipe I am annoyed that it isn't sweet enough...but I don't remember that factoid until the pie is baking. So I finally made a note in the cookbook... add more sugar! The pie was kind of an all-round dud. We've been eating it anyway. I have some ripening bananas that I'm going to turn into banana bread tomorrow. Can't wait to see how that turns out.
Well, I finally scraped half the custard pie into the garbage disposal. I can't believe what a dismal failure that was. I just got pecans toasted and need to get started mashing 'nanners to get the banana bread going. We spent the morning working on the pool and piddling around the yard. We had a leaf clog in one of the vacuum lines; all the March winds have been dumping leaves and "stuff" into the water. It's always something. I want to go to the garden center to buy a few more plants. This weather just makes me want to stay outside in the yard and play in the dirt.
I'm the same way regarding the power of suggestion. I'll get an AllRecipes email and there are times that I'm eating one of those things that very evening...even if I have to make a trip to the store for ingredients. I got real bad Food Impulse Control issues. That banana bread looks good. Those rare times I make it, I steam it in my Crock Pot. This is one of the things I really miss about church (COVID killed it for me.) There are 3 churches in the "charge" I belonged to, and there was always some event or another that required food. I loved cooking for those, and I loved trying everyone elses dishes.
Whew!!! Just caught up on this thread and frankly all the cooking, baking, and yard work has me exhausted. I was planning to do some weedeating today but now I lack the energy to even think about it. My ambition to don heavy jeans, and work boots, then put on a new corrugated line, fuel up, and crank up the old Sthil has faded. Those dang goatheads and other assorted weeds will stand tall for another day.
OMG, you have goatheads??? I have only seen those things when we traveled through New Mexico, and they looked lethal. I'm enjoying being outside while the weather's nice, but as soon as the summer heat arrives my happy butt will be inside with the a/c crankin'.