Any Home Bakers Here?

[HomesteaderWife]

I know there is always lots of baking going on here, but I wanted to share as I am proud for finally stepping out of my shell and trying new things. My husband and I want to try having an at home "fancy" date night once a month pairing new foods we haven't really tried before, and it actually came out cheaper than the restaurant we thought of going to after seeing the menu!

We made lamb burgers (mild seasoning) with multigrain buns and topped with grated Parmigiano Reggiano. This Parmigiano was the first stop in my taste testing of different cheeses and the one I was most excited to try. By itself was so crumbly and enjoyable, but topping that burger was amazing. I lightly toasted the buns with a drizzle of olive oil and light salt and pepper. We also tried a nice 3 pepper Colby Jack and a mustard and ale cheese which was really nice on Naan crisps. No interesting sides, but I would love some ideas on cheese and side pairings for April when we hope to get bison next. I am hoping to find a nice little Camabert cheese to try. We don't do anything as far as wine pairings.

Camabert seems it will be slightly firmer than Brie, but I've heard that Brie pairs pretty nice with a good fresh bread. Any recipe suggestions for a nice loaf?

Sharing a photo of the Parmigiano Reggiano and just want to say, from a very picky person, go try something new today! I approached it with a no-expectations for taste mindset. Two family members tried a bite and they scowled and disliked it, I think because they automatically thought of standard processed cheese and compared it to that.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

@jnicholes - I am glad your grandparents were very appreciative of you, have a safe trip and sure look forward to breadbaking photos

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Bakers good morning one and all!

The temperature is 74 and mostly sunny.

Have a great day!

 

[R2elk]

Bakers good morning one and all!

The temperature is 74 and mostly sunny.

Have a great day!

23°F, overcast and snowing here.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Amazing the weather differences - 50 and scattered showers today. Yesterday was some nasty wind.

 

[bruceha2000]

They will NOT be driving themselves back to Spokane WA on Monday. I will drive them back myself for their safety and fly back Tuesday.

You are a good man Jared.

Company coming today. I will be teaching a lady some basic cooking and baking skills. She currently depends on fast food, Door Dash and the like. Today we are starting with lasagna and a salad. I'm hoping to get together with her once a week. Next week ... bread? Maybe! Wish us luck! Y'all have a great day!

With the price of gas spiking I can see DoorDash and the like getting VERY expensive!
Hopefully she will make it soon; as we know basic cooking isn't hard once you learn. We don't all have to do Julia Child recipes.

No, they have not been evaluated. To be honest, I don’t think they’ll go to evaluation easily.

Given they changed their mind about needing to move in with you, perhaps they will agree to testing. There might be something that will help them but not without evaluation.

She doesn’t read well so she avoids it if possible.

Has she been evaluated for dyslexia? She should be able to read recipes at 12, long before actually.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Aria, I don't know what happened. It angers me as I consider you my friend and I hate bullies. Please stay as I so enjoy reading your posts.

My Canner holds 14 wide mouth pint jars so that's what I usually do (small mouth jars make it way to hard to get the beans out). Put about 4" of cold water into your canner and a splash of white vinegar. This works for any kind of dried bean. Measure out a half cup of beans for each jar. Rinse your beans in cold water. Add a 1/2 cup to each jar and then add a 1/2 tsp of kosher or other non-iodized salt on top the beans. Fill with cold water (I used filtered) and leave a 1/2" of headspace (for my jars that's the ring just below the lid). Add rings and lids and put them in the canner. Seal the lid but don't add the weight. Turn the fire on medium and wait until you have a column of steam coming out the pipe. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Once the 10 minutes is up, add your weight. Once the weight starts to jiggle, set your timer for 75 minutes (adjust based upon altitude). Turn your fire down to maintain pressure but not over pressure. After your timer has reached 75 minutes turn the fire off and walk away. Come back later, when pressure is zero and place the jars on a heavy towel or mat and let cool overnight. Next day, remove the rings, wash the jars and put them on the shelf. It's a good idea to put the date on the lid with a sharpie and type bean.

ETA: Linda's pantry on youtube has a lot of good canning recipes. Also, I'll add a note of caution. Always time your canning based on the longest ingredient, so for example if you add meat (in any amount) following the canning instructions for the meat.

@rjohns39, I have 7 quarts of beans in the pressure canner right now, waiting for them to come up to pressure. Thanks for this guidance! The only thing I did different was, I had hot water waiting in the canner, so I put hot water in the jars. Hope that's okay. Can't wait till they finish. This was SOOOO much faster and easier than overnight soaking or parboiling the little beasties! Thank you, thank you!

 

[rjohns39]

@rjohns39, I have 7 quarts of beans in the pressure canner right now, waiting for them to come up to pressure. Thanks for this guidance! The only thing I did different was, I had hot water waiting in the canner, so I put hot water in the jars. Hope that's okay. Can't wait till they finish. This was SOOOO much faster and easier than overnight soaking or parboiling the little beasties! Thank you, thank you!

That won't matter. I started out that way, but must have let the hot water cool too much or didn't have the jars hot enough and had several jars break on me. That's when I moved to the cold water method, less opportunity to mess up.

 

[Show Sebright]

Wow, good for you! Wait, you sold 3 hens for $400? Four hundred dollars?!? That is amazing! What kind?

Barred rocks. It is more of a donation to me so I can get my lamb. They also won a lot. Thank being said anyone want lamb meat next year? The lamb will be around 170 before slaughter.

 

[jnicholes]

Made it home safely.