RWood

Tried some inclusions this time. I cut the dough into three, and added chives and roasted garlic and marinated mixed olives in two of them. Left the other plain. The olive one is good, but I’m thinking the oil may have affected it. Seems a little gummy. Could have need a longer bulk ferment, or they got a little deflated from added the inclusions. More experimento I guess.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake for my aunt Joyce’s birthday. She is shocked I used a fresh pineapple 😁. I guess she never thought of it 🤷‍♀️

Tried King Arthur’s recipe of the year. Pretty tasty pizza, laminated dough is different. Something to do when I don’t want to get the Ooni out.

Chicken soup from a Costco rotisserie chicken.

More sourdough. Tried a little different method and made a levain the night before.

Kenji’s Pork Chile Verde and pickled onions. Trader Joe’s Spanish rice, cabbage salad and avocado. Margarita too.

Finished off my Dungeness. Grilled crab sandwich with provolone. It was a much better price than Nick’s in Pacifica. They are up to $60 a sandwich 😵‍💫.

New Year’s Eve dinner. Splurged and bought two pounds of Dungeness Crab. Made garlic bread from a leftover loaf of my sourdough, and popped a bottle of Mumm’s. Leftovers will be a grilled crab sandwich.

The extent of my Christmas cooking/baking. I took this year off. Cinnamon Rolls and Blueberry Muffins. Having my Dad and cousin over for coffee and mimosas.

Grandma style pizza for Christmas Eve dinner.

Roasted garlic and rosemary sourdough. Gift for my mom’s cousin.

Yep, those are on my list 😊

They are professional pizza pans. They make them for all types, and I have the pans for a Sicilian style and Detroit. Being a dark metal, the bottom browns so much better. I baked a Spanokopita in it since I’ve had the worse time getting the bottom to brown and not be soggy. So brown and crunchy! Lloyd’s

King Arthur big and bubbly focaccia. It’s a great recipe. I used my Lloyds pan, and it makes a huge difference in the bottom crunch.

I was crazy taking a wedding cake right before Thanksgiving, but at least it’s done. Big cake is white almond sour cream cake with raspberry filling and vanilla buttercream. Groom’s cake is chocolate cake, dark ganache and white chocolate buttercream.

The first house we lived in after moving to California had two small ones outside the kitchen door. Never knew of them before. My mom’s husband planted Meyer and Eureka lemon trees when they bought the next house. It varied by year what we got, but they were pretty prolific. I’ve been surprised I’ve been able to grow some in Georgia. You can find them at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods at certain times of the year.

First freeze of the winter a few days ago, so I picked my big harvest of nine Meyer lemons. My other tree died this past spring (it was never very happy). I bought a lime tree to replace it, so 🤞🏻.

When my mom’s husband retired, he watched a lot of daytime TV. He was watching Rachel Ray, and she made a quick version that has pretty much became a staple around here. Everyone loves it. We leave out the bread though, which probably doesn’t make it Ribollita anymore, but we prefer it. I can make a large amount and freeze it without the bread added. You could add bread (or precooked pasta, which I sometimes do) if you want to.

Sourdough starter discard English muffins. And a small loaf of sourdough.

Thanks, it’s getting there. It’s white almond sour cream cake with almond buttercream.

My friend Michelle asked me to make her daughter a Creature from the Black Lagoon cake. She loves the old movie monsters. It turned out better than I thought considering I woke up and couldn’t raise my arm.

I had a leftover pizza dough ball that was getting a little tired, so I made a piadine, a la Tomatina that’s in the Bay Area. This particular version is my mom’s favorite. Pesto, roasted tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, romaine and creamy balsamic. After folding, I cut it in half, plenty for both of us.

Got a starter going again, baked these two little loaves this morning. The round wasn’t scored deep enough. The other had a better slash, but I think I should have baked darker on it. Really good flavor though.

I just added Meyer zest and rosemary to a loaf I have been making. I would post the recipe, but after the first loaf, I’ve had issues with it. The original recipe had a 92% hydration, and it’s been giving me problems. I dropped it to 70%, so if I can work out the issue, I will post it.

We’ve been having smoothies for breakfast for awhile, so decided to have a meal today. Avocado toast with my rosemary Meyer lemon bread, arugula, tomato, bacon, poached egg (for me) and pickled red onions.