RWood

Made another Pain de Campagne. I reduced the water by 25 grams. It seemed too sticky, and this one came out better. Crust was really crunchy.

It's been so long since I made this, I don't remember if I saw his for the liqueur idea or not. Might be. The bar at work had big bottles of it, so why not? I like the crunch topping added when it's served for a crunch with all the mush 😊.

I grew up on it, and my grandmother always made a vanilla custard and store bought Nila wafers. I don’t like meringue, so I scrapped that off. I prefer whipped cream. I used this recipe when I was making it at my last restaurant job, and the banana liqueur really added to it. I made a crumble of crushed Nila wafers, butter, sugar and a tiny bit of cinnamon that I baked I until golden. Sprinkle on top right before serving.

Made a Detroit style with KA’s pizza dough for any pan. Nice dough when you need something faster.

Another Pain de Campagne. Longer fermentation and baked a little longer.

Made a Pain de Campagne loaf. I’m liking the flavor of this one better than the sourdough I was making. This one has a little whole wheat added.

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.