Manitoulin. If I can make it there…

[Anna N]

Whatcha gonna do with all those mushrooms you bought? Any specific plans?

Well the creminis were intended for the faux gras which now awaits some nuts. The portobellas lacked any specific intent but since we both love mushrooms I doubt they will stick around for long.

[Kerry Beal]

There was beer left in the fridge after Anna's Guinness cake - so it made sense to use it up making more guinness cakes for work today in Wiki. I split it!

 

 

 

Breakfast this am - rethermallized scones straight from the freezer to the steam oven - 400 steam bake for 8 minutes - as good as new. Raspberry fruit spread and a slathering of butter.

 

[weinoo]

Breakfast this am - rethermallized scones straight from the freezer to the steam oven - 400 steam bake for 8 minutes - as good as new. Raspberry fruit spread and a slathering of butter.

 

 

This is making rotuts happy!

[rotuts]

""  as good as new ""

 

the CSB by-line

[Anna N]

""  as good as new ""

 

the CSB by-line

should be. If there is anything that would convince me to take it home it would be its ability to reheat leftovers.

[Anna N]

Good morning.

So almost out of habit since I have no real plans for the day I began mixing up a batch of no knead dough. Would love to be able to make it into a baguette/batard shape to use for crostini/bruschetta. Will cogitate on that while it autolyzes.

Also on the counter are a few overly ripe bananas that have reached the perfect degree of funk for banana bread. There is sour cream in the refrigerator so I have taken out some butter to soften up and will tackle banana bread shortly.

Kerry has gone off to Wiki with her student so I shall not see her until late this afternoon.

[SylviaLovegren]

my personal view is that almost all cake(s) do better with vanilla ice cream

 

there is one exception  in my view 

 

cakes with ginger :  they do better with whipped cream.

 

just whipped cream  :  no vanilla, no sugar :  just whipped cream

 

 

I am also very partial to hot lemon sauce (cornstarch, water, butter, lemon juice) aka snot sauce.  Wonder how lemon sauce AND whipped cream would be...

[Anna N]

I am also very partial to hot lemon sauce (cornstarch, water, butter, lemon juice) aka snot sauce. Wonder how lemon sauce AND whipped cream would be...

Lemon sauce appeals. Lemon sauce and whipped cream not so much. I expressed a desire for some crème fraîche which elicited nothing but snorts from Kerry. On an island where finding a red onion is a challenge….

Edited to remove duplication

Edited July 10, 2015 by Anna N (log)

[rotuts]

""  its ability to reheat leftovers ""

 

and its ability to make  perfect  toast

 

esp. if you bake your own, or have really really fresh bread.

 

it how the CSB handles moisture and browning at the same time.

Edited July 10, 2015 by rotuts (log)

[Anna N]

Slow day today both here on the Island and on eG! Banana bread is out of the oven and bread dough has had its final folds.

Having spoken of the Zuni Café cookbook I have been dipping into the reviews of it on Amazon.com. I would fight to the death anyone who tried to take it away from me and yet I realize there isn't a great deal I have cooked from it. I must be one of the few people who are aware of the chicken and bread salad recipe and yet have never made it! Perhaps I should remedy that while I am here. There is a lovely chicken in the freezer from Max Burt's farm.

But more immediate is tonight's dinner. I have set up the SV and a little later I will rethermalize one of the steaks I cooked a few days ago that is in the freezer and see if I can whip up a salad to go along with it. Kerry can sear the steak on the little green egg and dinner should be easy peasy.

[Katie Meadow]

[quote name="Anna N" post="2023333" timestamp="1436470329"

So I am looking at the original recipe in the book The Last Course. It calls simply for a 9 x 5 loaf pan or a 6 cup Bundt pan. No questions at all about the size of the loaf pan. This leaves me thinking it was never tested in a loaf pan and it is illustrated with a cake made in a Bundt pan. I am not making excuses because if I had read the recipe I had linked to then I would have poured the batter into two 8 x 4 loaf pans. But still....

About that Stout Cake. It seems that it has filtered through several sites, and may have originally been the Grammercy Tavern Stout Cake which was attributed to Claudia Fleming. It has also been tweaked by Melissa Clark and Smitten Kitchen. The source I have credits it to "The Last Supper" instead of the "Last Course." If inconsistency can be a consistent flaw, that appears to be the size of the pan. My recipe calls for one 7 x 5 loaf pan or a 6 cup bundt pan. The 7 x 5 size seemed suspiciously small, so I used the biggest loaf pan on hand, which was approximately 9 x 5. The cake rose just a bit over the top but did not drip or spill out. A good thing, given the possibilities.

Edited July 10, 2015 by Katie Meadow (log)

[Tri2Cook]

A southern friend of mine puts cake in a bowl and pours milk over it. He is otherwise a sensible fellow.

This is probably one of those times I should just quietly walk away without saying I've done the very same thing myself... but, ummm...

 

[Anna N]

Interesting. If you add up the volumes in the original Claudia Fleming recipe they amount to at least 6 cups before any account is taken of the leavening. And she still calls for a 9x5 loaf pan or a 6 cup bundt pan. So I still question how much testing was done.

[Deryn]

Lemon sauce appeals. Lemon sauce and whipped cream not so much. I expressed a desire for some crème fraîche which elicited nothing but snorts from Kerry. On an island where finding a red onion is a challenge….

Edited to remove duplication

Can you get whipping cream and buttermilk? If so, you can make your own crème fraiche. 1 cup cream mixed with 2 tablespoons of buttermilk, set on a counter in a covered glass jar for 8-24 hours should do it.

[Kerry Beal]

 

Old Pal - real rye!

[Kerry Beal]

 

Choices for lunch at nursing home today 

 

 

Therefore the PA student and I opted for the Spruce Cafe and Bakery - chilli with a bun and a nice cup of assam tea. 

 

 

After lunch we checked out the old mission (from the mid 1800's) and then down onto the spit. 

 

 

Spearmint grows wild near the water.

 

 

The view looking back at the mission on the hill.

 

 

Angelica - a bit overgrown for candying.

 

 

Lemon balm growing on the spit.

 

 

Lemon balm now growing in my planter on the balcony.

[Kerry Beal]

Can you get whipping cream and buttermilk? If so, you can make your own crème fraiche. 1 cup cream mixed with 2 tablespoons of buttermilk, set on a counter in a covered glass jar for 8-24 hours should do it.

That's a trick we know - but Anna wanted it NOW - so didn't help us sadly.

[Anna N]

Looking at the menus for the nursing home I begin to understand Canada's interest in assisted suicide.

[Kerry Beal]

Looking at the menus for the nursing home I begin to understand Canada's interest in assisted suicide.

Brought this to mind.

[Deryn]

I agree, Anna (and with you too, Kerry). I used to eat with my father occasionally at his retirement home. It was hit and miss as to freshness and quality (and definitely a miss on seasoning). I took him out to his favorite pub as often as I could to make sure he actually continued to eat, and eat well. I drew the line (on joining him for din-din) though when he went into the Perley nursing facility - the meals were designed to a) make sure no one wanted to eat them and b) to make sure they got nothing but bland, colourless, non-plentiful mush if they did deign to eat. No wonder I was told that the Ontario stats say that from the time someone enters a nursing home, the average life expectancy is 2 months. They all want out.  He lasted 5 months before it all killed him - and that was with me bringing him at least one meal a day.

 

On another note, thanks so much for the pics of the lemon balm, angelica and spearmint. I want those in my back yard.

Edited July 10, 2015 by Deryn (log)

[Anna N]

Was able to shape my no-knead dough into two batards. One became garlic bread for tonight and the other is safely stashed in the freezer for a future meal of Zuni Café chicken and bread salad.

[Kerry Beal]

 

A nice salad

 

 

Sous vide steak on the barbie

 

 

 

Bread on the barbie

 

 

Slathered in garlic oil.

 

 

Yum!

[Kerry Beal]

 

Gateau Basque

[Anna N]

Good morning.

We are off to try our luck at the farmers market once again. We are nothing if not persistent. Other than that no real plans for the day. Kerry is on call so I may just put my feet up and read all day. I am rediscovering the Zuni Café cookbook. On the other hand if there is something really exciting at the market……

[rotuts]

would you be willing to take some pic's of the market ?