Thursday, October 27, 2005

When the Fruit Flies Come for a Visit

I noticed the first fruit fly the other day. One fruit fly mean more are on the way and since the one we had was hanging out by our apples, it was obviously time to use or lose the apples. I got them cut and into a pot simmering ASAP. I added cinnamon, allspice and cloves in the same proportions Barbara mentioned in her Crockpot Apple Butter recipe (I had a lot more than 8-10 apples in there). I let it all cook until it was soft but not long enough to make it apple butter. I ran it through the blender, set aside some as applesauce and designated the rest to be used in baking.

The rest of our week, including Saturday, promise to be hectic so I made several batches of Apple Maple Muffins. Okay, truth is I made 8 dozen of them! Bear in mind, some went to my continuing ed class, we have company coming tonight and the muffins will be served with coffee, and of course the hungry mob will eat them for breakfast and snacks the rest of the week.

4 comments:

Barbara said...

I'm glad you're liking the apple butter recipe. I've made it three times now. I've even developed a taste for it!

I do have a question for you Katie, if you have the time. When I make bread, the first rise goes well. I punch it down, then spread it out on the counter. I then fold it and roll it to fit in my loaf pan. I think I'm handling it too gently because after it's risen and baked, there are opening where I rolled it together.

Any hints?

Barbara

Katie said...

It does sound like you might be a bit too gentle with your bread. It could also be the bread dough is a little dry, that would account for the end opening. You could just dip your finger in water and run it along the seam of the bread to seal it.

I came across something that works for us but its unconventional at best. After the first rising when I put the bread into the pans, I shake the pans, letting the dough slam into the sides. Then I press the bread dough back down into the pan for the second rising. It seems to get rid of any evidence of the seams.

Ruthie said...

I used to have this problem too, but it went away when I became too lazy to roll the dough out and roll it up. I now just punch the dough down, break it into halves or what have you and form the form the doughballs into a loaf-sized doughballs and stick it in the pan or squeeze them down into the bottom of a greased 48 oz juice can.. I never have any significant holes. :-D

Barbara said...

Thanks for the advice! I'll try it tomorrow when I make bread again.

Barbara