Rotate those sheets!

The most important thing you can do is rotate your pans and cookie sheets. If the baking time is scaled at 22 minutes, after 11 minutes, reach in there (oven mitt on, of course!) and rotate the cookie sheet to switch the front to back. If you have decided to cook more than one sheet at a time (sometimes successful), be sure to rotate top-to-bottom, and also front-to-back. This simple effort will keep all your baked goods evenly browned.

Spice heaven!

When making my enchilada sauce to can (see canning in weekly adventures), I didn’t think it would matter if I make a large six-times batch. Whoops! :D It took me two weeks to completely air my home out from the aroma of spices. It embedded everything! I learned a great value of doing six small, separate batches. I followed this new advice of mine when making a large batch of taco meat for canning. Definitely priceless advice!

Weekend of berries!

What a fun weekend this has been! I’ve been baking up a storm and having so much fun. Of course, my kitchen is a tell-tale sign of how much fun I have – speaking of storms. :D I have made my almond cake with fresh raspberries and cream cheese frosting. To me, it’s “the” birthday cake!

Next, I made some Raspberry Streusel Bars. A yummy mix of oats, flour and butter with more delicious raspberries!

But, my crowning glory has just been a new quick bread recipe of walnuts and strawberries, made with whole wheat flour. I think I have died and gone to heaven! I can’t wait to try the recipe with all sorts of other fruit-nut combos (raspberries-pecans, raspberries-almonds, blueberries-pecans, etc.) What a fun adventure this will be! :D

Can you can?

I recently purchased a 23-quart pressure canner. What a great investment! My adventures have included learning to can taco meat, enchilada sauce, and chicken stock. The value of having these things on the shelf has been the greatest gift ever!