Karen:
Welcome to the group, and thanks for taking the time to introduce
yourself. You asked a lot of questions, and rough my day has been, I hope I
can remember to address them all. I am a dedicated bread baker. I have not
bought a loaf of sandwich bread in nearly 13 years. My best loaves are
white sandwich bread, wheat sandwich bread, country-style French bouls, all
kinds of rolls, and I'm starting to get good at baguettes as well. I also
now make my own hamburger buns and hot dog buns with the help of some new
special pans I ordered designed just for these items. I have always loved
sourdough bread, but have not, as of yet, begun my own starter. All I know
about making a good starter so far is to start it using dark rye flour, and
filtered, clean water, meaning no tap water, at least where I live. There
are many other types of bread I'm looking to take on soon. But right now, I
am just trying to get through each day with a new baby that turns a month
old tomorrow. This is in addition to my older daughter that turns three in
a couple weeks. I am a huge fan of gas cooktops and would never willingly
choose anything else. Nothing generates the heat like a gas flame, and
nothing offers the control and responsiveness of gas either. I hate
electric stovetops with a passion. As to dishes on regular rotation at my
house, let's just say that with maybe a small handful of exceptions, it is
unusual for us to have the same thing for dinner more than once every 6
weeks or so. I plan my menus carefully, and am almost always trying a new
recipe or two with each menu. We have so many dishes that have made my
tried and true list that most of our menu is cycling through that long list,
adding new ones when they turn out well. But, there are a handful I make
more than others, such as my firehouse chicken, sweet hot mustard chicken
thighs, 7-layer burritos like they used to have at taco bell years ago,
burgers, taco salad, sloppy Joes, barbecue chicken, honey mustard pork
chops, and a number of pasta sauces made in the slow cooker, to name a few.
With the new arrival to the family, I have had to make a real effort to
scale back and aim for recipes and dishes that are on the easier and faster
side to make. This is in addition to all the bread and sweet treats I make
a couple times a week. So, I hope you find a whole lot of useful stuff here
and participate in the discussions often. Now, it's been a rough day, my
nerves are shot, and I'm pretty much off to bed. Again, glad you found the
list.
Jon
----- Original Message -----
From: "Karen" <butterfly05@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <blindcooks@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2017 6:05 PM
Subject: [blindcooks] Introduction and Dinner Favorites
Hi and thank you to Jon and Dani for help in getting subscribed.
It looks like there are a few of us from the crafting group over here now.
I am excited to learn about the list as I am currently on a quest to develop
a rotation of 15 dishes in answer to the question, "What's for dinner?"
So far it includes stir-fry, minestrone and chicken Caesar--I'm very good at
chopping!
Every blind person I have ever talked with says they would never use a gas
cooktop. Is everyone here using electric?
I am careful and have taken to using cast iron skillets. Some family have
said they don't like them because they are heavy; that is precisely why I
love them.
Are there bread bakers on list? Another interest is baking sourdough as
authentic is difficult to find. I haven't gotten the starter yet but it is a
spring project on the to-do.
I look forward to the discussions here.
Karen
