Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Does Christine do a lot of baking in the trailer?

Yes, I do. I know; the next question is going to be how do I do it? Answer is, just like I would in a house.

 

When we got our previous trailer, the Cameo 5th wheel, I was lucky and there was a decent sized oven in the unit, and when we were looking for our full time unit, the main item on my list was a certain size oven and we have one. It is even larger than the one from the Cameo. Well, how big is it?



It’s not a normal sized as in a house but it works. As you can see, I can get a regular 12 cup muffin tin in with lots of space. I even have cookie sheets that fit with just enough room. I can get 2 dozen cookies on that one.

 

As for other baking implements, I have the normal measuring spoons and cups, a hand held mixer, a Kitchen-aid Stand Mixer (it is at least 27 years old and still mixing), whisks, spatulas and other stuff. What can I say, the RV is our house, so I use the kitchen like a house kitchen. I even have a dishwasher, his name is Rob. The only stipulation he has is that if I am baking, I am to do my baking dishes.

 

So, what do I bake? Lots of stuff. Today, I made some raisin muffins. They are quite good. I haven’t made them in awhile, because I couldn’t find the recipe. I have been searching for the recipe book I found it in, but could not find it. I went looking for a picture the other day on my iPad and lo and behold, as I opened my picture gallery, the recipe was staring right at me. When we were getting the house ready for selling, I had photocopied or took pictures of the recipes I liked and used in my recipe books, got rid of the books and had the recipes.   


 

I also baked up some sourdough biscuits that I started the night before.

 


And the other day, I made a loaf of sourdough bread.

 


 I have made lots and lots of cinnamon buns and a few pineapple upside down cakes also.

 



Now you are thinking, sourdough. How is she making all these sourdough recipes?

 

I have tried in the past to make sourdough starter from scratch, but it was a flop. So, I waited for a bit, and this July when we were in Burns Lake, BC, I tried doing it again. And it worked. I followed the recipe and have made a few things with it since. I have made bread, biscuits, a lemon poppy seed cake, chocolate cake and even brownies that are very rich and fudgy. I need to make those again soon, but when there are more people around. The last couple things I made, I had brought my sourdough out from the fridge and feed it for a couple of days and then made the loaf of bread and the biscuits and after feeding it today, in the fridge it went again.

 

Here is the link for the recipe for the sourdough starter: https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-your-own-sourdough-starter-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-47337

 

And once it was ready, I just did some searching online and found recipes to try.

 

A couple more recipes:

 


 

APPLE DUMPLINGS

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 drops red food coloring
2 tbsp butter or margarine
6 whole apples pared and cored or 3 apples pared and sliced
2 cups flour
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup margarine
½ cup milk

Combine first 5 ingredients; bring to a boil. Add butter. Mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in marg. Add milk all at once and stir until moistened. Roll 1.4 inch thick on lightly floured surface; cut with pastry wheel or knife into 6 “ squares. Place apple in center of each square. Sprinkle generously with sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon dot with butter. Fold corners to center and pinch edges together. Bake in a 375°F oven for 35 mins.

 

 

PEANUT BUTTER CRISSCROSSES

1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 beaten eggs
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups sifted flour
2 tsp baking soda
dash salt

Thoroughly cream shortening, sugars and vanilla. Add eggs, beat thoroughly. Stir in peanut butter, sift dry ingredients, stir into creamed mixture.

Form into tiny balls, place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press with back of a fork to make crisscross. Dough may also be rolled and cut if desired.

Bake in 375° oven – 10 mins

 


That is about it for now. Hopefully you will try a couple of the recipes. Have a wonderful day.

 

BTW - Currently hanging out in Quartzsite, AZ for a bit before heading over to California and some BLM land at the south entrance to Joshua Tree NP.