Flyer's diary

[alligatorob]

Carrots are orange, Rob, not red!

Yes they are grazie mille!

 

[overlandflyer]

i've always wondered about the term "short" when applied to baking and found this explanation...

"short,” in a baking context, means that there is a high proportion of fat to flour.This is usually just applied to non-yeast doughs. Usually these short doughs are very rich, crumbly, and tender with butter. They tend to be crisp instead of chewy, and slightly sandy. Shortbread is the quintessential “short” dough – it’s even in the name! You do want to make sure that the flour is very well-incorporated into a thick, rich dough like this.

i believe the last line is very key to the success of good shortbread. mixing this dough is generally a struggle toward the end as aside from the butter, all other ingredients are dry. i've literally broken wooden spoons while mixing the dough, though i don't use them anymore. from the previous comment, i've got to think the texture of the shortbread will be different with the inclusion of the rice flour. hopefully not as the most disastrous time i tried substituting margarine for butter some years ago ... it was horrible.

 

[overlandflyer]

i've settled on a mix for the low carb crackers...

1/3 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/4 cup chia seeds ... same as used in ChiaPets i discovered... but don't eat those.

this will give the same 1 1/3 cups of seeds in the recipe.
here's what that mix looks like.



i added another step to their drying.... it occurred to me that the bottom parchment gets fairly oily after baking so in transferring them on to plates to dry, i also flip them over. the size of the pumpkin seeds is noticeable, but cutting the quantity from 1/3 to 1/4 cup and introducing more small seeds spreads them out a little more.

with a little cheese on top 3-4 of these makes a great snack or mini-meal.

 

[overlandflyer]

hmmmm.... talk about not taking my own advice... lol

well, it did take a few days to show up...



going to see if some better behavior can crank this down a bit. still, it'll probably take about 10 times longer to get back than the 2 days it took to get up here again. not really worried about it. just good to understand how this works so it never gets completely out of control. once in a while, social situations will stress a normal routine. i can accept that occasionally.

 

[overlandflyer]

found a great new source for bulk seeds... i may have to just make a general mix for the cracker recipe and just scoop out 1 1/3 cup when i need to make a batch....would be a lot easier.

 

[aiminglow]

Oh, terrific, about finding a handy supplier for bulk seeds. Makes life much simpler, and easier to save on packaging, too.

 

[overlandflyer]

Apples & PB used to be a staple snack of mine, but i've since shifted to almond butter...



i've also discovered that with almond butter, you pretty much get what you pay for. unlike peanut butter's fairly consist consistency among brands, cheaper almond butters in my experience, are much less solid... more of a highly viscous liquid. Justin's AB is fairly pricey .... i buy it far less than i used to keep PB on hand... probably a good thing... but it has a great consistency for things like this...



be aware that there are all sorts of Justin flavored AB, too... look for the plain old classic variety.

 

[overlandflyer]

..., and easier to save on packaging, too.

yes, if nothing else, the other place i can buy bulk.... sort of... use a lot of plastic. much better here...



new additions are the white chia seeds and golden flax. with the mostly darker seed crackers, i like the idea of the white chia seeds, but wondering if they're nutritionally no different than the black ones (a bit cheaper) like the cosmetic difference between black and white sesame seeds... though the black sesame are usually much more expensive than the white. i passed on those...



can't help but think i got a few unfavorable looks for bringing a plastic bag into their store to bag my purchase, though... oh, the horror... lol.

 

[aiminglow]

Hey! Re-using a plastic bag is a virtue!

 

[overlandflyer]

Hey! Re-using a plastic bag is a virtue!

it was actually brand new... but let me explain...

in CA you now have to pay $0.10 per bag if you want a plastic bag at the grocery store. in the past i have never thrown one of these away that wasn't full of garbage. they were my garbage bags i used instead of paying for actual plastic garbage bags. so online i can buy 1000 of these plastic bags for $14... free shipping and used to be no tax, but now with tax the total is about $14.74 or ~1½ cents/ bag. ... and i still get my good old small garbage bags.

i truly try to avoid creating plastic garbage, but using shopping bags for garbage is at least getting a 2nd use out of it. i am buying a lot less processed foods these days, so i'd rate my trash footprint in the lower middle range at worst. don't even get me started on the 99% of unsolicited junk mail i have to shred and toss every month.

 

[alligatorob]

in CA you now have to pay $0.10 per bag if you want a plastic bag at the grocery store

That's not a bad idea, we end up with dozens of plastic bags every week, way too many for trash bags.

 

[overlandflyer]

one or two a month are full of shredded junk mail.

 

[Emilyrose]

one or two a month are full of shredded junk mail.

This will eventually slow down too.

 

[overlandflyer]

anyone who says they can't afford to eat healthier isn't trying.
6 ½ lbs of chicken breast for $5.20



i've given up trying to shop for a recipe ... whatever the deal is becomes the entree de jour.... and usually the next few days.

 

[aiminglow]

I agree, in general, but this does presuppose good access to standard-level food shops or markets.

 

[overlandflyer]

I agree, in general, but this does presuppose good access to standard-level food shops or markets.

i cannot deny that a big city helps especially after my journey through some of the rural southwest. of course we also pay one of the highest fuel costs



remember when 9/10ths of a cent used to be >5% of the price of a gallon of gas?

 

[aiminglow]

remember when 9/10ths of a cent used to be >5% of the price of a gallon of gas?

Nope! and I bet no other Australian does, either!

 

[overlandflyer]

the first car i bought... Triumph TR6... had a 13 gal tank.
i could fill it up for less than what a single gallon of gas costs now.

 

[overlandflyer]

...

"It has less gluten and makes the shortbread more tender. ..."

i am going to try making half, still using my mom's recipe and method (fyi... it's not just "what", but also a bit of "how" which i picked up watching her) with a 1/3 rice flour 2/3 wheat flour mix. i measured and weighed a cup of wheat flour and rice flour. the rice flour "seemed" a bit more dense and it was, but VERY little (1/32 oz heavier per cup).

probably fire up the oven Tuesday or Wednesday and see how it goes. if i screw up i want to give myself another shot before the 25th... the downside is things going ok and i have to sit on it for over a week. ...that may not be easy. ....

shortbread turned out great, but i didn't notice much of a difference in either taste or texture by mixing in 30% rice flour. wrapping them up in small give-away bundles has worked out great so far. much less temptation. still 5 days left until New Year's Day.

 

[alligatorob]

remember when 9/10ths of a cent used to be >5% of the price of a gallon of gas?

No, but close, when I was in high school and started driving I was paying about 22 cents a gallon. And I recall being shocked the first time I had to pay $5 to fill my car. But given inflation prices are not as different today as this makes it sound. Right now we are paying about $2.50 per gallon in Utah, almost half what you pay.