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Monday, August 16, 2021

Busy Weekend


Do you ever have one of those weekends when you feel it never was? When you were so busy that you end up feeling like you never had a weekend at all? This weekend was one of those. On Saturday, I went to Burlington to get a few things that I can only get up there. The problem was that the one thing I needed was from Target, and they were out of stock of the item. Ugh! I did have some other stuff to get while I was in Target, but I could have probably gotten all of them closer to home and not have to spend the better part of my day going to Burlington. It’s about an hour's drive up there.

Also, while I was up that way, I went by Best Buy to look for a microwave. I’ve never had a microwave in the years I’ve lived in Vermont, and I recently bought a baker's rack and microwave stand for my kitchen. I’d never had a microwave up here because I tend to cook things on the stove or in the oven, but it would be very convenient to occasionally throw something in the microwave and get it done quicker. Plus, I miss popcorn. I have tried to make it on the stovetop, but it’s a bit of a pain. I think I know which one I want, so I will order it and have to go back and pick it up since they only had the display model in stock. After going to Best Buy, I then went to Walmart to get the rest of the items I needed. I don’t mind going to Target, but Walmart is really hell on earth. Honestly, there is a reason why there is a website called People of Walmart. It’s frightening. After all of that, I was exhausted.

 

Yesterday, I tried to find the item I had wanted at Target locally. Some places carry it on occasion, but not always. I had no luck. However, I did eat at this wonderful little restaurant in Barre (BARE-ee), Vermont, called The Quarry Kitchen & Spirits. If for any reason you ever find yourself in Barre, I’d suggest going there. I got the French dip sandwich (something that is really hard to find in Vermont), and it was delicious. I haven’t had one this good in years. It’s probably my favorite sandwich, so I will be going back to this restaurant.  Also, they had very good fried pickles.

 

The rest of my day was spent making English muffins. I mentioned a few months ago that the Vermont Bread Company went out of business, and I loved their English muffins. I have been trying to find a brand that I liked as much, but while I have found some that are decent substitutes, none were as good as the ones from Vermont Bread Company. I thought, “Why don’t I try to make my own?” I looked up a recipe and found one at King Arthur Flour and went down to Norwich, Vermont, to get all the ingredients and some English muffin rings. When I got there, I saw that they had a “White Whole Wheat English Muffin Mix.” It looked fairly simple to make, if not a little time-consuming, so I bought a box to try. However, I just hadn’t had the energy to make them until yesterday. 

 

I mixed the dough and let it rise for 90 minutes, and then, I was ready to make the muffins. I heated the skillet, greased the rings, set them on the skillet, and sprinkled in some semolina flour. Per the instructions, I put 1/3 cup of dough in each ring and spread out the dough. I had a hard time getting the right amount in each ring, so while they were in the first twelve minutes of cooking on one side, the dough rose much more than I anticipated. I then removed the rings and flipped over the English muffins to cook ten more minutes on the other side. They turned out beautiful but really big. I then put them on a rack to cool. When I finished cooking the twelve muffins the mix makes. I made four of them at a time, and four of them were big, four were too small, and the last four were huge. 

Two of the “big” ones were actually fairly perfect in size. (They were the ones I ate last night.) Once they cooled, I sliced one in half and popped it in the toaster. They didn’t have the nooks and crannies that most people think of when they think of English muffins. So, they looked dense, but they were still light. When they finished toasting, I put some butter on the two halves and some strawberry jam. The whole process took about three hours, so at first, I thought, I probably won’t be making these again. Then, I tasted them. OMG! They are so good. I would never have imagined they’d be this good. If you have three hours, like to cook, and are so inclined, I highly recommend making them. They were the best English muffins I have ever had, even if they were a bit misshapen (one even looks like a Mickey Mouse that a four-year-old would try to draw, LOL).

 

All in all, it was a very busy weekend. Now today, I have to go to work feeling like I never had a weekend. Maybe I’ll take a day off this week if I can.

9 comments:


  1. FYI:

    When you know the item you are looking for, you can go on Target's
    website, and they will tell you which store has it, in stock and which
    doesn't.

    That should save you future fruitless Target treks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, and I normally do that.I just didn’t do that this time because they are rarely out of stock of this item. Live and learn! I’ll always check in the future.

      Delete
  2. I'm sure you'll appreciate your microwave. I have always had one for decades and even when I divorced from my wife in 1999 it was the first item I got. I srill have it.

    For the popcorn, the best one I like to do in the microwave is the «Kirkland» brand from Costco.
    I'll pop some each time I'm watching a movie..

    For weekends, as I'm retired since 2011, every days are weekend days to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JiEL, I have a friend who has a membership to Costco. I might get her to go by and get some of that popcorn to try.

      Delete
  3. I use my microwave mostly to bake potatoes (keeping the oven free for broiling the steak or chops), to heat sausage links for breakfast, to reheat leftovers, and to heat frozen dinners when I don't feel like cooking. When my brother was alive, I cooked bacon for Sunday breakfat in it — scrambled eggs were cooked on the stovetop and english muffins went under the broiler.

    That brings us to english muffins. First, congratulations on your success! I prefer to butter them and put them under the broiler to melt the butter and brown them. Toasting and then buttering just isn't the same. But now that my brother has died, it seems a bit much to broil just one, so I use the toaster. OTOH, I'm not sure about the future. A six-pack of English would tyake me six weeks to finish, whereas my brother would have one on Sunday, and one Monday morning before he went back to Boston, so the six-pack only lasted two weeks. Well, we'll see.

    BTW, if I had a toster oven, I think that might give better results that a regular toaster.

    JiEL — What I say is, "Being retired means you never get a vacation, and you never get a day off."

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the bakers rack, Joe. Target is definitely my go-to big box store but they're having supply chain issues for sure. Have a great week.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow,
    Congrations are in order for making your own english muffins!
    I'm impressed. Love the King Arthur website. I may order ingredients
    and give it a try. If you want to treat yourself.....you can order a single
    package of Wolferman's english muffins. Old time company out of Kansas
    City originally. www.wolfermans.com. Crumpets are good too!
    Alexander

    ReplyDelete
  6. Look at you channeling your inner Martha...I should get back to baking...That is my favorite pastime...I am a basic cook and can cook anything you throw in front of me...But baking is what I love to do...You can always freeze...That way it is not a three-hour ordeal every time...So a side gig on YouTube...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Naturgesetz, I prefer my baked potatoes to be cooked in the oven or my air fryer. I like them to be soft on the inside and a little crispy on the outside. I also usually make twice baked potatoes, instead of plain baked potatoes. Also, I eat an English muffin for breakfast every day. I put sausage and cheese on them to make a homemade Sausage McMuffin. I love butter and jam on an English muffins but I usually hate sweet things for breakfast. The only sweet breakfast foods I make an exception for are the occasional French toast or pancakes when I am eating breakfast out; however, I have to have sausage or bacon accompanying them.

    Tex, thank you (the baker's rack came from Amazon), and I hope you have a great week too.

    Alexander, I did check out Wolferman's, and if I want to splurge, I might just check them out.

    LOL, Victor. Baking is actually not one of my strong suits. With a recipe, I can cook nearly anything, but baking is always a bit of a challenge for me. I can also usually eat a dish once and replicate it, with or without a recipe. I love cooking southern food, Italian, and Mexican, but I have been known to dabble in French and Spanish cuisine as well. I can even do a little Chinese food, though I usually leave that up to the local Chinese restaurant. Up here I have to cook my own Mexican food because Vermonters do not know what Mexican food even is and their version of it is disgusting.

    ReplyDelete

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