Several of you guessed that I would be brining a turkey today. Nope, but that’s a good guess. I watched Alton Brown brine a turkey on television earlier this month and would really like to try it. But it’s just not practical in a small condo kitchen.
No, today I made challah.
Back in the day when I lived in a house with a big kitchen, I baked bread all the time. The small condo kitchen is not the best environment for bread-making. Still, I had the urge.
Milk, butter and sugar were mixed together and brought to a boil.
After cooling, I added yeast, which thankfully I did not kill by putting it in the liquid when it was too hot.
Eggs are ready to be added along with salt.
And flour and Presto! Bread dough!
(That’s my trusty 1982 commercial-size Cuisinart. It’s still working after all these years.)
The dough is ready for it’s first rise.
Well, lookie here. It rose.
I shaped it into loaves and set it to rise again. That’s cornmeal sprinkled on the baking sheet to keep the loaves from sticking.
Before baking, I painted the loaves with an egg wash.
Ta-da! Loaves accompli!
I use the challah recipe from The Silver Palate Cookbook. The only change I make is to add some saffron to the milk when boiling it. This is the recipe I’ve always used and have always loved it.
So . . . why did I make challah?
So we could use it to make French Toast! Yum! 
I was on a “baking high” after the success of the challah so I quickly whipped up a batch of cornbread, to be used for the cornbread stuffing that will accompany our turkey on Thursday. Not roasted in the turkey though. I’m not a fan of the “in-bird” stuffing. My turkey will be roasted with an assortment of herbs and onions in the body cavity.
The cornbread recipe I use is documented here, in a blog entry on November 20 of last year. Freaky, what? I was making cornbread exactly one year ago. For the stuffing, I omit the sugar from the recipe.
Tomorrow . . . pumpkin pie!
But wait — this is still a knitting blog, so I’ll answer a couple of questions from yesterday’s post.
Michelle asked:
What is the deciding factor in whether you use a size 1 or size 2 for your socks?
For fingering weight sock yarns I always use a size 0 needle (2mm). The only exception is if I’m doing a cabled sock, I’ll go up a needle size for the cabled part.
Laura commented:
I started a pair of toe up socks with your generic pattern and Judy’s magic cast-on. Do you use this cast-on? How many stitches do you start with? I started with 12 but the toe looks a little too small. Yours look normal so I am curious what you do.
Yes! I always use Judy’s Magic Cast-on — it’s my very favorite cast on. If you haven’t tried it for your toe-up socks, I strongly urge you to give it a whirl.
I start with about half the total number of stitches for my sock. For example, if I’m doing a 64-stitch sock, I’ll cast on 32 stitches — 16 on each needle. I think 12 on each needle would make the toe too pointy for my liking. But your mileage may vary!
Lucy sez:
Lucy 112007
Look at me! I’m adorable!
Found your T’day blog entry by a very circuitous route—yay, Internets! Thank you for great info on cast-on, socks; much more to learn and you are a fine teacher. TISH::: I live in NE Colorado (4984 feet)and now use the breadmaking machine just to get bread dough mixed, just a few minutes of “dough only”: 3 cups Bread Flour, a bit more than 1 cup Water, 1 teaspoon Salt, 1 teaspoon Yeast (on top).Toss into very slightly warmed oven to rise in its pan, remove it to heat oven to 350deg, bake 29 minutes. No kneading, no punching is necessary for good good bread ♥
Or I use the Lahey-Bittman method detailed in Jeffrey Steingarten’s Vogue magazine May 2007: wonderful instruction and recipe!!!!.
OR see this video demo of same, by Mark Bittman in Jim Lahey’s restaurant kitchen (2 gurus)
http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=35eac03d90314ffed6a0c0ae1
43ab87b1474fb89 CUT & PASTE that long address or you’ll have to search thru huge amount of NYTimes videos that don’t stay there forever anyway. And read the very helpful accompanying site, here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/08mini.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
You can find Bittman’s video by searching YouTube “Mark Bittman”
I brine per Alton in my SMALL condo kitchen: bleach-clean the non-disposer side of sink & brine for 6 hours, just canning-pickling salt (no additives in it) adding ice for temp safety over time (~40 deg) cuz I was finished shopping for little items! Came out tasting great–use a meat thermometer!! A “dedicated brining bucket” works great, as others have posted, and I did last year for space needs.
People who knit should bake great bread that takes very little time away from knitting!
I think my Cuisinart is circa 1982 also. Or maybe 1981?