Altitude Cooking

With the onset of the Holiday Season, baking is many folks' minds. I love to bake. And cook. But living at a high elevation can prove to be challenging when it comes to something as ordinary as cooking or baking.
The higher the altitude, the lower the air pressure. And at an elevation of 9500ft. the air pressure here is L*O*W! This low air pressure means lower boiling points, things will rise more rapidly, and faster evaporation because of the lower humidity. The more common ways to adjust a recipe are to increase the liquid, reduce sugar, reduce leavening agent. 
I learned to cook at elevation. And when we lived at 9000ft, I had gotten fairly adept at baking. It has been almost 20 years since that time and I have forgotten a few things since then. So now I am re-learning what I once knew.

To begin this process, I decided to do what the old prospectors used to do, use a sourdough starter. I try to use my starter about every 2 wks, though using it once a week is better. I store my starter in a crock jar in the fridge when it is not being fed or used.



The batter has a strong yeasty smell which is what sourdough is known for. I have read and been told that the yeast in sourdough is very healthy for a person. 

The first batch I tried earlier this month, I made into bread. It was bit dense but quite tasty. The second batch, which I made into rolls, was not as dense but less moist.

I have been keeping notes on any adjustments I make so that I know what works and what doesn't work. I will soon be attempting cookies. Wish me luck!

Read more about high altitude cooking with hints and tips HERE! and HERE!

Weird Wednesday ~ An Engineers Cookie Recipe

Chocolate Chip Cookies:


Ingredients:

1.) 532.35 cm3 gluten
2.) 4.9 cm3 NaHCO3
3.) 4.9 cm3 refined halite
4.) 236.6 cm3 partially hydrogenated tallow triglyceride
5.) 177.45 cm3 crystalline C12H22O11
6.) 177.45 cm3 unrefined C12H22O11
7.) 4.9 cm3 methyl ether of protocatechuic aldehyde
8.) Two calcium carbonate-encapsulated avian albumen-coated protein
9.) 473.2 cm3 theobroma cacao
10.) 236.6 cm3 de-encapsulated legume meats (sieve size #10)

To a 2-L jacketed round reactor vessel (reactor #1) with an overall heat
transfer coefficient of about 100 Btu/F-ft2-hr, add ingredients one, two
and three with constant agitation. In a second 2-L reactor vessel with a
radial flow impeller operating at 100 rpm, add ingredients four, five, six,
and seven until the mixture is homogenous. To reactor #2, add ingredient
eight, followed by three equal volumes of the homogenous mixture in
reactor #1. Additionally, add ingredient nine and ten slowly, with constant
agitation. 

Care must be taken at this point in the reaction to control any
temperature rise that may be the result of an exothermic reaction.
Using a screw extrude attached to a #4 noduliser, place the mixture
piece-meal on a 316SS sheet (300 x 600 mm). 

Heat in a 460K oven for a period of time that is in agreement 
with Frank & Johnston’s first order rate expression (see JACOS, 21, 55), 
or until golden brown. Once the reaction is complete, place the sheet on 
a 25C heat-transfer table, allowing the product to come to equilibrium.

In Search of Candy Corn Confections....

With Halloween rapidly approaching, Candy Corn has become a staple around our house. 
And I have gone in search of other Candy Corn Confections. 

First I went searching for the limited edition Candy Corn Oreos. They are only being sold at Target stores. Unfortunately, the Target closest to me didn't have any in stock when I was there. 

Then I had heard rumors of Candy Corn M&M's. Still haven't been able to find any of those either.
I have found lots of Candy Corn though......

***Next week I will be preempting the normal posts (Cat Tales & Weird Wednesday) and will be writing about a recent trip Hubby and I took into the mountains, Colorado's mining history and its present day repercussions***

*And don't forget to stop by and enter my give-away! I'll be announcing the winners on September 22! Click Here to go to that post! *

A Long Overdo Report

I have been remiss, Dear Readers. I have not kept you up to speed on my Neighbors. (And who doesn't like to see what the neighbors are up to? Go ahead. Admit it. We've all peered over the fence or peeked out the window to see what was up at the House Next Door... )

If you'll remember, back in January, I had taken some cookies over to my New Neighbors as a way to say, 'Welcome, Glad to meet you!' Well, they haven't kept my plate all this time! I had come home about two weeks later (yes, I think it was around Valentine's Day...) and found my plate sitting on the settee table with a lovely note on it.



It was hand written on the most lovely parchment paper. The author of the note thanked me for the tasty treats and wished I would share the recipe. (Do they not have chocolate chips at the Fairy Stores?) And the note went on to say that they hoped that their Cat, Kallie, was not being a nuisance. (If they only knew how she was making herself at home .... Thanks in part to Gomez!)



I have heard a lot of commotion over at their place recently. I imagine they are doing some cleaning and 'sprucing up' - what with the nice weather and all. I will try and get over there this week (weather permitting) and introduce myself. Perhaps I will take more cookies.....

A Welcome

Oh my, it has been cold here! And I've been staying inside next to the fire working on this and that. So I really haven't had much of a chance to go meet the neighbors and see how they liked their new home. I hoped they were getting settled in okay.


But, earlier in the week, we had a break in the winter weather. So I thought I would bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies and take some over to the neighbors.


Kind of like a 'Welcome to the Neighborhood'.

I decided to use the good china. It's just so pretty and cheery! And the cookies looked so good on the plate. Can't you just hear them screaming, "Eat Me!" ??

*************

As I approached the neighbor's house, I didn't see their car. I wondered if anyone was home. I knocked, but no one came to the door. Maybe they had gone to the Market. Or they were out visiting.....


I decided to leave the plate of cookies on the chair by the door (after I moved the box). That way the neighbors would be sure to find them when they came back home.

*************

It looked like they had been busy unpacking. Moving boxes and paper were here and there.


There was a lovely wreath hanging by the door.
And the horse shoe hanging over the door - Oh My, how it glistened in the sunshine! I wondered if it was gold ??


I wondered if it came from the Unicorn that had pulled the Moving Van ??

*************

I turned around to leave when I realized I had forgotten to leave a note! How would the neighbors know who had brought the cookies?? So I ran back home and grabbed a pen and parchment. And jotted down this little verse.

Welcome to the neighborhood.
We're so glad to see you're here!
Welcome to the WildWoods!
Where everyone is Dear!

{your neighbors in the gray house}

*************

I do hope the neighbors enjoyed the cookies!