While baking some banana muffins, this came to mind and I wanted to share this information about bananas. It's always good to know which bananas to bake with (unripened vs. ripened), as well as knowing what level the sugar concentration will be.
Based on the above chart, unripened bananas have 40% starch, while ripened bananas only have 8% starch (91% sugar).
This was the first cookie recipe that my mother trusted me to bake on my own when I was a child. It was one of my favorites to make every holiday season!
Ingredients:
1 cup shortening (or margarine)
1 1/2 cup sugar (1 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup white sugar)
2 eggs
2 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon
cinnamon & sugar mixture
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375°F if using a light cookie sheet (or 350°F if using a dark sheet). Spray cooking spray on the cookie sheet and set aside.
In a large pot, melt 1 cup butter (1 cup = 2 sticks) with stove at 3 or 4.
Remove pot from heat.
Stir in sugar. I usually measure the brown sugar (1 cup) in a tall measuring cup, using a spoon to push down the brown sugar. Then add the white sugar on top, which should be ½ cup so that the total amount of sugar is at the 1 ½ cup line.
Add in baking soda, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, and eggs. Stir.
Finally stir in flour.
Using a small spoon, pick up cookie dough and roll around in your hands into a ball. Put the dough on the cookie sheet and then slightly press down to flatten it somewhat.
Bake in oven for 3-4 minutes. Open up the oven, pull out the cookie sheet, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar mixture on top of the cookies. Put cookie sheet back in oven and continue baking for 2-3 more minutes. Should bake for a total of 8 minutes. (Bake for approximately 6-7 minutes if it's on a dark cookie sheet.) Remove the cookies from the oven when the edges turn a golden brown.
Pull out cookie sheet and let cookies set on pot holders for a minute or two. Then remove the cookies with a spatula on to the foil, to finish cooling.
Now add more cookie dough on to the cookie sheet and do the same thing as before.
Eat and enjoy!
Milling wheat for flour only became common in the 12th century. However, by the turn of the 19th century, wheat was the UK’s most significant crop grown for human consumption. Did you know that wheat was first planted in the United States in 1777 as a hobby crop?
In the year 1850, U.S. per capita wheat flour consumption reached 205 pounds, up from 170 pounds in 1830.
Suggested Items for Purchase:
- KitchenAid Mixer: https://amzn.to/3TLyCqH
- KitchenAid Metal Grain Mill Attachment: https://amzn.to/4kee0lK
- Soft White Wheat Berries: https://amzn.to/4l521Z3
- Hard White Wheat Berries: https://amzn.to/3Gjpo1Z
- Hard Red Spring Wheat Berries: https://amzn.to/4kZjt12
- Hard Red Winter Wheat Berries: https://amzn.to/46lEuOV
- Einkorn Berries: https://amzn.to/445xpRe
- Emmer Berries: https://amzn.to/4npNzMT
- Yellow Dent Corn Kernels: https://amzn.to/3Ge4Xn8
On Saturday, I helped out in the kitchen for most of the day with making breakfast and lunch. The event was small enough that a feast was not offered for dinner. Since the event was intimate in size, it was a rather relaxing and fun, stress-free day.
For breakfast, I cooked the goetta for staff and others who were there to help set-up the event.
For lunch, I taught the lunch staff how to make Dragon Tails, as well as baking cookies (snickerdoodle and gluten-free chocolate chip). In addition, we also had a gluten-free Dragon Tail option as well as a vegetarian Dragon Tail option. Fruit, drinks, and chips were also included with the purchase of a lunch.
Overall, it was a fun day! I really enjoyed my time in the kitchen!
March 25th continued to be New Year’s Day in England until 1752, when the Parliament of England passed an act to make January 1st the beginning of the calendar year (like most of Western Europe had already done previously).
In the beginning of The good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchin from 1594, the book provides meat suggestions based on Holy Days:
