bacon grease?

My dad makes the best pancakes in the world. As much as I like to cook, I've never quite been able to recreate them. I think part of it is that I have grown up and become more critical of food, but I finally admit that maybe (MAYBE) the reason they are so good is because he used to cook them in bacon grease. !! I know! Gross, right? Well, we had this great skiddle big enough for six pancakes and when he made bacon on it, the grease dripped out the botton through a little spout and it was collected, cooled, and saved. The bacon crumbles sank to the bottom leaving a fairly pure product on top. I never though twice about it growing up, but looking back...I suppose it's not any worse than butter. But seriously, I can't think of what else it could. Other than the whole dad thing.

The Quiet Zone

Check this out, I thought it was really interesting:

http://www.pbs.org/kcet/wiredscience/video/308-the_quiet_zone.html

Steve, Jamie, and a saturday of baking!

I've been away for a long time! Now that I've been away from the bakery for a bit, I'm getting back into the groove of things in my beloved kitchen. Plus, a surprise visit from Steve and Jamie, newly married!

It was really fun to have them here, Erich made curry for dinner and we had a lot of fun. Have a safe trip to Virginia, guys!

Now...for today:

Going clockwise, starting with the upper left: pumpernickel rye english muffin bread, pumpkin muffins and bread (the rounds are bread, one with oatmeal on top), and pumpkin biscotti.
Today was a great day for baking, it was cool and rainy, just starting to feel like fall.

The english muffin bread was a simple no-knead bread with only one rise. I used both my bread pans (one large, one small) so I made the pumpkin bread later in my 6-inch cake pans. They look a little goofy, but it worked. I felt tempted to stack them like cakes and frost them but didn't get around to it.I made half a dozen pumpkin muffins, but two vanished as soon as they came out of the oven. Erich managed to tear himself away from the computer to test them out for me. :-D


The biscotti were the most fun to make, and actually the easiest. Roll into a flat log and bake for 20 minutes, let cool, then slice and bake again. Twice baked cookies? They came out a bit soft and chewy, which I liked, but they should firm up by tomorrow.


Can't forget the goodies from the farmer's market!
And finally, the first tree to turn! I saw it on a walk this afternoon, and was just wishing I'd brought the camera so I could take a picture of it when Erich triumphantly produced it from his sweatshirt pocket! Good husband points! Of course I was so excited I had to go run under the trees and pose like a big goon.
Hope you guys all had a great saturday too!