the Friday Feeding; VOL. 88

It’s all about community, this store venture is. We gather, we eat and through osmosis the store maintains itself as a business.  To quote the article that will be soon coming out in the NH Farm Bureau newsletter about the store, “Canterbury is a place where people find their calling” and for your storekeepers, feeding you is ours.

Community PLUS!

Next week-end we will be providing loads of food for the Canterbury Fair, the ULTIMATE community gathering. Come in through the front or back door and grab some food all prepared, including special meals for kids, OR have Dave make you a pizza. He will be in the kitchen cookin’ away all day.

What’s new…

…very sweet with just-picked flavor! Get ’em quick.

Baking in humidity

Baking is something that does-not-like to be done in humid weather. Humidity in your kitchen effects the batter and dough so things don’t rise as well but worse than that, it can leave your cooling cookies soft rather than crisp, cakes a bit soggy and bread mushy.

Yuk.

I lived in a vintage house once that had a wet basement (sound familiar) so the kitchen above was always slightly, shall we say, as though the shower had just been running. Moist. I learned a few tricks there and they continue to work in any humid environment.

1. If it is humid outside, close all the windows in your kitchen and keep them closed.
2. Preheat your oven as long as you can stand; at least 30 minutes. The heat will evaporate some of the moisture in the air.
3. Mix your dough/batter under the exhaust hood if you can or at least with a fan running near by to redirect the moisture in the air.
4. You can also try bumping up the oven temperature a bit on your recipe. I have been baking my muffins 10 degrees hotter in this weather to produce the same effect that dry winter weather creates for me.
5. Lastly, cool your baked goods under the exhaust hood if you can or with a fan blowing on them. As soon as they are cool, immediately seal them up in a container or with plastic wrap. Paper bag enclosures work for somethings by absorbing the moisture in the air so it doesn’t penetrate your baking but beware; it can have the opposite effect if your room is too moist…it wicks the moisture into your baked goods.

Happy baking! Or, buy what I make or at the fair next week and save your kitchen. 🙂

Have a great week-end and see you at the fair,

Visit our friends up the road…