Stefin loved finding a treasure trove of old Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazines while on holiday in the Pacific Northwest this summer, and was reminded how fun vintage magazines can be. Don’t ignore them when you’re stopping by a Little Free Library, garage sale, or thrift store! Magazines published within the last 10 years are still relatively up-to-date, while older volumes can be a source of hilarious fascination, much like Stefin’s beloved Five Seasons of Cranberry cookbook, which she first mentioned in Episode 95. (And if you’re missing Martha Stewart Everyday Food, which is no longer published, Andrea notes there are several Everyday Food cookbooks still in circulation at her library.)
Meantime, Andrea’s fascinated by the conversation about alternative flours on our Facebook Listeners page. Have your tried banana, apple, coffee or cauliflower flour? Stay tuned for a whole month devoted to “flour power” and let us know your favorite alternatives, and if you use them for a flavor boost as well.
Hosts Split on Cocoa-Swirled Banana Bread
The hosts had different reactions to this pretty marbled Cocoa-Swirled Banana Bread from Challenge Dairy. Andrea had never made a chocolate banana bread before, and she and her family were delighted with the flavor and texture of this loaf. Since she already had bananas in her freezer, she skipped three of the six prep steps, which may have also added to her positive review. She was also happy to use her new-to-her “professional sized” loaf pan, which turned out slices she might have purchased at her local bakery or coffee shop.
Since Stefin’s go-to banana bread happens to be a chocolate-swirled version, she was less enamored of this week’s bake along recipe, and didn’t think the perfectly adequate loaf was worth the extensive freeze and thaw prep work. She’ll be sticking with her TNT (“tried ‘n’ true”) recipe to make her family happy.
This Week’s Bake Along: Peanut Butter & Jelly Poke Cake
This new classic is a twist on a lunchbox favorite, the PB&J, from Australian food blogger Jess at The Sweetest Menu. Andrea reports it’s surprisingly hard to find a peanut butter recipe that doesn’t also include chocolate! Since this cake is pulling double duty as her husband’s birthday cake, and he doesn’t care for chocolate, she was delighted to find this charming recipe which features a peanut butter cake dolloped with strawberry jam, and topped with a luscious peanut butter frosting. Bake along and let us know how this one-bowl wonder from Down Under turned out for you!
The Care and Feeding of Kids Leaving Home
Andrea and Stefin are full of collegiate pride after Listener Aaron emailed to let them know he’ll be baking up Preheated favorites at Brown University this autumn. (He also educated them about elote, a corn snack that’s popular in his Texas border town, similar to the corn in a cup Stefin encountered at a movie theatre in India.)
Then, taking their cue from Listeners, the duo chat about how to instill cooking and nutrition knowledge in kids leaving home, as well as the best things to send in care packages — perhaps you know someone who would love Life Changing Crackers, Zebra Corn, Lemon Drizzle Cake, Nigel Slater’s Seed Cake, Homemade Pop Tarts, Cookie Butter Blondies or Salted Chocolate Rye Cookies?
Books mentioned in the mini-segment:
College Cooking: Feed Yourself and Your Friends
The Flying Brownie
Previously on Preheated …
Two Years Ago: Episode 43, Peanut Butter Bars, Po Boys, Home Ec, and Audiobooks
One Year Ago: Episode 91, Just Peachy
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