11/5/07:
    Well, the pie was not a great success.  Somewhere, packed for moving, is my blender..and
a few other things I need.  Obviously, I needed more pumpkin than I measured.  I had used
a potato masher/ricer and did not get a compacted mass of the vegetable.  I did use the
suggestion of using high heat for 15 mins. and turning the oven off for 45 mins.  The pie
cooked well and pie crust was not too crispy that way.
    With all that mashed stuff to spare, I made a recipe from The Cutting Board called "The
 Best Pumpkin Bread with Apples & Oranges".   I did substitute 35 drops of stevia sweetener
and 2 tablespoons of molasses for the 2 Cups of sugar.  (According to James Beard, Early
American cooks used molasses in the pie.)  I also left out the chopped walnuts (which I love,
but am told won't love me back. (diverticulosis).  With all my finagling, even, the bread tastes
great.  Toast that on your George Foreman for breakfast!

11/14/07:
    Figured out the pie thing.  Am invited to Thanksgiving dinner.  I picked up a jar of ready-
made Borden mincemeat.  The recipe for Apple Mince Pie looks easy.  By tossing 3 medium
cored, pared and thinly sliced apples
in flour and butter, adding to prepared crust and placing the jarful of mincemeat over that,
all I have to do is lay the top crust on it and bake.  Here's a tip I heard on the Rachel Ray
Show.  Bake your pie in a disposable tin.  Slice your first piece of pie but do not remove yet. 
Cut slices into the pie plate with kitchen shears.   Bend the metal down and remove first piece
without messing it up.  Cool. 

• I nearly forgot.  The day after Halloween, I was driving home from an errand through
• Harwich.  I passed one of the best displays I have seen on a front lawn...Three stuffed
• figures kneeling, two kneeling on the first three and one kneeling on top.  They all had
• carved pumpkin heads.  Creator must be a phys ed teacher.

11/20/07:
     Stevia site which has much information:Cooking with Stevia .  For one thing, found it is
non-fermentable, so will not allow yeast to rise quite as much.  Think I'll try the molasses thing. 
Or a little honey if that doesn't work.  Have to go to Ask.com for conversions.  Another (direct)
link is Metric Conversion.Org.

4/23/08: And so it goes.  Haven't had much to report about the bread, except that most of
the recipes in the Hensperger cookbook come out great.  The latest taste treat is one made
with golden flax seed.  I did, however grind the seed before baking, as I want to stay away
from diverticulosis problems.  That loaf was outstanding in taste.  Good healthy stuff, too.
     Soon, I will be attempting sourdough recipes.  One can use a dry starter.  Even though
supermarkets are supposed to carry this stuff, the managers don't know what the ---- you're
talking about.  I tend to drive them crazy.  If I go for the basic sourdough, I have to make a
chamber to keep the mixture warm.  Having kept the house cool, thanks to Cheney and
company, my body is used to 60's temperature. (Feel like a kid again, when families were
not too prosperous.) 
    Wondering about the chamber, I thought of the bread slicing guide I recently bought.  It
came with a heavy duty plastic box to keep the bread in.  It has two parts that you can slide
together with air holes on both ends.  Perfect!  All I have to find is a miniature lamp to place
inside and probably a 25-40 watt bulb.  I don't want to push my luck heating the plastic.  Think
thatshould provide enough warmth, even if I leave the two pieces open a crack to accomodate
the wire on the lamp.  Found a glass receptacle that fits inside nicely and with cheesecloth to
cover the glass, there should be enough ambient air to do the job.  See Ask.com for directions
to make your own starter with flour, water and grapes.  To think I almost put the bread keeper
in the pile for the exchange building at our transfer station, aka the dump.

3/24/08: Moving right aliong.  After shopping for a mini lamp, came home and found a solution
in the cellar, a  clip-on heating lamp with an aluminum shade.  I unscrewed the shade and will
fashion a small stand out of disposable aluminum cookware. After I get it all together, will
probably throw a photo or two on the blog.  Will keep you posted.

3/26/08: So far, so-so.  Managed to get a 25 watt bulb set up inside the breadbox.  Used
large bag clip to top of box but I wouldn't recommend this.  Can probably be unstable if you
don't
get it right and you're working with electricity and a bowl of wet stuff.  Will carry on with the
experiment, however, and try again when the weather is warmer and use organic grapes or
apple slices.  I have so many recipes that one can become easily confused but after about
15 hours,bubbling to a small degree.  Have to pick up some non-metal (wooden utensils)
to pick out the fruit. 
  
     Don't know where I can find a small used fish tank.  One of the heating lamps would
probably work.   I can wait.  There are recipes to die for in the Hensperger book.  English
muffins cooked on a grill, for instance.....my freezer will runneth over.

3/28/08: Tried the muffins on a stovetop griddle I've had since the 60s.  They came out
OK  but I'm looking for something better that pretty good.  Will work on another "mother"
when it gets warmer this spring.  One good feature of the bread machine is the dough cycle.
That dough rose beautifully. Again, used Hensperger's recipe.