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A 25-year-old Gillette man who is already in prison for assaulting jail officers is now accused of attacking prison guards when they wouldn’t let him keep gingerbread-making supplies in his cell. He’s serving a five-to-10-year prison term in the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins. The Carbon County Attorney’s Office charged him with felony police interference Monday, on evidence that he kicked and thrashed at prison guards. If convicted, he could receive an additional prison term of up to 20 years — 10 years on each of the two counts of felony interference he now faces. The incident dates back to...

Commentary - The Philippines has, somewhat surprisingly, a well established baking tradition. The country is otherwise a standard East Asian rice culture, except for this quite important exception. Baked bread is almost universally consumed, dependent on wheat and flour imports, as the country produces no wheat. "Pan de sal", or salt bread, is a breakfast staple, produced on that demanding schedule of the typical Euro-American bakery and distribution system, as the "daily bread" of millions. Besides this the country expects a quite large variety of other breads. The typical breakfast in the Philippines CAN seem like the European continental breakfast....

Girl Scout cookie season—generally a six- to eight-week period between January and April—is pretty much its own holiday. Once those tables with green tablecloths hit supermarkets nationwide, we start dreaming about towering stacks of coconut-flecked Samoas. Or are they Caramel DeLites? (Wondering why some cookies have different names? Check out 9 Things You Didn't Know About Girl Scout Cookies.) Enthusiasm for their cookies is matched only, we think, by the ferocity of fans' opinions on the best varieties. Which is to say: We know we're playing a dangerous game by picking the best (and worst) Girl Scout cookies. But here...

We're grateful for any gift we receive -- especially when it's edible. Come the holidays, that happens more and more and it is grand (because it almost always means COOKIES). While most Christmas cookies are 100 percent awesome, they aren't all created equal. Some are better than others. And actually some, some are just downright bad. We ranked them in order from best to worst because, well, someone had to. If you're planning on doing any holiday baking, this list may be a helpful guide as to which cookies you should bake and which you need to steer clear of...

‘Focaccia’ seasoned with animal fat baked in an experimental replica husking tray. Credit: Sergio Taranto Late Neolithic communities in the Fertile Crescent baked large, seasoned breads using grooved husking trays. Analysis of archaeological remains highlights a six-century culinary tradition involving cereal processing and communal meals. A study led by researchers from the UAB and the University La Sapienza in Rome reveals that during the Late Neolithic, between 7000 and 5000 BCE, fully agricultural communities in the Fertile Crescent region of the Near East developed a complex culinary tradition. This tradition included baking large loaves of bread and “focaccias” with various...

Thanksgiving means turkey, the Fourth of July equals hot dogs and burgers, and Christmas brings ham, so why doesn’t America have a specific food to eat on Election Day? Perhaps because we’re now too mired in disgust and/or despair by the time a presidential election rolls around every four years to be concerned with preparing a special dish. But at one point in time, at least in a certain region of the country, there was something called Election Cake. It is often connected with Hartford, Connecticut and called Hartford Election Cake, but historians point out that the cake was baked...

It's finally here and ready for baking! Mary Ann released her famous coconut cream pie recipe to the world. This was taken from the "Mary Ann's Cookbook" and I have yet to try it. If any of you bake this pie, please tell me how it came out. You can purchase Mary Ann's Cookbook at Amazon.com. 3 egg yolks Dash of salt 3/4 cup sugar 3 cups milk 2 tablespoons butter 1/2 cup cornstarch 1 cup coconut 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 baked 9-inch pie shell 3 egg whites Coconut for garnish In the top of a double boiler over...

A Vermont-based baking company is under fire for hosting a competition that barred white contestants from participating, an attempt to “foster greater inclusivity” in the world of baking. The 2024 Baking Pitchfest, hosted by King Arthur Baking, says it will provide “equitable opportunities for People of Color entrepreneurs,” gracing the winners with “financial support, brand exposure, and mentorship to help accelerate their businesses.” The competition is billed as an “accelerator program,” and will consist of two parts, a product edition and a bakery edition, which are limited to those defined as a “person of color led business” and a “person...

The King Arthur Baking Company is hosting a competition for bakeries and the winner gets a lot of dough. It’s called “Baking Pitchfest 2024.” Winners get mentorship from other bakers and financial support for their bakeries. It sounds like a great opportunity for the pastry and pie crowd. But there’s just one catch. *No white people are allowed to enter the competition.* Only bakeries that are owned by persons of color are allowed to participate.

NATIONAL BUNDT DAY National Bundt Day, also known as National Bundt Cake Day, is observed every year on November 15th. As people across the United States plan menus for the holidays, a bundt cake is sure to be on the list at least once. #NATIONALBUNDTDAY A Bundt cake can be any cake baked in a Bundt pan, forming it into a distinctive ring shape. The mold of the Bundt pan was initially inspired by the traditional European fruit cake known as Gugelhupf. It was in the 1950s and 1960s that the cookware company Nordic Ware popularized the style for the...

I need some advice from anybody in the silicone mold business or knows somebody in that business. I need some simple molds made to order. Rather simple shapes. Basically molds in the shape of spheres but since the diameters would be 12 inches and larger I would need the spherical shapes to be divided. That way they could be layered like layer cake and then covered with icing and designs. I've contacted several silicone mold companies that specialize in mold for baking but, surprisingly, they are unable to provide such molds. As I stated the shapes of the molds are...

(Last Updated On: February 28, 2023) NATIONAL WHITE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE DAY National White Chocolate Cheesecake Day on March 6th offers another way to celebrate one of our favorite desserts. This indulgent day inspires bakers across the country to wow us with their delicious creations! #WhiteChocolateCheesecakeDay Cheesecake is a sweet dessert that is a mixture of soft fresh cheese, cream cheese or cottage cheese, eggs, and sugar on a crust made from crushed graham crackers, crushed cookies, pastry, or sponge cake. Cheesecakes can be prepared baked or unbaked and are often served topped with fruit, chocolate, or whipped cream. There are...

When it comes to cooking and baking, it’s a truth universally acknowledged that butter just makes things better. But with the holiday season coming up, many may have to scramble to find enough butter for their baked goods. That’s according to the Wall Street Journal, which recently reported on a dairy shortage in the U.S. due to staffing issues and lower milk production. With less butter on shelves and in storage facilities (reportedly the lowest since 2017), that means the price of the yellow stuff has gone up. Over the last year, butter prices have gone up by more than...

This is the BiWeekly Prepper Thread for all things prepping.In these Strange Days, it's not a bad idea to have a little set back. Or a lot. I think we all saw empty shelves last year. We didn't go without though. Since I'm a prepper, I stocked up on TP and food and even bought a small freezer for meat when I saw empty shelves in Italy. My wife no longer thinks my prepping mentality is a little wacky, 20 years later. This year is turning out to be the year of systems hacking. Extreme weather events can happen most...

Anybody with a sweet tooth, please raise your hand. Now keep scrolling because you’ve got to check out these ultra realistic fish cakes this baker in Texas makes. These delicious works of art are created by Sugarbelle Sweets in Corpus Christi, Texas, by owner Dusty Sinclair. She’s a self-taught baker who specializes in custom cakes and cookies for weddings and other events. “I started Sugarbelle Sweets in 2014, but I’ve been baking most of my life,” Sinclair told me in an interview. She also said she’s an avid hunter/angler, along with the rest of her family. “When I’m not baking,...

The Covid-19 pandemic has tightened our social circles and narrowed the scope of our lives in ways no one imagined just a year ago. But the lockdown also brought an unexpected solace: Everyone, it seems, turned to baking sourdough bread. Social media has been overflowing with photos of frothy sourdough starters — many of them named, like a family pet — and the fresh-baked loaves that result. And though peak sourdough may have passed, many a fridge still contains that jar of starter. Most home sourdough bakers know that their starter contains a vibrant herd of microbes, which leaven and...

I am tired of buying store-bought products that do more harm than good. I am curious if fellow FReepers were using baking soda and Epson Salt on a regular basis and if so what is your favorite tip. Perhaps you have another 'Secret' product that you use.

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We will now begin the official countdown till Christmas. So if you haven’t finished your decorating,wrapping: and bakingtime to get to it. In case you have to do it twice.The tree faintedThe dog ate themSo as the world continues to go insane, remember: you needn’t participate. Jump off the wagon for awhile, I promise it will be a soft landing.And believe me, the lunacy will proceed without you.So comment on the world at large if you wish or just kick back and make some holiday appetizers. Either way, there’s still going to be only 9 days till Christmas, and time...

Today is Raj’s birthday, and that means only one thing around here: there will be cake. At one time that meant Mom’s Mystery Cake, which was about as simple as a homemade dessert could get and delicious when served with copious amounts of whipped cream. There are many more complicated variations of “fruit cocktail cake” out there but if yours looks more like a traditional cake with identifiable chunks of fruit in it you’re not doing it right. It should be more of an amalgamated pudding like creature. Mom’s Mystery CakeIngredients     1 (16 ounce) can fruit cocktail in heavy...