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Saturday in Kathy's Kitchen

My kitchen cupboards are home to many pans of different shapes and sizes. Some of them were wedding gifts 35 years ago.  I have pans that I inherited from the kitchens of my grandma, mom,  and mom in law. They are well seasoned and bake beautifully. Then there are the new and used ones I pick up along the way. 

Fluted Flan Pans with removable bottom.
I rarely bake up a flan but I do use these pans when I bake fruit platz, appetizer pizzas and foccacia bread.
Pizza in a flan pan.


Muffin and tart pans.
I use the 24 cup mini tart pan for my Christmas Butter Tarts. They pop out perfect.....every time.
I'm sure every kitchen has a regular muffin tin which is perfect for cupcakes as well. When I make a roast beef dinner I like to serve Yorkshire pudding, and having a Yorkshire pudding pan with it's deep cups makes for high inflation in the Yorkshires. I also use that pan to make mile high muffins.
The little Hovis pans were a gift from our neighbours who used to own a Dutch bakery. I have a set of 6 of these and  I like to bake loaf shaped muffins in them. These pans are not easy to come by, but if you ever find some it's worth the purchase. They bake wonderfully.
Savoury Popovers in Yorkshire Pan.

Bread pans. The ones on the left are from my mom and mom in law. The thin ones in the middle are from my Grandma Janzen. The Hovis bread pans were given to me by my neighbour as well. In the background, the dark small loaf pans are fun to use when I have a special dinner and place a small loaf of bread on a wooden cutting board for 2 guests to share. Add a little dish of whipped butter and enjoy. 
Brown Bread in Hovis Pans

Roasting Pans.
I have 3 sizes of the blue speckled enamel roasters. They are great for roasting chicken beef. They are perfect for baking a meat loaf or filling with cabbage rolls.
The big shiny roaster in the back doubles as a chili, spaghetti sauce or soup pot.  I like to bake potato or mushroom soup in the oven and this heavy roaster makes a big batch and there is no burning.
My favourite.....my mom's old stained roaster. It's so well seasoned and turkey is always perfect when baked in this roaster. Many a Sunday lunch came out of the oven in this roaster during my growing up years. Do you still make a big lunch after church on Sunday? I don't too often anymore but maybe I should start again and invite guests. 
Big batch spaghetti sauce being made in a roaster.

Cake Pans.

Spring forms, tube, bundt, rounds and squares. Try using your spring form for your next coffee cake. Also use it to bake up a layered veggie lasagna. When you open the spring the layers look really nice. Cut into wedges. Use your bundt pan for baking a wreath of sweet buns.  And of course there are the pans for layered birthday cakes, angel and chiffon cakes.




CAKE!



29 comments:

  1. A professional kitchen. A professional's kitchen! And I'm green with envy.

    Do you ever bake Hovis bread? It's very hard to find here now, and the once I did, it just wasn't right. I wonder what we're missing, maybe, a particular type of flour only available in the U.K.

    Sharon

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    1. Sharon, I have never baked Hovis bread, I just use those pans for my regular bread baking. I do think it's the flour but I have thought of looking for it and getting a recipe from the friends I received the pans from.

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  2. I love the idea of baking a loaf cake in a springform pan.

    How can you tell if a recipe can be baked if a type of pan other than the one called for? Are there any "rules" for calculating this? I have couple of recipes that call for a bunt pan which I do not have. I usually end up baking these in a loaf pan and putting some of the mixture into a couple of paper baking cases that I stand in a muffin pan.

    Thanks,
    Christine




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    1. Christine, using loaf pans to replace anything in a bundt is great. Chiffon cakes and angel food cakes do need to be baked in an ungreased tube pans and then inverted while cooling. A good tip for inverting a tube pan is either onto a cup or an even better way it so invert it over the neck of a tall neck bottle. Make sure the bottle is full so it can support the weight of the cake. I often choose random pans for cakes, just make sure you don't fill them too full...you have a good idea to make a few muffins with the excess batter.

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  3. What an amazing collection of baking pans. I too have inherited some old well seasoned ones - they are the best! Love your yorkshire pudding pan and your pudding looks amazing. So interesting how each pan has a story of where it came from and what delicious traditional food is prepared in each to nourish loved ones!

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  4. I'm envious of your pans. The popovers look divine. I need to look for one of those Yorkshire pans. I have a good collection of cast iron skillets which I have had for many years. Seeing your pans reminded me of the time my husband and two kids melted lead in the skillet I always used to bake cornbread. They were making weights for my son's Soap Derby car. Grrrr. I'm still a little mad about that!

    Anyhow, I love your pans and I think I'll spend some time this afternoon inventorying what I have. I better not find another pot or pan missing!!

    Diane in North Carolina

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    1. Diane, Thanks for sharing the story.....why is it always our favourites that go missing or get ruined?! Make sure if you purchase a yorkshire pudding pan you spend a little more and get a nice heavy one. They are great for jumbo muffins too.

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    2. Diane I totally have the same problem with the men in my house- I chuckled and smiled and thot "good someone else too!" when i read the post. My very first expensive rolling pin 40 years ago became the smoothest roller ever on top of a "horse" to roll along the piece of wood he was putting thru a machine at the other end. Several cookie sheets and 9x13 pans disappeared to be found in the garage under the car when changing oil or fixing something. I now hide my new good pans at other end of house in my own office - and have to remember to pull them out to use!!

      So enjoyed this post- I have quite a few of those pans too- and yes I am learning to use them "out-of-the-box" for other things and love using stand alone muffin or cupcake little containers for using also when too much "dough" and also for muffins lately. They save on the clean up and look nice when presented especially to give away as I have been on muffin-craze lately.!!

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    3. You have me laughing at the uses for your pans. I am a muffin fan too.....I posted a Saturday post not too long ago about parchment paper and liners. Have you tried the new large tulip shaped parchment liners for jumbo muffins? They are great.

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  5. Kathy, I always look for your recipes, because you and I seem to have very similar taste. Now I see your pans and it looks like you were taking photos in my kitchen - most of the pans are identical to mine. But ......there is always something new to learn. I don't have the variety of flan pans that you have. I only have one and I use it for only one recipe. I will try your ideas. I was just on a vacation with all the other fantastic female cooks in my family. While we were gone, we went shopping in "Cost Plus World Market". That was a new store for me. I found many, many fun home items there, but my favourite were all the kitchen gadgets, tools and pans!

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    1. Lorrie, I also read through your comments that we would get along well.....many similarities is seems:) How fun to go on all girls vacation...love those times. Cost Plus World Market....a favourite of mine. Maybe one day we will meet up in the kitchen isle:) How fun that would be....all those gadgets, tools and pan make me giddy.

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  6. The well used white roast pan brought back memories of my grandma! She used a pan just like that to roast the turkey for our family holiday gatherings. I love kitchen gadgets and finding new pans to bake in. Thanks for sharing:-)

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  7. Kathy- from Kathy in Ontario- my husband loves Yorkshire pudding from when he grew up- I just tried to find the recipe on m.g.c.c. and cannot locate one- can you help me? or post your recipe? I quit making them years ago because they created such a greasy mess in my oven- probably better way to do it now. Thanks.

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    1. Hi Kathy, you are right...there is no recipe for yorkshire pudding on the blog. The one pictured on this post is a recipe coming out in our new Celebrations Cookbook early spring.

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    2. Thank you. I will look for it. Idea-might you consider putting some of those recipes from the new book for a week or two on line on this blog. That would be a great idea - like the popovers- to entice all of us to buy a book, and share its arrival.

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  8. I love your collection of pots and pans. When my mom passed away it was a while before i could get over to the house to sort through her kitchen stuff. What we would refer to as well seasonrd baking pans, my brother thought were gross and he had thrown them all out. I was not happy. I love Hovis bread. We can't get it here but i did find a recipe for it. You need malt extract. Growing up in England my mom used to give us a spoonful of malt extract every night before bed. I think it was supposed to be like a tonic for you or something-we loved it. It was thick like creamed honey. The only place i found it here was at a wine making store. It was quite a large can and t was $18.00. A little too pricey for a loaf of bread that may or may not taste like the Hovis i remember.

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  9. I am lucky enough to have a set of Hovis pans as well as the muffin loaf pans. My hovis pans came in a row of 6. They are also from a bakery ( where I use to worked ). They didn't fit into my oven so we had to cut them in half. I love them. I will be passing them down to my girls.

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  10. I love this post. It reminds me of the kitchens of my grandmothers and all my aunts (my mom is one of 11)....they were/are all wonderful bakers. I wish I had the space in my kitchen/house to have such a wonderful collection. My favourite....your "well-seasoned" roaster. Reminds me of my mom's roaster that she inherited from her mother. We are too far apart now for me to enjoy turkey from it anymore (we are in NS...my family is in BC). I love the pizza in the flan pan...do you have a recipe for that. I am also trying to visualize lasagna in the spring form...there is no way mine would hold together once the ring was removed. Do you have a secret?

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    1. Teresa, aren't those memories from meals at home wonderful! If you have our cookbook that recipe is on page 106 and in our new Celebrations cookbook that will be available early spring there will be more pizza recipes. As for the lasagna, it needs to be a very thick recipe...but not dry. One of these days I'll post it here.

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  11. I love your Mom's old roaster, it was just like my mom's! I had my mothers for years and I swore if I just poured in water and set it to boil, it would make soup! Alas, after 2 generations of much use, the enamel started to chip off inside the roaster and I had to throw it out. It broke my heart.

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    1. Yes, the enamel on those old roasters do begin to chip. I think mine is nearing that point, but I'll keep it just because I love the look of it. I have my mother in laws old green and gold one that is very similar and it has chipped too much to use. I use it to place small pots with spring bulbs in bloom....I tuck moss amongst them and it is a really unique arrangement

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  12. Thanks for letting us into your kitchen cabinets!! As an avid cook and baker it is fun to see what others are using for supplies. It is also nice to share the favorite cookware and bakeware that shows the wear!!!

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  13. Sorry to pop in with such an off-topic question, but where is the article Charlotte wrote about how to restore a pot whose surface has gotten sort of corroded/icky. I should have kept better track of that wonderful hint, but maybe Charlotte or one of you knows where it is in the blog. I can't seem to find it. Thank you. And, by the way! I am definitely enjoying the new cookbook. You come up with such a wonderful selection; it's amazing to realize there are only 10 of you. Thanks again.
    Diane

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    1. Diane, Here is the link to your question about Charlotte's cleaning burnt pots. http://www.mennonitegirlscancook.ca/2011/01/tip-for-cleaning-burnt-pot.html Copy and paste it into your browser.
      I am glad you are enjoying our book, we appreciate your kind words.

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    2. Thank you so much.
      Diane

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  14. I have 3 speckled roasters, a small round one (my fave), a normal size for my 24 inch oven and a huge one that was given to me that barely fits. I'm on my 3rd bundt pan (non-stick), the non-stick stuff flakes off & I have a angel food cake pan from my mom which I haven't used in years but I think I will give it a go again.

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  15. I have 3 speckled roasters, a small round one (my fave), a normal size that fits nicely in my 24 inch oven and a huge one that was given to me by a neighbour (barely fits). I'm on my 3rd bundt pan (non-stick stuff flakes off) and I have an angel food pan which was my mom's that I haven't used in years but I think I will give it a go soon...I love angel food cake.

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  16. I have their hot roast beef sandwich, and everybody knows I never finish my plate, but I finished that one. My son Patrick said, Wow, mom, look at you go! It was very very good.

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