Ed..
Regarding flour quality, I have had this argument for 5 years now,
especially regarding Gold Medal. I used to use Gold medal for more than 40
years, and then recipes started failing, my cakes, my breads etc. I
changed yeast, I changed baking powders etc, never thinking it was the
flour. IT IS THE FLOUR! I will never buy another bag of gold medal. I
called them, they sluffed me off....it can't be their flour, it's the way
it's stored, it's this, it's that, but not THEIR flour. Baloney!
I switched also to King Arthur bread flour for breads. I LOVE it. I have
not had ONE failure with it. I switched to their all purpose for pies and
cakes and cookies... no problem. They use a much higher quality flour. It
takes a little adjusting to time, my breads need to cook a tad longer, but
I love it. I will pay extra for it. I have used it in Arizona and in
Texas, and I have had no problem.
Pillsbury has been taken over by the gold medal people, so I won't even
bother using it.
I hope this helps someone.