Monday, March 22, 2021

Sunny Monday

It's a sunny spring day, today, with an afternoon high of 68F according to the forecast.  The drapes are open and at least a couple of windows are open, too, for fresh air.  Earlier in the afternoon, I watched Dancer cat napping in a spot of sun shine on the living room sofa, dreaming kitty dreams of catching a bird, perhaps, if the twitching of his whiskers and paws were anything to go by!  

Yesterday (Sunday) was a relaxed day.  Daughter decided she wanted to try her hand at baking bread!  But, not a regular loaf of bread!  She wanted to make a type of Japanese sweet bread known as "melon pan".  It's a type of bun, actually,   It called for bread flour for the bun, itself, and cake flour for the sweet biscuit/cookie type dough on the outside, neither of which we had, but, she made do with regular all purpose flour.   Once the dough was made (she kneaded it by hand), it was kept to rise, then, formed into balls, which were covered with the sweet biscuit/cookie dough (she omitted the optional step of coating the outer surface with sugar), scored, kept to rise a second time and then, baked:

The Melon Pan Rising

The Baked Melon Pan

Melon pan are called that because the scored buns are considered to resemble cantaloupe melons.  We had some with our evening coffee and daughter took one over to her friend N across the street (S's daughter) to try.

I mostly relaxed and read while daughter was making the melon pan.  But, after she finished, I cooked a package of ground beef I had kept to thaw, making a keema curry with it.  Then, I took some of the keema curry and a package of frozen puff pastry squares and made some curry puffs for our dinner:


Curry Puffs

Today, I did laundry and switched out daughter's pillows to the new ones I had ordered for her.  I think I am due for a set of new pillows, myself!  

I also checked on my medications and called the pharmacy to order a refill on one medication that was overdue for a refill!  Not quite sure why it didn't get refilled automatically, but, I made myself a note on the calendar to call for another refill before I run out!  Will probably need a new prescription from the doctor, by then.

Later in the evening, I watered the garden (front and back) and took the trash cans to the curb.  It had been really windy, last night; I suppose that's why I found, not one, but, two, disposable face masks in my yard - one in the back and one in the front.  I used a long handled garden tool to pick them up and put them in the trash can.   

Brunch was curry puffs for both of us.  Dinner was rice with keema curry and vegetables; I only needed to cook some rice.

I haven't been making weekly meal plans, but, this week's meal options include:

Brunch: curry puffs, melon pan, toast with scrambled eggs, French toast, pancakes, salad, sandwiches.

Dinner: rice with keema curry and vegetables (there's enough keema curry for more than one meal); parathas or tortillas with keema curry, fried rice, ramen noodles with chicken and vegetables, fish curry with rice and vegetables, leftovers, or something entirely different (soup, macaroni and cheese, etc.) 

Today, I am grateful for:

- Sunshine and warmer weather
- Working appliances
- Water for the garden
- Free delivery of medications
- Medical/prescription insurance

Today's joyful activity was being in the garden while watering the plants with the garden hose and watching a hummingbird hovering in the air, drinking the water from the end of the spray of water!  I held the spray as still as I could until the hummingbird darted off.

Plans for tomorrow include doing some dusting/cleaning and my piano lesson in the evening.

How was your Monday?  What are your plans for Tuesday?


25 comments:

  1. We have been calculating when we need to order repeat meds (it isn't automatic) to ensure we have enough to cover the period when we move house and until we sign with a new doctor. We've registered to vote in our new place, and arranged for start of mail redirection. All getting closer...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lots of details to take care of when moving, aren't there? Hopefully, the transition will go seamlessly. Are you getting excited about the move and what it will mean?

      Delete
  2. Your food always looks so tasty and I love how the Melon Pan have been scored to create that pattern.
    I'm sat here freezing just now, as the doors and windows are open for the Gas engineer's visit. It's turned much cooler again. X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Jules. Hope the Gas engineer has been and you've been able to close your windows and doors and warm up!

      Delete
  3. I think I will have to have a go at making some curry puffs - yours always look so delicious. They also look very moorish which won't do my weight loss any good, but you only live once!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Eileen. I hope you make some and like them. Not exactly diet food, but, you could make them a little smaller, if you like. :)

      Delete
  4. Everything looks delicious and it sounds like a perfectly nice day. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Martha; it was a very nice day. :)

      Delete
  5. So what did you think of the melon bread? Sounds like it could be good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I liked it. I've had some from the Japanese bakery, before; my daughter's homemade ones were a little denser in texture (probably because she used regular AP flour and old baking powder), but, the taste was the same. :)

      Delete
  6. Those melon pan buns are really interesting. I wonder who had the idea of coating the bread dough with cookie dough? Some adventurous cook I guess, like the Austrian chef that came up with the bright idea of shredding pancakes and mixing in raisins or something like that and serving them to the Kaiser!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. According to what I've read online, there are different theories about their origins. However, they seem very similar to the Mexican "conchas" (shells) and the Sri Lankan "kimbula bunis" (crocodile buns).

      Delete
  7. Many is the time I have eaten melon pan! Usually the last thing left at the convenience store!! I never knew it was called that because of the appearance; I thought the sugary stuff on the top was meant to taste of melon and was never convinced! Hope you enjoyed!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had a feeling you'd have known about melon pan. I, too, used to think it was meant to taste like melon (some of the Japanese grocery stores and bakeries, here, sell a light green colored version), but, my daughter said it was called that due to the appearance and that is what I read online, too. :) Melon pan is my daughter's favorite. Our favorite Japanese bakery sells a bun called cream pan that is my favorite. :)

      Delete
  8. Those buns are really pretty!
    I love watching birds, particularly the hummingbirds! I keep red hibiscus plants on my deck so they will come close to the window to feed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Anne. I have one red hibiscus plant - I must watch to see if hummingbirds come to it! I know they like the flowers of the bottlebrush tree and the feijoa (pineapple guava) tree when they are in bloom, and, also, the aloe flowers.

      Delete
  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Bless, That melon pan reminds me of a sweet bread that I bought daily when I lived in Tokyo. It was so sweet and chewy...I loved it. It's kind of like the King's Hawaiin bread. Now I'm getting hungry!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like King's Hawaiian Bread, although I haven't had some in a long time! Thanks for the reminder to add it to the grocery shopping list! :D

      Delete
  11. I love samosas so much!!! Because I have a tomato allergy, I need to be careful when I buy them. Indian food is my comfort food, from my years of living in an ashram.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I, too, like samosas. I hope you are able to get tomato free ones to enjoy, Ratnamurti. :)

      Delete
  12. How were the melon pan? They look good.

    My sister, who lives in Maryland, has been unable to book a vaccine appointment.
    I started to help her and was able to book an appointment at CVS right near her home.
    She got her first shot today which makes me so happy.
    I got my second shot yesterday. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The melon pan turned out really well. :)

      Glad to read that you were able to get an appointment for your sister and she had her first shot, today, and you had your second dose, yesterday. I hope you have minimal side effects, if any.

      Delete
  13. This post made me hungry - I need a cookie!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL, hope you were able to have your cookie! :D

      Delete

Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting. Your comments are much appreciated. Please comment in English. Thank you.