Thursday, November 25, 2021

Bread and Potatoes on Wednesday

I set my alarm for 8:00 a.m., today, as I was determined to wake up earlier than usual.  I was tempted to go back to sleep when the alarm went off (I hadn't gone to bed until around 3:00 a.m.), but, I got up, got dressed, fed the cats, unlocked the gate in anticipation of M arriving to water the garden, had a cup of tea, and said my morning prayers.  Then, I spent a little time online, until M arrived.

We chatted a bit, then, he watered the garden, both front and back for me.  We picked more guavas from the pineapple guava (feijoa) tree and harvested the potatoes I had grown in a container (from a supermarket potato that had sprouted).  It might not be a huge potato harvest, but, I was thrilled to bits!

Pineapple Guavas (Feijoa) and Potatoes

I boiled the potatoes and had some for my brunch, along with my salad and turkey.  

Today, I sorted all the Christmas fabric scraps I had collected in the gallon sized bag and separated them by fabric design, putting all the likes together.  They won't stay like that once I open the bundled up pieces of fabric to get pieces out for the next project, but, it satisfied my need to organize!  It reminded me of something my mother had written about me in my baby book, that she would give me her basket of lace trims and ribbons and I would spend hours sorting them and rearranging them; no doubt I tangled them all up, too, but she had written that it would keep me amused for hours!  I remember doing the same with my daughter when she was a baby - give her her own pile of fabric scraps when I sorted out pieces for a quilt top and it kept her happy for long periods of time!

Once that was done, I settled down to sew another hot pad/pot holder,  but doing applique instead of patchwork.  I made a start on it, but, haven't finished sewing it.  I hope to finish it, tomorrow.  

Later in the afternoon, I decided to make some bread.  Regular yeast bread, using all purpose flour and a packet of yeast friend R had given me, last year, when I couldn't find any yeast in any of the stores or on line!  The packet had expired, last year, but, I proofed it and it worked well enough.  But, today has been a relatively cool day (and very windy - so glad I had the eucalyptus tree trimmed!).  I kept the dough to rise in the unheated oven with a bowl of hot water and the oven light on to provide a little extra warmth.  The dough took its own sweet time to rise and didn't rise a lot.  I was afraid I might end up with two bricks of bread instead of two loaves!  But, I eventually baked it and I think it turned out quite well, if I say so myself!

Freshly Baked Bread
Warm From the Oven
With Butter




Today, I am grateful for:

- M tending to the garden, twice a week
- The guava and potatoharvest!
- The dough hook on my stand mixer!
- Fresh bread, hot from the oven
- The eucalyptus tree was trimmed in time

Today's joyful activity was baking (and eating!) fresh bread!

The wind is blowing so hard that the lights went out once and has been flickering on and off!  One of the energy providers had already said that their customers might be without power, tomorrow, as they plan to shut down their power lines to reduce the risk of fires during these strong Santa Ana winds which are dry desert winds.  I hope we won't lose power, tomorrow!  But, if the power does go out, we have cooked turkey leftover in the fridge, a container of salad, and freshly baked bread for our Thanksgiving meal!  Oh, and plenty of candles!  LOL!

I know that not all of my readers will celebrate Thanksgiving, tomorrow.  Some of you live where Thanksgiving is not a holiday to be observed, some have already celebrated their own Thanksgivings, last month, and some are going through some emotionally difficult times keeping vigil by family members who are ill or nearing the end of their lives.  I do, however, wish everyone a day filled with blessings; may you find something for which to be thankful, not just tomorrow, but, every day.

18 comments:

  1. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your daughter, Bless. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, although it seems to be getting more popular with some people. Our next big celebration, not counting birthdays, is Christmas.

    Well done on your potato harvest. Will you try growing them again next year? I was interested in your bread making efforts as I've been seriously thinking about making my own bread again. We always used to and is probably the reason why I started eating so much bread (because it was really yummy) but the bread maker died a death and, as I was caring for Ced at the time, we never bothered to replace it. I may buy one in the January sales now it looks like I'm okay to include bread in my diet again.

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    1. Thank you, Eileen. We didn't celebrate Thanksgiving until we came to this country, but, I do like the idea of getting together to give thanks for all our blessings.

      Speaking of birthdays...Happy birthday to you! And your sister! Wish you the best of health and happiness on your special day and all the days to come.

      Yes, I will grow more potatoes, but, I should find bigger planters for them, I think. I have one more pot of potatoes to be harvested, probably next week. :)

      I enjoyed making the bread, even though, there was quite a bit of anxious watching of the dough to see if it rose enough! I'm glad that it looks like you are able to include bread in your diet, again; a bread maker might be a good idea! :)

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  2. Oh, the bread looks so good. I can almost taste it from the picture.

    I wish you and your daughter a happy Thanksgiving.

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    1. Thank you, June. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, too. :)

      The bread was delicious! Perhaps a bit too delicious when it was hot from the oven! I won't tell you just how many slices my daughter and I ate, last night! :D

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    1. Thank you, Mary-Lou; it's a very happy one because my daughter is home with me, this year. :)

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  4. Happy Thanksgiving for tomorrow, Bless. Xx

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    1. Thank you, Jules. There are so many things to be thankful for, this year! :)

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  5. Sounds like a fruitful day! I love the idea of growing potatoes from the sprouted ones. I love plain boiled fresh potatoes. In England there is a lovely crop of what are called new potatoes and they are delish just boiled with a little bit of butter.

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    1. That it was! :) I often end up with a couple of sprouted potatoes when I buy a big bag of them. Planting them this way makes me feel better about not eating them before they sprouted! :)

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  6. That was a good haul from one potato! The bread looks lovely.
    When I was little but old enough not to put things in my mouth, it was my grandmother's button bag that kept me happy for hours!
    I hope that the power stays on for you so that you can cook your salmon and that you and your daughter have a splendid Thanksgiving.

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    1. As that old rhyme goes, "One potato, two potatoes..." :) They were not very big potatoes, but, I was pleased. The bread tasted great!
      Oh, yes, buttons were another thing that kept me and my daughter busy, when we were little! :)
      The power stayed on for me, but, friend R called this morning to say she was without power. I offered to bring her to my house (all her appliances are electrical) so she can have a cup of tea and a hot meal, etc., but, she declined. I'll call her later to check on her. Thank you, again, for the Thanksgiving wishes. :)

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  7. Little potatoes are the best! Homegrown little potatoes are even more best!
    Have a lovely Thanksgiving day with your daughter. I hope that there are no power cuts!

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    1. LOL, yes, they are even more best! :D Thank you, Lady Ella. I still have power, but, my friend R had a power cut. The winds also blew down my avocado plant, pot and all! My daughter helped me to set it upright again. I've made the cranberry sauce and will be cutting the apples for the apple pie we are planning to make in a bit. :)

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  8. Happy Thanksgiving Bless. I'm glad your bread was a success it looks very tasty. Well done on your potato crop too.

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    1. Thank you, Eileen. I've had a lovely day and ate too much! :D Hope all is well with you. :)

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  9. I hope you and your daughter had a nice Thanksgiving yesterday.

    And I hope your power stayed on. But you had plans to handle things if it got cut - it's always good to have a plan I think. How long was friend R's outage?
    You and I were talking about the price of potatoes and you can't beat the price of the potatoes you grew from the eye of a potato you had.
    Free is the winner!
    I did get a 10lb bag on Monday for $2.49 - that was the best price I've seen in a while in my area.

    Your bread looks very good with the butter all melty on it. I do the oven light trick too when I make my pizza dough.

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    1. We did, thank you, Debra; hope you, too, had a pleasant Thanksgiving. My power stayed on and I was very thankful for that! R's power outage lasted for about 12 hours; she said the power was restored around 2:30 p.m.
      Free is always a winner! I'm glad you were able to get your bag of potatoes; $2.49 isn't a bad price. Especially these days.
      The bread turned out well. I think a fresher packet of yeast might have given a better rise, but, I was happy with the way it turned out. I've been enjoying a slice with cheese for breakfast, these past couple of days. :)

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