 |
| Melon Pan (Japanese Sweet Bread) |
These are the sweet breads that my daughter made, yesterday. They involve making a slightly sweet yeast bread dough, which is kept to rise, then, formed into balls, covered with a separate cookie-type dough with is then scored and kept to rise a second time, before being dipped in sugar and baked. She had a little trouble getting the dough to rise because the recipe called for instant yeast and she used active dry yeast and didn't realize you have to rehydrate the active dry yeast, first. Also, the day was rather cool and not ideal temperature for bread dough to rise.
Today, Monday, would have been a better day for getting dough to rise because our daytime high was 98F. It was warm enough in the afternoon to turn on the family room ceiling fan! LOL.
I did two loads of laundry in the morning. Then, we toured the garden and took some photos, picked the last two oranges, the last two plums, some lemons, curry leaves, a handful of broccoli florets (they are coming to an end, I think) and several chili peppers.
 |
| The Second Sunflower is Blooming |
In the afternoon, we took some of the melon pan and lemons to friend R.
After we came home, both of us took naps! Daughter took a short nap, but, I napped for about an hour or so.
In the evening, after tea, I watered the back garden. The tomato plants, the Persian cucumber plant, the bitter melon plant, and even the zucchini plants didn't like the hot temperatures we had today and had all wilted! They had been fine in the morning! I am hoping they will revive, overnight, but, I am afraid they might not!
Took the trash cans to the curb, too, and my daughter helped.
Later in the evening, daughter's friend A came over to visit with her and brought us cookies she had baked. We gave her a bag of lemons, curry leaves, and chilies from the garden and some melon pan.
Today, I am grateful for:
- Today's garden harvest
- Being able to share baked goods and some of the garden harvest with friends
- A safe drive to R's and back
- Working appliances
- Water for the garden
Today's joyful activities include visiting R and an afternoon nap!
Some people wear their hearts on their sleeves; others wear it on their faces:
 |
| Me in the Garden |
Plans for tomorrow will depend on whether the Sri Lankan restaurant has the items I'd like to order for a pick up; sometimes, they have the particular dessert we want ready and available; other times, you have to order it ahead of time. They were closed, today, so I couldn't call them to find out. If they have it ready, we will go there tomorrow; if not, we will order to pick up on Wednesday or Thursday.
How was your Monday? What are your plans for Tuesday?
It was a nice for your daughter to take a picture of you in the garden. What a pretty face you have. :) I've never had melon pan, but it sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteI've a heart-shaped face! :D Melon pan is very similar to Mexican conchas/pan dulce. In Sri Lanka, we make something very similar, which we call "kimbula bunis" (crocodile buns), because the scored cookie dough resembles the bumps on the back of a crocodile.
DeleteIt sounds like you had a lovely day. Any day that includes nap time is a good day!
ReplyDeleteI hope your plants survive. I water early in the morning before the sun moves round to the back garden as the morning watering helps the plants survive the heat of the day. Sometimes I water again in the evening as well. Mind you, we don't have the very high temperatures that you have to deal with.
I like the top you are wearing in the photo, and thanks for sharing the photo of yourself.
I probably should have watered in the morning. The two smaller tomato plants and the cucumber plant seems to have revived; I'll give them another drink of water, today, and hopefully, they will continue to grow. I think the small tomatoes that were on the bigger tomato plant got cooked! Might have to remove them and give the plant a chance to recover!
DeleteThe top I'm wearing is one of the items that were given to us by my cousin. :)
Your daughter's melon pan looks very nice. What is in it for flavoring/spices?
ReplyDeleteThat's nice that you visited with friend R. I hope her family in Sri Lanka is managing ok. I was reading Nil's post on her experience in Sri Lanka visiting her family and it sounds like things are continuing to deteriorate.
This morning I will do a little work in the garden and get a few other things done so I can then relax & watch today's Jan 6 hearing.
It continues to be cool here. I hope your plants recover after you watered them.
There you are! :)
The melon pan she made doesn't have additional flavors other than butter and sugar. But, one could add flavorings such as macha powder, etc.
DeleteAccording to R, her family are managing, although she doesn't know how.
I'm glad it continues to be cool up there and hope your garden is coming along nicely. Looking forward to seeing some pictures when you have time. Some of the plants seem to have recovered and I will give them another drink of water, today. Today's high is only in the lower 90s, so not quite as hot as yesterday.
Ha, ha, yes, there I am! :D
I hope your plants survive the heat. It's been hot here as well, 98 yesterday, forecast today 97. But then we start cooling a bit. In this heat I water outside twice a day, early morning and evening, everything wilted by then but do perk up overnight. I stay indoors otherwise, I'd wilt and shrivel up without AC!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Celie; some of the plants seem to have revived - the smaller tomato seedlings, the zucchini plants, and the Persian cucumber. The other tomato plant might survive, but, the tomatoes that were on it got cooked, I think! I'll let them be on the plant until M sees them, tomorrow, and then, we might pick them off. With our watering restrictions, we are only allowed to water twice a WEEK! But, I might give the vegetable plants another drink of water, this evening. :)
DeleteI forgot to add that you have a lovely happy face!!
ReplyDeleteThank you! :D
DeleteGood sunflower success! The melon pan look authentic, despite the hiccup with the yeast. Do you eat them plain or fill/butter them?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lady Ella; my daughter will be happy to know that the melon pan look authentic. We eat them plain, but, she's saying she might at macha powder to them, next time. :)
DeleteI forgot about the watering restrictions there. Maybe you could do some targetted drip watering.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very good suggestion, Celie. :)
DeleteLovely to see a photo of you in your garden and I agree the top you are wearing is lovely. It was very hot here yesterday I sat in our conservatory with the ceiling fan on which wasn't enough so I put the floor standing fan on as well, probably not as hot here as the heat you are experiencing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Eileen. The top is something that my cousin gave me when she was going through her closet. I think it is more humid there, so you feel the heat more; ours is a dry heat. It's 91F (32.7C) right now (at 2:44p.m.) with 31% humidity. My daughter switched on the ceiling fan, just now.
DeleteThose sunflowers have grown to a great height. I've missed growing some this year. X
ReplyDeleteThey grew tall, didn't they? M said they were supposed to grow up to 14 feet! I'd say the tallest one is about 9 feet. I'm sorry you weren't able to grow any, this year. Maybe next year! :)
DeleteYour daughter's Melon Pan look perfect. If I ever get to a Japanese bakery I want to try them, they sound interesting. Too bad about the heat wilting your plants. I wish we could have sent you some of our rain. Yesterday was cool and wet in the morning and I set out for town in the afternoon with a woolly jacket, light raincoat and umbrella just in case, but the temperature went up and I had to take off the jacket. The internet had gone off just after lunch so the doctor didn't have her computer, but she was able to check my BP and my records of it and arranged to call later about the bloodwork when she could access her computer. Meanwhile, every store had a sign, "Cash Only", so I was glad I had about $25 with me. I did have to calculate my groceries, no impulse buying! (Credit cards are bad for that.)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bushlady; the melon pan did turn out well and I think you will like them. Most of the plants revived; the bittermelon vine, however, just burned to a crisp! We did have a shower of rain, this morning, but, not enough to do much good. Still, it was nice to get some rain!
DeleteSounds like you were dressed for the weather, although it warmed up enough that you didn't need to keep the jacket on. Hope the blood test results will be good and it won't take long for the doctor to call you with the results. Glad you had some cash on you to pay for your groceries! Most grocery stores here seem to close when the power goes off! I think because their refrigerators and freezers go off.
98F !!!!!! It's 77F here and I'm about to fall apart! The melon pan looks great, I hope it tasted as good as it looked.
ReplyDeleteYes, 98F. :) It'll get hotter than that, later on in the summer. :) The melon pan turned out really well; they are sweet and delicious. :)
Delete