Baking & Cooking

Cooking,

I have been doing lots of baking and cooking recently. That seems to be the new trend since people are home so much of the time. I enjoy it. Baking is a fine art.

This morning I baked orange chocolate chip scones and orange blueberry scones. Fresh scones are so tender that they melt in your mouth. Mmmmm!

I baked bread yesterday since we were completely out. This batch is with half whole wheat and half white flour.

For supper I used the fresh bread for fried egg and cheese sandwiches along with polenta topped with sautéed spinach and garlic. This was accomplished by asparagus directly from the garden. It made a fine repast.

Property Walk

Country Life, Gardens, , ,
Viburnum

I did a walk around our flowerbeds this afternoon to see what was in bloom. The viburnum beside the house is still in full bloom. The flowers are holding on a long time this year because of the unseasonably cool weather. The drift of scent every time we go near it is delightful.

Bleeding heart (Dicentra)

The bleeding hearts are just starting to bloom. Soon there will be a huge mound of them flowering. Their ferny foliage is an added bonus.

Dogwood bloom

The dogwood in front of our house is nearing the end of its flowering phase for this year although it is still beautiful.

Trillium
The trillium is at its peak right now. I would love to split it and have more, but they are so particular that I don’t dare.
Honeysuckle?

We have a few of these bushes. I believe they are wild honeysuckle, but I’m not sure.

Myrtle bed
Dogwood in full bloom
Corner of yard

The above three areas are from the yard in front of our house.

Rhododendron
Side yard

This side of the yard has plum bushes, river birches, and a redbud tree. The green bushes in the background are royal lilacs that will bloom in a few weeks.

Narcissus

The narcissus are still in fully bloom. They are staying around a long time because of the cool temperatures.

Flowering almost tree
Flowering almond

And last, but not least of our flowering plants is this flowering almond tree. It is tiny, but oh so beautiful!

Coping Mechanisms

Thoughts On Life, ,

How do you deal with the Stay At Home Order issued because of the coronavirus?

I am handling it pretty well. It was less of a change for me than some people. I am fortunate that I retired at the end of last year and can stay home. I have not been inside any store or public place since the first week of March. We get groceries by curbside pickup. Most other things are delivered by Amazon or Chewy. I am ok with this.

There are things that I miss that are just out of the question for the time being. So I decided that I would keep a notebook of these things. Every time I want to do something and realize that I can’t, I jot it down on a page of my little pocket size notebook. Someday, when restrictions have eased and it is safe to socialize again and/or go out, I will do the items that I jotted down.

Most of the entries involve other people. Here are a few:

  • Spend time with my nieces. Repeat again and again.
  • Have brunch on the patio with family.
  • Enjoy a mommy-daughter day and hang out at the bookstore.
  • Go to the library!

By keeping the notebook it reinforces in my mind that this time will come to an end and activities will resume at some point. It gives me a list of things to look forward to. And by having them in writing, I am guaranteed not to forget anything.

I hope you have all found your own coping mechanisms. Peace, my friends.

Steel Cut Oats

Cooking, ,

This morning I made a nutritious breakfast that I really enjoyed. Quick cooking steel cut oats with raisins, chocolate chips, and pumpkin seeds. I put some unsweetened vanilla almond milk on top. Very tasty.

This is substantial enough to keep my blood sugar from crashing before lunch and it gives me energy to get some work done in the morning. If only the oats came with a side of motivation, I would be all set.

A Day in My Life

Cooking, Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, , , ,

Today was one of those days where I got a lot of necessary things done. Those things that you don’t like to do, but it feels good to have them done.

Our township provides a dumpster that is at the township garage for one weekend each year for spring cleanup. Anyone in the township can use it to dispose of large items, until it is full. And you need to get there quick, before it gets full. Today was the start of that weekend. I hauled two loads up to the dumpster for disposal, consisting of an old, musty Christmas tree, a couple pieces of decomposing wicker furniture, and various odds and ends.

This afternoon, I spent a few hours doing various forms of paperwork for our dog rescue group. I worked on some financial paperwork, some filing, and some educational material. Not fun, but things that are necessary.

And since I was on a roll doing dog stuff, I decided to give three of our dogs their annual DHLPPP-type shots that were in the refrigerator. Followed by cleaning litter boxes and picking up poop outside. I clean up our dog yard every time the dogs go outside now, because we have two who apparently consider themselves to be connoisseurs of poop. Even so, I sometimes run around with the scoop yelling “drop it” while chasing the offender. It’s a fine line between following the defecating dog around closely enough to get there before one of the other dogs grabs the result, but not so closely as to interrupt the dog doing his business. Such is my life.

As a reward for a productive day, I made Indonesian stir fried noodles for supper. Noodles, vegetables, and fish. Yum!

Just a day in my life.

Not Today

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals,

Zekie is sometimes an amazing dog. (Other times he’s just annoying. )

I recently shared how he did such a good job of chasing away geese for our neighbor’s pond. Well, we were sitting on the patio a couple days ago and we heard geese flying overhead and honking. Zekie looked at us. My hubby asked Zekie, “are you going to get those geese?” Zekie ran to the back chain link patio gate and stared at our neighbor’s pond!

The geese never landed so we had to tell him, “not today, Zekie.”

What a smart boy!

Noodles!

Cooking, ,

Our main course for dinner this evening was freshly homemade noodles with mushrooms and meatballs. (To make my portion vegetarian, I left out the meatballs and added a fried egg.) I added a side of broccoli to round out the meal.

Homemade noodles are surprisingly easy and always delicious. Just some flour, salt, oil, egg, and water, and you’re all set. You could even add the broccoli to the noodles and have a one dish meal!

Spring Plantings

Country Life, Gardens, , ,

The weather was sunny and relatively warm, so we got back to gardening and working outside today.

I transplanted blue flag irises, Solomon’s seal, a fern, and a columbine into our new raised beds. I also dig up narcissus bulbs that had multiplied so much that they didn’t bloom anymore from being so crowded, and planted them in various locations.

Then I sat on the patio and read, followed by a walk around the yard. The photos above are of my plum tree in bloom. We have yet to eat any plums from it. Despite being covered in blooms, it only yields two or three plums and the birds beat us to those.

The row of serviceberries is blooming too.

The redbuds are nearly ready to burst forth with their glorious pinky-purple blooms.

The hostas are well on their way for the season.

Even the oriental lilies are off to a good start.

I like to get lots of gardening done early in the season. It really seems to pay off. The weeds are still small and the garden is damp and soft so they come loose with an easy tug. And any plants that are moved when small, grow to be enjoyed later in the summer. Plus, it is not hot yet!

Cinnamon Rolls!

Cooking, ,
After rising

This was my first attempt at making homemade cinnamon rolls. The recipe is for single rise yeast rolls. It was relatively easy to make them although it did dirty a lot of dishes.

Final product

I will definitely be making these again! I have never had cinnamon rolls that I made myself, fresh from the oven and made from scratch before. The roll was soft, and the brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter filling was sugary, crispy goodness on the bottom.

I so enjoy baking. This recipe was on Pinterest. It is my go to place for finding new recipes.

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals, Gardens, , ,

The last couple days have been filled with gardening.

Yesterday we split enough hostas to fill the back of last year’s new raised bed. We also started lining the English ivy bed behind it with hosta.

Hubby used the tractor to haul decomposed wood chips to the vegetable garden. I split one of our smaller groups of daffodils and ended up planting 51 bulbs. I also split my comfrey plant in two. I like the comfrey because it draws hummingbird moths like nothing I’ve ever seen.

Today we tilled a smaller, new flower bed to prepare it for planting. I also transplanted a columbine, and planted a lily that I overwintered on the side porch. Hubby transplanted a volunteer cedar seedling.

Then, I sat on the patio with the dogs and read. To be honest, I am kind of hoping for rain tomorrow so I can have a break.

Preparing the Gardens