... and so it goes.

Wow! Has it been 3 weeks since I've been here??!!! All I can say is that time sure passes when I'm having fun. We've had a good share of rain, but not enough to fill the pond. Just like a watched pot never boils, a watched pond never fills I guess. God knows if watching it would fill it, the banks would be overflowing by now.

Last week I cleaned out cabinets, rearranged a few, and rearranged dining /kitchen furniture. I'm really liking the new look. Just got to move my now sewing table out on the porch, but put the sewing maching in another cabinet. Put it where you ask? I have no idea. I guess it will come to me when the time is right. I may hide it since I don't seem to be able to make myself create anything. I need to make new curtains for the dining room and bedroom, but I look at the fabric and think to myself... awww, it's too hot to sew.

One of my good friends, Marje Becker, from Saskachewan gave me a recipe for bread since I've decided the bought kind is not my cup of tea anymore. I made 5 loaves today and man Oh man is it ever good. We had one for supper along with the fresh squash, carrots, and bacon, wrapped one for the weekend, and froze the other 3 loaves for later. I'll put the recipe at the end of this post. I've got a sourdough starter in the making so we'll have bread and anything else I can make out of dough. Wish it was green-backs! I could use some spending money for more flour. :>)

My little Abi, first granddaughter, started to school this week. It was very traumatizing for this MiMi. I cried the first day, but got better as the week went along. Abi is absolutely in love with school and didn't even want to leave early on her birthday.... and it was nap time! She has been so tired after school that they can't even get her home until she is asleep. She takes after her MiMi in that she can't go to sleep at night. Maybe she'll get the hang of it before too much longer.

Ok, here's the recipe for Marje's bread. It was so much fun to make!

In a small bowl:
2 tbsp. of yeast (2 pkg's) rapid or instant
1.1/2 cups of water
1 tbsp. sugar

Let it set for about 5 - 10 min's.

In large bowl:
4 cups lukewarm water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup veggie or olive oil
1 tbsp. salt

Stir it up, then add the yeast mixture. Start adding flour (I ended up using 10 cups or better) Work until it's a good dough, kind of spongy. Grease a large (w/room for rising) bowl with oil or butter and pour dough into bowl and let rise 1 hour in a warm place. Punch down and let rise again.

Punch down, knead for a few minutes, and form into loaves. I made 5 but 4 would probably be bigger loaves. Let rise again in oiled loaf pans. Bake 350 degrees for about 45 min's or until they sound kind of hollow. Ovens vary so you'll have to judge for yourself.

You can use whole wheat, bran, or wheat germ as part of the flour. Can be made into rolls, cinnamon rolls, or fry little balls of dough. Marje says her mother called 'dough gods'.

Let me know if you try it. I'll probably make another batch next week and make into rolls for the freezer. That's my mission this month: to cook and freeze food so I'll have it on hand for 'just in case of'.... and so it goes!

Around the Homestead

It's really hot here in Texas, but there are chores on the homestead that have to be done no matter what, so it's onward we go. The big Celeste fig tree is outdoing itself this year as always. We've eaten so many we look like a fig now and we haven't made a dent in them. Reidel and I peeled figs Saturday and put a whole dehydrater load on to dry, then peeled enough for me to make fresh fig bread today. Making the fig bread is only one of many things I've got to accomplish today so this posting will be shorter than usual. I'll come back later to post the recipe and a comment on how the fig bread turned out. I only like to post recipes that I've tried myself so I know how to tell someone to adjust for this or that to make it a better recipe.

Another one of my to-do things is to sow some raddish seeds. I've got an idea to make raddish salsa, but I've got to grow the raddishes first. It won't take too long I don't think unless it's just too hot for them to grow well. I may shade them somewhat and maybe that will keep them cool enough to produce enough for the salsa. I also have to repot an ivy and a bird's nest fern that are making sad faces at me. Then although it will take several hours, I'm going to do that dreaded job of cleaning out under the bar so I can make better use of the storage space. The bar is a 4ft. by 8ft. bar and the space is sorely needed to house my Tupperware collection. It's just so well made that I don't waste my money on cheap plastic anymore. The refrigerator pieces alone saves me more money than I can figure up. So there is the first commercial on this blog space. LOL Yes, I can order Tupperware for you, but I don't do parties and such. I only order for people that actually want to have better storage for their homestead or their home in gereral for that fact.

I'll be back later to let you know about the fig bread... stay tuned!

I'm happy to report the fig bread is wonderful!!! I changed the original recipe so much (I just can't leave them alone!!!) so the recipe I made is below:

Fig Bread

3 eggs
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups mashed peeled figs
3/4 cups oil (your choice- I used olive oil)
3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

Beat eggs, add sugar and beat well. Add mashed figs and oil. Sift together flour, soda, salt and nutmeg. Add the fig mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Beat well. Fold in nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour in greased and floured loaf pans. Yield: 3 loaves

Today is my youngest granddaughter's birthday so the afternoon was spent making many bows for her hair to go with the tricycle that we bought for her gift. Elizabeth is 2 years old today. Happy Birthday Lizzi !!!