Food Friday: Brownie Mix Waffles

My sister sent me a good-sounding recipe a couple of weeks ago.  We had company coming to stay overnight with us this week. I thought it would be great to give the recipe a try.  After all, I never mind trying out new foods on guests.  Guinea pigs are great news to me!!!

So we made the brownie mix waffles.

In a large bowl mix a package of brownie mix with 4 eggs, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.  Stir until well combined.

Pour 1/4 cup batter in each well of a pre-heated pre-sprayed-with-oil-spray waffle iron and let cook for 3-4 minutes, until the light indicates the waffle is cooked.

This made three full waffles, which, in our waffle maker was 12 square waffles...one was enough for each serving but we each took two of them!

On top of the brownie mix waffles we placed Banana Strawberry ice cream we had made in the Vitamix.  This was 4 frozen bananas at 2-3 cups fresh strawberries which were blended for less than a minute and made VERY GOOD "ice cream" with no guilt at all.

On top of the ice cream we put hot fudge sauce. I will put up that recipe on Monday.

As far as I was concerned, this dessert did not live up to my expectations.  There was something a little strange about the texture of the waffle.  It was not at all brownie-like.  Everyone else seemed to enjoy the dessert.

The best part of the dessert was the hot fudge sauce, in my opinion...

Book Binding

The book I wanted to make for our grandson as a journal was a multi-step process.  I watched Sea Lemon on YouTube for several of those processes.  The first video on her Book Projects playlist is one I have not watched.  The making of book cloth, creating a text block by sewing signatures, making a hard casebound book, and more, are what I watched.  Again and again!  Plus other book binders like Kristi Warren.  If you want to make your own sewn book, you will want to watch these videos.

Because of the length of the process, I will only make a few comments.  AND because I am such a novice.  I will show you some errors I made, too.

This is the finished book.  If the photo was a little wider you would see that the front edge is way not perfect...in fact there is about an extra quarter inch on the front edge.  Next time it will be better.  If there is a next time.

Measuring the pieces of book board, or in my case, chip board, is very important.  Placing the book board on the book cloth is also VERY important. I did not totally grasp the placement, which had to do with the measurement issue, but eventually I made it work.  Well, I put the book together and found a big space between the spine and the text block.  Not good.  So I cut the text block out and re-set it.  Now there is a much wider margin at the front edge of the book but I think it will not be too much of an issue.

Here you can see where I tried to make the end papers work after cutting out the text block and re-setting it. After THAT I found another sort of matching end paper in my stash and used it.  Since it was also not the right size, I added ribbons to cover the overlap. Kind of hokey, but it worked.

Here you can see how badly I miscalculated the text block placement.  You can also see the handmade book press in operation.

As I was going through the book just prior to putting it in the mail, I found this glitch in the sewing.  One thing you learn when making a book is that EVERY SINGLE PART OF THE PROCESS needs to be so carefully done.  I suppose it is a miracle that with 12 or 13 signatures in the book, only one of the stitches should have been re-done.  At this point, I am not sure if I was able to fix that error. If I had noticed it earlier, I could have used an awl to hide the thread in the spine.

Well, it is done.  It did give me joy to make it.  It was a great learning project.  It has been so many years since I created a casebound book that I am pretty happy it came out as well as it did.  It just makes me happy to make things for those people I love.

Munchie Monday: Quick and Easy Lentil Flatbread!

A woman named Joy somehow found a recipe she says came from Whole Foods Recipes.  I have to say that it is certainly not any place I can find online at Whole Foods website.  They must have a cookbook. The recipe was for some lentil flatbread.

This is how to make this quick and easy flatbread.

1 cup lentils, soaked overnight then drained.
 Place the soaked and drained lentils into a food processor with 1 or 2 peeled garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon of baking POWDER, plus 1/2 cup water (or vegetable broth if you want).   Process, stopping several times to scrape down the particles on the sides, until the lentil mixture is a nice slurry.

On a parchment-lined baking sheet, spread out the slurry until it is smooth, and hopefully, pretty much the same thickness...about 1/4 inch thick.

Bake in a pre-heated 425 degree F. oven for 20-25 minutes.  If you are not averse to oil, drizzle a little olive oil over the top, plus sprinkle a little salt over the top if you want a little salt feel on your tongue.  We are trying to avoid oil and salt currently to see what it does to our skin and bodies.

Bring out of oven and let cool.  If you want this for pizza crust, cover it with your cooked toppings and place back in the oven until the toppings are warm enough for your taste.

Because my first batch was pretty thin, it was REALLY flat bread, more like crackers.  In fact, that is how I used it:  I broke off pieces and put them in soup.  It was very good...

It would be preferable to have the slurry in an even thickness.

NOTE:  I did not have lentils easily at hand but I did have a bucket of dried whole peas.  I soaked them in lots of water for 24 hours, then drained, rinsed, and proceeded with the recipe from there.  This was really pretty good.

Food Friday: Quick and Easy Microwave Potato Chips

Last week Dear One accompanied me to a vegan lunch/information meeting.  It was pizza and ice cream.  Vegan.  Pretty good. The pizza crust was grits with no salt, butter, or cheese.  She staked the crust very high with all kinds of roasted vegetables.  It was okay.  You had to use a fork, at least when it first came out of the oven.  We were sort of piggies and dug right in.  A lady that came later was successful in picking up her crust.  The "ice cream" was like fudge sickles and orange sherbet pops.  Not bad at all.  We have made "ice cream" in the blender which makes a soft-serve instead of a frozen treat.

 One other thing the hostess had made was potato chips she had made in the microwave.  Dear One had multiple servings plus accepted the leftovers to take home.... I am not sure they made it all the way home!

Anyway, when we arrived home Dear One went to Amazon, found the microwave potato chip gadget, and ordered it!  What a surprise to me!  It arrived on Monday.

This particular "machine" comes with a small very sharp mandolin, though perhaps a low-grade one.  It worked perfectly.

Here are the sliced potatoes all ready to go into the microwave.  There is a little "hook" at the bottom of each chip compartment to keep the potato from sliding out.

Here is what is left from the first bowl of microwave chips.  It took about 10 minutes for them to cook to this point.  I think I might let them go a little longer since they still tasted vaguely like raw potatoes.

Big White Birds

Early on here we saw a large white bird land on the pond.  There was also a giant blue heron.  I think these white birds are related to the blue heron.  I think I mentioned the white bird before and said what I thought it was.  You can tell I am too tired tonight because I cannot bring myself to find that post and identify these birds.

Anyway, today I happened to be looking out the window and two pairs, plus a singleton big white bird showed up on the pond and spent quite a while here. It was really lovely.

This is before the singleton joined the couples here.  So nice to see them.

Watercolor Card Painting

Now this is just silly.  After the acrylic painting class I could not sleep so was up a lot in the night.  I did some more of the "three dots" paintings which were awful, then I did some spatter painting.  Finally, I did a painting that in all silliness I titled!

This painting I call "Cardinals at Play".  I turned it into a greeting card which I will send out tomorrow to a dear friend.

This will probably be a one-of-a-kind...

Fun Acrylic Painting Class: Brush Strokes 101

Not long ago I happened to see an advertisement in a art studio's window for a class called "Brush Strokes 101".  Since I need help with my painting, I thought it would be worth attending.  It really was.

The artist/instructor had set up the tables with large sheets of thick plastic, a folded paper towel, 5 different paint brushes, and a water bucket.  Her assistants brought around paper plates with paint for us.

When the whole class was there we came up to her table where she placed the first sheet of brush strokes under the plastic then mixed blue acrylic paint with white acrylic paint and some sort of paint extender so the paint would be useable longer.  She showed us how to paint each of the strokes on that first sheet...in this case it was a flat brush and we were mostly making straight lines of different weights.

We then went back to our tables and used our brush to paint each of the strokes as she had done.  She gave us a few minutes, rung a bell to stop us at which point we wiped down our plastic and went back to her table for the second sheet.  We followed this process through all the sheets and all the brushes.  We had three different flat brushes, and round brush and a filbert and I think eight sheets of brush strokes.

About half an hour before the end of the class she gave us the opportunity to put our brush strokes together and paint a bouquet of flowers. Or whatever else we wanted to do.  By that time I was completely shot so I took about ten minutes to paint my flowers and left.  I arrived home at about the time the class was to be over.

As you can see, I mostly just slapped paint on the canvas so I could in good conscience leave.  Still, I like the painting okay.  It is my second acrylic painting. I took the class so I could learn to handle the brushes better with watercolor painting.  We shall see if that hope was accomplished.

Munchie Monday: Sauce-Hummus-Dip? Actually, it's B-Sauce

Today here is the promised sauce recipe that I got from Monson Made This.  It is really so good that I don't believe I will ever spend another penny on store-bought sauce-hummus-dip.

Something I learned not so long ago is that there are more than salty, sweet, sour, and bitter tastes on our tongues.  There is now something called umami.  This "hummus" is filled with umami somehow.

Umami  "B" Sauce

1 can drained and rinsed chick peas/garbanzo beans
4 Tablespoons lemon juice
3 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 Tablespoon Bragg's Liquid Aminos
2-4 cloves garlic
2 Tablespoons tahini
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon granulated onion
1/4 teaspoon coriander powder
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until entirely smooth.  Taste it then add a little salt and pepper if you want.  In you want to loosen it up, you can add a little water or even vegetable broth if you want, like 1-2 Tablespoons. I did not. I love it just the way it is.

This is the "B" sauce not well photographed.  Smooth and luscious.

We took a new batch of the brown rice and quinoa crackers plus this sauce to a vegan get-together.  They were both very popular.  Enough so that I left the remaining uneaten items for the hostess. After all, both are so easy to make that I can just make another batch.

About the crackers,  next time I make them I think I will cut them, place them on the Silpat sheet then use a rolling pin to see if I can get them thinner and smoother.

Food Friday: Brown Rice and Quinoa Crackers!

Monson Made This is a food YouTuber who often has pretty good recipes.  Or at least, recipes that I want to try.  This time the recipe was a bit unusual but I liked the result. I cannot say the same for Dear One, though he did give them a try.

Here is a picture of the dough ready to wrap up:

This is the dough wrapped in parchment paper ready to refrigerate for a while.

Next you have to slice the crackers thinly and bake.  This is the result:

These, of course, cooked a little long but they were NOT burned, no matter what anyone else might tell you!!!  They were very cracker-y after they cooled.  The dipping "sauce" that Monson made was so good I could have eaten the whole container at one sitting.  And since Dear One did not want to try it, I really could have, but I held off.

Just after making the crackers then making the sauce, but before eating any of them, I was at the grocery store and found some "Buffalo Dip" that was promised to be  vegan.  Like a fool, I bought it.  When I tasted this sauce/hummus that Monson made, I realized that I never need to spend another penny on preservative-filled vegan options at the store.  This stuff is so good that I will probably never make anything else.  Try it.  You will really like it.  The crackers are good enough but the sauce is FABULOUS.  You can eat it with anything crunchy or put it on salad for a dressing or on vegetables or on a baked potato, etc.

Tonight I am too tired to give you the recipe in this post.  There is brown rice and quinoa and some seasonings.  No weird stuff. You probably have everything already in your kitchen.  You need to use a food processor to smooth out everything then you roll it up in parchment and refrigerate for a while.  For our batch, I got too busy and it refrigerated for about three days so it had dried out a bit before I made it into crackers. I suggest you NOT do that.  Just make them the same day.  I will make them again.  I feel virtuous eating them.  No flour or other non-whole-food stuff in them.

Quick and Easy DIY Book Press

Years ago when I was teaching CES Institute of Religion classes at Dartmouth College there was a bookbinding class in the conservation room at the library.  This class was prior to our Institute meeting time, so I attended as often as possible.  We learned many different book structures. This was so enjoyable. I still have some of those models cached away somewhere here in the bins!

From the time I was about ten years old my parents gave me a journal or Daily Reminder each year for Christmas.  I did write in those books from time to time...drivel mainly but sometimes more reasonable things.  I have used other journals throughout the years, including an expensive Ten-Year Journal that a friend recommended.  That one, even though it only has a few lines for each year, was not filled up.  Still, I love journals. 

Now I use an electronic journal called Day One.  We spend the money so I can have the software on my laptop, iPad, and phone. This way I can write on whatever device I am in front of at the time I want to write something and it is synchronized to them all.  One of the best things about the Day One journal is that I can go to my Camera Roll and send photos to the day's entry.  This -adding photos to a journal-is something I learned from Sister Bullen, our Mission President's wife.  She made a wonderful pictorial history of their missionary service.

As each of our children was baptized, we gave them a journal in which to begin to record their lives.  We have continued to do that for our grandchildren.  Our youngest grandchild is being baptized soon and I wanted to keep up the tradition.  But with a twist:  I thought I would try book-binding a journal for him.

One of the tools you need, if you can get it, is a book press.  I was watching Jennifer at Sea Lemon on YouTube for her tutorial making a hardcover casebound book and thought I could do that.  She uses a book press that she had made from two bamboo cutting boards. I found the same style ones she used and Amazon fulfilled the order quickly!  A trip to the hardware store for the carriage bolts, washers, wing nuts, and rubber feet and I had everything I needed. I also got some nice clamps to help with the process.  Dear One kindly drilled the holes for me and we were ready to roll with a book press.

Other parts to the process of making this book were making the book cloth, which Sea Lemon shows in a video and sewing a text block, also in another video.  These were fun and satisfying to do. 

The text block is being pressed after glueing in the end papers

This is the book press Dear One and I made.  It works great.  I could even press gigantic books in it.

Too Much Water

We got a nice little poinsettia some time before Christmas.  It was such a happy little plant.  One day dear one asked if I thought I should water it.  When I felt the dirt it was pretty dry.

That kind man watered the plant.

You will note the water in the bottom of the dish.

Sadly, we did not know that poinsettias do not like a LOT of water...

Well, we will know next time to check up online to find out how plants like to be treated!

Paper Crafting: Gum Holder Gift Box

Another of my favorite YouTubers is The Paper Pixie.  She showed me some really nifty also quick and easy gift box holders for gum.  A perfect stocking stuffer or just plain anytime gift.

This was my take on the project:

Pretty quick and easy and really fun to make.  Even more fun to pass out to friens.

Munchie Monday: Air Fryer Kale Chips

Yes!  You can make kale chips in the air fryer. At least you can in an air fryer oven, which is what we have.

Harvest your kale.  Wash. Dry. Remove from the tough ribs. Break into medium-sized pieces.  Place in a large bowl.  Add 1-2 teaspoons oil and a mixture of your favorite seasonings.  We always use granulated garlic, granulated onion, cumin, chili powder, and salt and pepper.  Toss and sort of gently massage until all the leaves are coated.

Place in your air fryer and let cook.  I used 250 degrees F for 5 minutes, but they were not done, so I gave them another 5 minutes.

These needed that 5 more minutes I mentioned.

Only one thing to remember when making kale chips:  when you eat them, make sure you brush your teeth right afterwards!  Kale bits left in the teeth do NOT make a toothy smile a lovely thing to see.  Trust me on this.

Food Friday: Pre-Baked Pizza Crusts Method

Making a pizza from scratch is really easy.  It just takes time.  Sometimes when we want a pizza, we just want it now, not an hour or more from now.  RussVitale to the rescue!  Now finally we have a method for getting some pizza crusts made ahead so they are ready to go when we are!

To make it simple, here is the process:  make up your dough.  Let it rest and rise until doubled in bulk then roll out into the size crust you want. Bake at 475 degrees F for 6 minutes and you have your crusts ready to either use or put in the freezer until later.  When you want to make up your pizza, just slather on your sauce and toppings and bake for 5 minutes or so.  This assumes your vegetable toppings are pre-cooked, too, I think, because I do not think they will cook in 5 minutes, even in a very hot oven.

You will notice the "pita-like" crusts, especially the upper right crust. The upper left crusts had been rolled out very thinly so they did not puff.

One thing I learned is that it makes sense to "fork" the dough before you bake it.  Otherwise, you are making pita bread!  Not that pita is a bad thing...

Three crusts ready for the freezer.  There were four crusts until Dear One asked if they were up for grabs.  It turned out to be pretty good bread just plain.

For this crust we used the food processor and 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 packet yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar in 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water, and 1 heaping teaspoon salt.  After dissolving the sugar in the water add the yeast and stir well. Let sit 5 minutes to be sure the yeast is active.  Put the dry ingredients in the food processor. Pulse until combined then carefully pour the liquid through the cover into the flour just until everything comes together.  Let process another 30 seconds. Stop and remove the dough from the processor and place in a greased bowl turning the dough over to oil all sides.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit until double in bulk. 

You may be tempted to run the food processor for some time, like you do in a stand mixer.  Refrain, please!  One of two things can happen...1. the dough gets too hot and kills the yeast, or 2. your processor blade gives up the ghost and you have to buy a new one.  Not good.

Swan Lake Park Christmas Lights

The day after Christmas just before 5 PM we drove over to Swan Lake Park to see the Christmas lights.  They were stunning!  Truly amazing.  Thousands of them, in so many configurations.

We drove through the park with me pointing my camera out the car window for video-taping but got to the end of the park and saw that there were so many more of the lights to see.  Dear One drove us out of the park (there were cars behind us) and finally found a place where we could turn around and return.  Despite the fact that we went back in the Exit Only entrance (which we did not notice until we were committed...) we found a place to park so we could walk around where we both took pictures.  By the time we were done half an hour later, the cars were coming in a never-ending parade.  It is really popular, and for good cause!

This Swan Lake manger scene was really sweet. It was more or less in the middle of a large open area.  Families walked right up to it, as you can see on the right.

Santa and his rein-swans in the air above the Seven Dwarfs. 

There were so many separate light "figures".  So many of them we more or less recognized but could not put names to until a kind little boy told us:  Teenage Ninja Turtles, Sponge Bob, Spider Man, and SO MANY OTHERS!!! This little boy kept naming figure after figure until his mom told him to stop.  I was enthralled. Next year we may have to take pictures of each of them to share....Well, maybe not, but they are so impressive.

 These fish, and the green and orange dragon were eye-catching.  The blue lights were really so fabulous everywhere they existed.

At the edge of the woods were these nifty swans and flowers.

One thing we did not get a picture of because it was too dark by then, was the actual giant white swans gliding around on the lake, their necks curved in picture-perfect condition.  I had seen them when I was driving by on the way to Alice Drive several times but never stopped to snap a shot.

Recycling at its Most Humble

Since coming here to South Carolina I have been thrilled to find that recycling is part of the Wednesday trash pick up.  Still, there are some things that those nice men do NOT want to pick up.  Grocery bags is one of those non-pick-up-able items.  What to do, what to do?

This is what I do:

Pretty ugly but it works well.  When I get half a dozen grocery bags, I insert them one inside another and put them into the trash bins.  Since all our trash receptacles are small ones, this works perfectly.  AND we never have to buy garbage bags.  Win-win! 

Plus I never feel like I have to completely fill the garbage bag before pulling it out, tying it up, and tossing it in the big 90-gallon rolling bin outside.

Steeking After The Fact

Some years ago I blogged about the Elizabeth Zimmermann Adult Surprise Jacket that I knit while taking a class at the Country Woolens shop in Lebanon, New Hampshire.  Sadly, that shop no longer exists.  The Upper Valley had three wonderful yarn shops at one time which I enjoyed patronizing.  Debbie's classes were wonderful at Country Woolens.

Anyway, that sweater is a pretty easy one to knit.  You just need to do the math before you cast on and write down your numbers.  Then trust them!  I did not trust the numbers so I knitted a few more rows than I should have and ended up with "cuffs" that were really heavy.  Almost immediately I planned to insert a fleece lining with ribbed cuffs inside those big honking cuffs.  I never got around to it.

Now the we are in South Carolina where there is a good chance I will never need that sweater at all ever, I have decided to steek those sleeves.  Steeking is something that I have done before, also with Debbie at Country Woolens when I made a fabulous little green and white Norwegian sweater for a young granddaughter.  I loved that sweater.  It looked so impressive but was actually so simple to knit.  When you know you are going to steek a sweater, you add in a few extra stitches where you want your steeks to be. In that case it was up the front and also in the sleeves.  It was so nifty to be able to just knit and knit and knit in pattern and make a tube then at the end, cut the steek, add in the front ribbing and pick up for the sleeves and you were done.  So nice.

Notice the two rows of black yarn...this is a crocheted steek ready to be cut.

Well, this is not a planned-for steek. I do not know if it will work.  Here is the sweater with the crocheted stitches all done.  The Surprise Jacket is now ready to cut the steeks.  I am giving you the Before photo.  After I cut the steek, unravel the cut-out yarn and splice it back together for knitting the cuff, then knitting the cuff, I will put up an After photo.  Wish me luck!

PS The first time I ever heard about steeking was in Elizabeth Zimmermann's book Knitting Without Tears.  Such a fabulous book for knitters.  Actually, it is good for everyone.  So entertaining and instructive and also inspiring.
PPS . Great news!!!  When I went to Schoolhouse Press, Elizabeth Zimmermann's (she died late in the 1990's) family company, there was a NEW Surprise Sweater...this one a vest. In Fair Isle!!!  That is truly exciting.  Something I would like to make.  I must HURRY to finish up a couple more projects so I can invest in the yarn for this one.

Munchie Monday: Air Fryer Eggplant Chips

On Friday I followed the sign to the "American Legion Farmers' Market" and eventually arrived at the correct spot.  It was indoors!  So nice because you never know when rain will be a hazard.  As it happened, I was there about 3:30 in the afternoon.  There were about a dozen "booths" to investigate.  At the very first one I spied some firm plump beautiful eggplants,  not something that has been a big part of our diet.  Ever!  So I made my rounds to all the other tables then circled back.  It was quite the thing to be so popular.  Everyone called out to me as I approached.  People are so friendly...!  As it happened, I was also the only customer in the building at that time.  Nice for me!

Anyway, I chatted with the nice girl about how to cook and use eggplants.  She suggested cutting them into thick rounds and making them the base for tiny pizzas.  What a novel idea!  I thought I would try it.  I did only buy one though since I was pretty sure it would be a hard sell at home, even though Friday is Pizza Day at the ole homestead on Trevino Drive!

Since Dear One likes the pizzas at Aldi, and even though he wanted me to remove the mozzarella from the top which was somewhat fiddle-y, I did bring home what he wanted but then while his was baking, I put the eggplant rounds in the oven to begin cooking.

Once his pizza was cooked I let the eggplant "pizza crusts" cook another 15 minutes in the oven, then transferred them to the air fryer oven where several of them overcooked a bit.  Well, I have never been averse to a little charcoal so I went ahead and ate several.  Dear One was a good sport and ate one bite of one pizza round. (Though pizza round is really a misnomer-there was no pizza sauce nor pizza toppings on the eggplant...just seasonings...)

These eggplant rounds were cooked at 400 degrees F. for a total of about 40 minutes.  They had been spritzed with a tiny bit of olive oil spray then sprinkled with onion, garlic, black pepper, cumin, and a tiny bit of sea salt.  They did not taste half bad.  They still were not crispy, which is what I was hoping for.

In this photo they have just been lollygagging in the air fryer for about 10 minutes...maybe a little too much!

Actually, in this picture they are in pretty good shape...this was after the first five minutes. Still not crispy enough for me. The picture with the dill pickle slices and tomato on a Beyond Burger burger had the full ten minutes.  You can see the char there a bit better. 

By the way, that lettuce was from our own garden!  There is nothing like harvesting delicious greens from your own back deck early in January.  Love it.

Food Friday: Vegan Banana Bread

We have had bananas get away from us lately.  Several times.  The only thing to do is make banana bread.  I had gotten the Forks Over Knives Cookbook from the library and found this recipe:

-2 cups of whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour -3/4 teaspoon of baking soda -2 or 3 ripe to overripe bananas -1/2 cup of maple syrup -1/3 cup of applesauce -1/4 cup of plant milk -1.5 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract -1/2 cup of pecans -1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed (optional) -2 tablespoons of water (only add water if you also added flaxseed)

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In another bowl mix everything else together then add to the dry bowl and stir well. Pour into a sprayed bread tin and cook 50-60 minutes or more in a 350 degree F. oven.

Later I found the same recipe here on YouTube for people who like to watch recipes before cooking them.

It was amazingly good for being 100 percent whole wheat flour. It was even Hard Red Winter Wheat that I ground in the VitaMix. I am looking forward to getting some Hard White Wheat soon from the Home Storage Center. That would be superior bread! At least, all the bread I ever made with white wheat was really wonderful. Not that I want to get into the habit of bread-making again, but...it is always nice if what we make is actually enjoyable to eat.

First Day Gardening

Today is the first day of the new year, of the new decade.  It was a gloriously beautiful day here in South Carolina.

After spending time in the scriptures this morning I was touched by a verse:  "...will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance."

When I was reading that I thought about the fact that there are a ton of things for which I need to be delivered such as laziness, procrastination, poor health habits, not the best housekeeping ethic, etc.  Of course, I have plenty of goodish things in my life but I took this scripture to heart, closed up the book and began writing things do on a Today list that could help me be delivered from those negative things at the beginning of this paragraph.

Before 10 AM I had moved a box of dried beans from beside the bed in the guest room where it was a quasi-bedside stand to its new home in the closet. In the living room we had a nice table/stand that I was not using so I took that upstairs to put beside the bed in the guest room. The banker's lamp on my desk moved in onto that table and now the guest room is more or less pimped out for company...except we do need to get a bureau which Dear One has decided on from Hobby Lobby, if you can believe it.  We will go up there some week soon.

So all was going swimmingly until Dear One asked if I had watched the family videos from this year. I had not seen them so he sent the link.  I went into our room, stretched out (since I had been buzzing around for two hours by then...), and began watching the first one. It was so wonderful. Daughter-in-law A is a fabulous videographer!  I can hardly wait to watch the other two movies!

Anyway,  by the time I got back to work (the Today things on the list I made this morning that were to take place in the kitchen only partly happened before I drifted off on the couch) I decided to do the garden work I have been pushing myself to do for a month but never did.

This big plastic clear (more or less) bin is what we used to store compost it. I moved much of it into the other bins this fall but the bucket filled up with water and was really in rather grim shape.  The biggest job I did today was to empty the big blue bin underneath the water/compost bin in the black pots you can see along the back wall.  There were a ton (almost literally!) of river rocks in the bottom of the big blue bucket which needed to be moved into the area underneath the big trash bin beside the house.  That carrying job required the help of Dear One who was happy to do it.

The herbs were moved from the bins where they were scrunched up together into their own individual pots. I think they are much happier now!

The lettuce and the kale are really happy right where they are!  We love fresh vegetables every day.  Not that we do eat them every day, but they are smiling at us volunteering to be our lunch.  So nice.

 The "bagged" lettuce is still going strong. I am so impressed with that particular method for planting lettuce.  It has really done well.

 This empty bucket is ready for new soil which we will get when the basil plants are ready to be put in.  I have heard they will be available late in February or March. I am looking forward to them!

The trash bin is now sitting on its new bed of river stones!  Dear One moved most of the pine straw down to the edge of the pond, a place where I am committed to preparing a spot for one or two zucchini plants and some tomato plants as soon as they show up. I hope they have Black Krim tomatoes, Brandywine tomatoes, and Amish Paste tomatoes ready as started plants.  

The Seed Savers Exchange catalog came the other day. I am really souped up about the heirloom plants...!  It will cost a fair amount to buy seeds for each of these plants.  I think we will need to figure a way to make a nursery for seed starting if we are going to do this....Not sure Dear One will be into that...!

Anyway, now it is nearly the end of the day.  After working the garden I decided I needed to work the kitchen so I grabbed the stroller and headed to Food Lion to get some oven cleaner to take care of a bad issue we had.  It was dark by the time I got back.  It was only 2.4 miles but I am pretty much done it. I think I will now go sit in front of the television to veg out, or possibly fall asleep!

Happy New Year to all!