Lesson Learned.....Feed the Birds!

This was my week to bring treats to st. James for the choir. I always enjoy having Joanna as my partner.
Now, for the part I didn't enjoy.

I decided to get my sourdough out of the freezer and see if it still worked, After thawing and removing a few chunks of dough it seemed to be fine. I decided to make bagels. They were slow to rise (not a good sign)
but I went ahead and shaped, boiled and baked. The directions said to roll in a ball, make a hole with your finger. I did that a few times but it was taking forever, so I tried a different way. Unfortunately, my way was the wrong way. The circle came apart....blah blah blah. To make a long story short..after all that work, the bagels looked like turds.  I thought about giving them to the birds or squirrels but them decided, that broken up, it would make a good crust for my strata.   It was actually delicious.....but some of the bagel stuck to the bottom of the pan. It took me at least a half hour( after soaking ) to clean out the pan. It was like trying to scrape melted and dried gummy bears out of the pan.   No more bagel bottoms.

The rest of the food was welcomed by the choir. Joe (our organist) asked for the recipe for the Raspberry Coffee cake. I almost left it home as I thought it was dry.  This was caused by the rice flour I used to make it gluten-free.

It was a lot of work, a lot of fun and I'm glad it only happens once or twice a year.



Thanks to Joe for all the help carrying and setting up.

Joe also tried out his new camera in church.

Eighty Years Young

Our family celebrated the birthday of Joe MacKenzie  at our home yesterday. It was a great day.
It was suggested that I let the children do the work and I must say, I enjoyed the new concept.
Photos  follow including family wearing shirts John printed up using family photos of Joe in different stages of his life. The rest are from party.

                                          

                                       

A Day at the Dentist

Thank God my camera was not with me, or you would see my mouth jammed with objects, while x-rays are completed, cleaning done, and finally a tooth filled.
As much as I dreaded this experience it wasn't that bad.  Methods have greatly improved.
Our regular dentist was on vacation so a young newbie was in charge. He said I needed a new filling. the nurse said it was scheduled for a crown...I groaned. " It doesn't need a crown, just get rid of the small cavity, the old filling, and it will be fine."  He then offered to do it this morning.  "Yes, please, let's get it done." It took less than a half an hour and feels great.
 I am at home, happy & contented. I  feel a little sneaky, as I know our regular dentist would have done a crown.
I must mention that if I was unmarried, a half a century younger, and looked like a model, I would have a crush on this handsome young dentist.

The Fruit Juice of our Labors

Dear Deer,
I hope next year you will devour our grapes.
We used our Jack LaLanne juicer. It is difficult to clean, noisy and messy.

The yield was not that bad, since we had one bowl of grapes.
The juice tastes like grape-flavored lemon juice.
I must stop complaining. Joe and I had fun and I actually like the refreshing taste.
It is now resting in the freezer so we may share it with the family.

Force them into trying it.

Discovery

 Years ago, there was a lovely catalpha tree in a neighbors yard. I could see it from the kitchen window. It was such an interesting tree. After flowering, long pods, filled of seeds, hung from the branches.
 One day while on a  a walk I spotted another catalpha  in a different yard.
There were seed pods on the ground so I helped myself to a couple, and planted them in the wooded area of our side yard. Since then, both  neighbors trees have been cut down. 
 Periodically,  I check to see if the seeds I planted sprouted, but no luck.

Yesterday, while checking out our neglected yard, I noticed  leaves that looked like those of a catalpha tree.  I got very excited and decided to investigate.  I checked it out in my garden book.
Lo and behold, we have a catalpha tree. The area where it is growing, has a variety of trees, butterfly bush,  plus pesky Himalayan blackberries.
The catalpha tree will have to fight for space to grow.

I'll be watching.