Oh February, I am glad to see the backside of your being. It was short, rough and completely unwelcome on every front. Work was stressful and busy. My daughter went through a major health scare that is still not resolved (but is less dire now) and my son had one of those early twenties existential crises where he realize that his choice in universities was a major misstep and had to do a reset on school plans. Whew…goodbye February and don’t let the door bang your butt on the way out.
So welcome March, and may you bring better things. Its been raining quite a bit the last few weeks, so I took advantage of the indoor time to start cleaning out old canned goods and get ready for the next canning season. It was a huge Marie Kondo affair. Its hard for a thrifty German of Depression era parents to toss out any food, but the realization that most of the stuff that hit the disposal was probably toxic and didn’t taste good justified the act. Plus canned beets from 2016 definitely do not give me “joy”.
I’ve been baking bread and yeast cakes lately, and made my first King Cake of the season. I shortcut the process a bit and use Mam Pupaul’s mix. King Cakes are always a hit at my workplace, and its fun to find out who gets the “baby”. Plus the five year old in me loves all the colored sprinkles you get to toss on the cake. Laissez les bons temps!
I found a great wheat bread recipe from King Arthur’s flour that makes a nice dense, but not too dense loaf that is perfect for toast and sandwiches. There’s something so elemental about making home made bread, the basic ingredients, the physicality of kneading a loaf, and the magic of the rising dough. The kitchen can be a magic place and bread is living proof (bad pun, I’m sorry!). Plus baking bread smells so wonderful on a wet, winter day.
I’m also actively playing in a band again as well and finally had the time and energy to pull out the bass and practice a set today. As an added plus, our relatively new dog seems to like the sound. (Woof!). Hopefully, she’ll feel the same way about my husbands drums.
Bis bald!
skullwoman 