Rolling In The Dough -Week Three Of The At Home British Bakeoff

It's Bread Week in our at home version of The Great British Baking Show. If you don't know what I'm talking about read this post-Bamboozled By A Battenberg followed by this post-Waltzing In To Bakeoff Week 2 to catch up. 

This week's technical challenge had contestants baking a 7-strand plaited bread wreath in two hours, thirty minutes. They weren't given a recipe, just a list of ingredients. Paul demonstrated the plaiting technique before they got started and daughter2 and I agreed we'd probably watch that bit at least ten times before we tried it on our own. 

Okay, first of all we're not on the clock-ha! 

Secondly, we used a recipe. Our house, our rules. 

Neither of us are bread bakers on a regular basis and we were excited to try this. Plus fresh bread? Yes please. 

Not exactly like braiding hair, but it's the same general idea. Rolling out the 'octopus' was the hardest part of the process. I didn't feel like my strands rolled as easily as the contestant's did, but I got there 

Look at me all official with my proving bag.

my finished wreath

I have to say this turned out surprisingly well. I credit years of raising daughters who regularly wanted their hair braided. 

My daughter’s wreath 

I told my daughter she was star baker this week. 

Now,  did  I make a kitchen mess? You betcha. In fact hubs may have stated he hopes we don't do this again next year lol. Except I think he was serious? Whatever. He's not turning down freshly baked bread, and it's been fun baking with my daughter, comparing notes, trying something new, and realizing I could never be an actual contestant on the show-ha.  

I'm sure Paul Hollywood would say mine was 'slightly underbaked' but I tapped it like an honest to goodness contestant and it sounded hollow, which apparently is the sound you need. The texture was really good. 

Next up-caramel week. We're going to hold off on the actual bake for another week because we both have some travel scheduled and we don't need the extra pressure. Plus! we anticipate being in the same kitchen next weekend so our plan is to do the caramel bake together. Double the fun...

No doubt double the mess too. Enjoy your weekend everyone! 

A Nutty Hodgepodge

Welcome to another edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. Here we go-

1. How did you meet your significant other? If you don't have a significant other, tell us how you met your best friend. 

I was looking back through some old blog posts recently, and came across one I'd written telling the story of how we'd met, which is what inspired this question today. The post is linked here-When Harry Met Sally . The short version is we met at university. We went to a medium sized school and that meant you knew a lot of people. He was in a fraternity and I was in a sorority so we attended a lot of the same events and had a lot of mutual friends. Mutual friends brought us together and together we've remained some 40+ years later. 

2. It's Department Store Day (October 16)...do you still shop in department stores? If not do you miss that kind of shopping experience? Do you have a favorite department store? Any fun memories of department store shopping when you were a child? 

I used to really enjoy shopping in the big department stores. Strawbridge and Clothier was a favorite when I was growing up. Most of the bigger department stores had restaurants on their upper levels, and it was fun to go to the mall with my mom and shop, then have lunch afterwards in the store's restaurant. I grew up mostly in the NJ suburbs of Philadelphia and at Christmastime we'd always go in to the city to see the light show at Wanamakers Department Store. Such a treat! 

I enjoyed the British department stores when we lived there-Harrods and Liberty especially, but also the smaller chain called Debenhams where you could easily find things you needed for home and wardrobe. 

I do still love Nordstroms, but we don't have one nearby. Most department stores are attached to malls and I rarely set foot in a mall these days. It's easier to shop online or in the outdoor shopping centers where some of my favorite stores are all in a row and you can park right out front. 

3. Something you're currently nuts about? 

Fall temperatures. I'm always ready for summer to take a breather. 

4. What's your favorite nut and is there a favorite recipe where this nut is used? 

I like all nuts. Cashews are a favorite for snacking, along with pistachios. I cook mostly with almonds, walnuts, and pecans and have a lot of favorite recipes that call for nuts. 

As the holidays approach I think of shortbread made with almonds, cranberry bread made with walnuts, and so many delectable Christmas cookies that call for chopped pecans. 

5. On Wednesday we officially reach the '70 days until Christmas' mark. Have you purchased any gifts? If you don't celebrate Christmas then how about Hanukkah presents? 

Nothing big, but I have purchased several smaller stocking stuffers for various family members. I also bought both girls, both sons-in-law, and all five grandchildren matching Christmas pjs. Best of all the pjs have all been wrapped and delivered, ready for opening once December rolls in. I like to give the pjs early so they can wear them in the weeks leading up to Christmas. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

I thought I'd try to dig out a picture of the hubs and I when we were in college but there aren't a lot. College students didn't take gobs of pictures 'back in the day' like they do now. It wasn't a priority, plus we had to use actual cameras and not very good ones at that. We didn't have phones with built in cameras, in fact we didn't have phones except the ones attached to the wall, so unless you lugged your camera to a party or event you didn't have pictures. Most Greek events had a paid photographer present so there are pics from a lot of those type things. 

A lot of our pictures have red-eye because you wouldn't know that until after they came back from the developer. This particular picture is in fact a Polaroid. I cropped it but there's no mistaking a Polaroid.  They had a white border all the way around and you could write on the bottom portion of the frame. This one has Spring Formal 1981 helpfully scrolled across the bottom, but I'm not sure if it was his formal or mine?

Regardless, I had a lot of hair that for certain had seen some hot rollers earlier in the day, and hubs was still sporting a mustache with not a single follicle of gray. 

I can very clearly remember the outfit. It was a silky jumpsuit with spaghetti straps and the bottom portion was all black, only the top half was patterned. It had a longish kimono style jacket? wrap? you wore over it and I loved it. 

Young love is so sweet. 

Old love is pretty sweet too. 

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Of Castles And Carparks And Cruising The Countryside

On Wednesday we headed home (home to my daughter's, not home home), but not before making stops in two nearby towns. We mentioned to someone at the hotel that we were going to Harrogate and he said we should stop in Knaresborough which is right on the way. He said it was a cute little village with an aqueduct and we'd probably enjoy it. 

He didn't mention the ancient castle. 

Back in the 1170's Hugh de Morville and his followers took refuge in this village after assassinating Thomas Becket. 

The castle was taken in 1644 during the Civil War and mostly destroyed in 1648 because of an order from Parliament to dismantle all Royalist castles. 

Many of the buildings in the town center are built from 'castle stone'. 

Knaresborough is a market and spa town on the river Nidd. Discoveries in the area lead researchers to believe there was a strong Roman presence in the area, and Knaresborough is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. 

We walked through the market, the first one held here was in 1206, and then over to the castle ruins for a look inside? 

You do go inside but technically the inside is also outside now as it's just the ruins. 

The docent at the castle said we shouldn't miss the river walk so we climbed down another million stone stairs (I'm getting my steps without even trying this trip!) and got a closer look at the bridge too. 

There were homes and cafes along the water, and after walking a bit we trudged back up the hill and got in the car to make the short drive on to Harrogate. 

If you know my hubs you know he has great style. There's a men's shop in Harrogate he follows online so when we realized we'd be nearby we decided to see it in person. He and the owner chat back and forth from time to time so we were hoping to meet him. 

Harrogate is another spa town and the greenspace when you enter is amazing. The shop owner told hubs it's a 200 acre public parkland surrounding the city center and it's so pretty. We ate lunch at a spot called Farmhouse and both ordered Japanese bowls. They had a lot of breakfast type dishes on the menu, which I guess is where the name came from, but we both thought the Asian flavors in the bowls were fantastic!

I didn't take a picture of the bowl but I did snap one of the pretty tea service. 

Hubs did not have tea lol. 

We walked to the shop after lunch, and had the nicest time chatting with the gentleman working there. The owner was out and messaged hubs later he was sorry to miss us. 

Of course there was a shop dog who looked a lot like our pup at home and who we're missing. We take pictures of dogs. We can't help it. 

They had the most beautiful robes in this shop and I was thinking hey, maybe I'll get one for hubs for Christmas, but then I saw the price and-yowza!! I won't even print it here because you wouldn't believe it, but this particular company made the silk robes worn in Downton Abbey and these are similar if that gives you a clue.

We made it back to Cambridge in time for dinner with 'the kids' and the kid's kids and it felt good to be back in our home away from home. 

One of my favorite things about traipsing around England is discovering villages I'd never heard of until now. The small villages here all seem to hold some beauty, some historic significance, and usually an amazing church or cathedral. Plus you traverse lots of gorgeous English countryside to get to them and that's worth all the stress of driving on single track roads with signs saying two way traffic?!, and carparks that require super sharp 90 degree angled turns into spaces so narrow you have to slither out of your seat sideways. 

In the words of Oliver Wendell Douglas...'Land spreadin' out so far and wide, Keep Manhattan just give me that countryside!' 

Hello Monday Tuesday

If you're looking for this week's Hodgepodge questions you'll find them in the post before this one. 

Good morning friends. Linking up with Holly and Sarah for their weekly Hello Monday party, happening this week on a Tuesday due to the holiday. Am I the only one who will be a day off all week because of the extra weekend-ing? 

Even though in retirement every day is technically the weekend?

It's officially September and September means a month of birthdays in our house, starting with hubs. Daughter2 has a birthday next week, then mine rolls around the following week. I'm all about making a birthday celebration last more than a day, and will no doubt mention mine more than once before it actually arrives. If you've read here for any length of time you already know this. 

Our backyard construction project is moving right along, but it's all a lot. Hubs likes to stand on the upstairs deck and survey the work from above. He goes in and out at least a hundred times a day, he paces and frets about that one rock he thinks is leaning in a downward direction more than it should, and all that to say it was time for a break. 

He reluctantly agreed, so on Friday we went to the late afternoon showing of Reagan. Fantastic! I'd seen a preview and wasn't sure how I'd like Dennis Quaid in this role (even though I love Dennis Quaid in pretty much everything), but he did a great job in his portrayal of 'Dutch'. Penelope Ann Miller plays Nancy and she was wonderful too. 

I won't say too much about it, except this...I miss having an articulate leader who inspires with wisdom and wit and common sense, one who is unafraid to say the hard things, and who lives out the courage of his convictions no matter which way the wind blows. I miss when nearly the whole of America loved America. 

At the end of the movie everybody clapped. 

Saturday I made my second trip to the supermarket to get some last minute things for hubs birthday dinner happening the next day. I got home in time to watch our favorite college football team (the Tennessee Vols) crush their opponent and also watch our second favorite college football team (the Clemson Tigers) get crushed by their opponent. 

I spent the rest of the afternoon cooking and baking. I made a key lime pie which is what hubs wanted for his 'birthday cake', and I also slow roasted tomatoes for one of our favorite appetizers, Pomodori al Forno, all for Sunday. 

When you spend hours cooking it feels like you shouldn't also need to make dinner, but meals just keep on coming. About a week ago Amy (Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa) shared a recipe for an egg roll bowl and we tried that on Saturday night. It was good. I added slaw to my bowl like she suggested, and Siracha too because we like Siracha. 

On Sunday hubs officially turned a whole year older. I offered to make him a blueberry waffle which is one of his favorite things, but we had a big dinner on tap so he declined. Do you have Publix where you live? Have you tried their bakery cinnamon bread? I'd picked some up the day before and it's super delish, so that was his birthday breakfast. 

We spent the day getting the house in order. The dust y'all. It's everywhere. Everywhere! I don't think there's a surface inside or out that isn't wearing some dust. It's impossible to get on top of just now, but we tried. Plus I had to make yet another trip to the store for three things I'd forgotten. Bother. 

Friends came Sunday evening to celebrate and hubs grilled steaks because that's what he wants on his birthday. I'd made twice baked potatoes (forgot how labor intensive they are), a salad, and fresh green beans. 

One of our guests is a wine aficionado and he brought a fabulous highly rated bottle to share. It's a Vineyard 36 cabernet called Five Bands. The bottle has five silver bands across the front, with the design intentionally made to resemble the Stanley Cup. Vineyard 36 was started by two former NHL players, along with a vintner named Jason Earnest. This one is hard to get so it was really fun to have a taste, and it made dinner feel like an occasion. 

Which it was. Happy birthday hubs! We'll see both girls this month which is the best present of all. 

Monday morning was beautiful, and while we wanted to lounge we thought exercise would be the better option. 

We got the kayaks out and had a nice long paddle around the neighborhood. The weather was perfect, warm and sunny with a gentle breeze. 

We got back to the dock and swam for a bit, then went in for lunch and a nap. Actually hubs napped and I worked on my blog. Neighbors who live here part time were in town and invited us over for happy hour so we walked to their house about 4:30 and enjoyed catching up with them. 

Has anybody watched Grantchester? It's a British drama series set in the village of that same name. Hubs and I watched the first several seasons a while back and enjoyed it, and then last week my daughter told me they went to Grantchester for the day, and she found it so charming. We decided to pick up the series again this weekend and I'm looking forward to seeing the village up close and in person when we visit the UK in a few weeks. 

The list of people and places we need and want to see while we're there is a long one. I'm trying to manage my expectations, but haven't been too successful so far. I'll keep you posted. 

Hey, did I mention I have a birthday this month? 

Happy Monday Tuesday everyone! 

Friday Faves-Episode 2

Who blogs late afternoon on a Friday? Just me? Who reads blogs late afternoon on a Friday? I guess we'll find out.

I love Friday afternoons. My hubs may be adding sand to the firepit patio as we speak, is washing down the chairs there, and in general making everything in that area of the yard squeaky clean for friends to enjoy tomorrow night, but I've declared it quittin' time and am sitting with a cup of tea, my laptop, and a gentle breeze on the deck thinking about blogging. 

We're retired. We can call it a day at 3 PM on a sunny Friday in May. 

Well hubs can't because he's a machine when it comes to yard work and chores, which I have to say, is not a bad quality in a husband.

I'm linking a little bit of this and that from the week that was today with Erika and Andrea on Friday Favorites. 

First things first...I'm still walking with the Better Me app and invited hubs to go with me one day this week. Normally I like to do these walks alone, listen to my book, and not think about my achilles and these hills. Hubs likes to say things like, 'These hills are so good for you!' and 'We should do this twice a day' while in my head I'm wondering why it is he bounces up the hills like it ain't no thing and I huff and puff like it is? 

Our neighborhood has walking trails through the woods that connect the various sections. I like hubs with me when I take any of the wooded routes, on the off chance we see a bear. We've never encountered one on a walk, but they are in the neighborhood from time to time. 

If hubs walks with me his number one fan gets to come too. 

Second fave-I had lunch with a friend on Wednesday, which was long overdo. And since it's graduation week at the local university we opted for a drive in the country and lunch with a view. Crazy storms came in later and the mountains were already feeling it, but still gorgeous. 

Another fave...On Thursday nights in tinytown they close the main street to cars, invite food trucks in and have a stage with live music. We hadn't been in ages but made it there last night, and it was so much fun. 

We got there early and had margaritas and shared some nachos before the main band played. We ran into lots of friends, which is one of the best things about small town living, and the weather was perfection. 

My favorite fave-I did some grocery shopping this morning while hubs was at a meeting and then sometime after he walked in the door with these-

Fresh flowers are one of my love languages and this arrangement is over the top. 

Lastly, I'm wishing all the mamas out there a weekend filled with the things and people you love. I'm so grateful to still have my mother in my life. She taught me how to mother and has loved me with her whole heart from the very beginning-

I'm so very grateful too for my own sweet daughters...

...who mother their littles with patience, humor, and intention in a way that makes my heart go to absolute mush. 

A Ragtag Post

We finally had a quiet at home weekend doing a whole lot of very little which was long overdue. Also not much to blog about, but of course I'm blogging anyway. C'est la vie. 

Hubs had been duck hunting all week and didn't get home until very late Friday night. His trip meant I had four whole entire days in the house by myself which, if you're livin' the retired life, you know is rare. And also appreciated now and then.

Hi hubs! I'm glad you're home. 

It's okay, he gets me lol. Celebrating 40 years of married life this June so yeah, he gets me. 

Back to last week...I'd naturally made a lot of overly ambitious plans (in my head) with hopes of completing some small organizational projects, and got exactly none completed. Oh I did plenty, I just couldn't quite get to my mental list which is still there, still rolling around my brain. 

Here are my excuses...

I said I had the house to myself but that's only partly true. The little brown dog was here keeping me company, pining for his favorite mister, racing to the window every time someone pulled down the driveway thinking maybe it was him, needing to go outside in the ridiculous pouring rain which meant I had to go outside in the ridiculous pouring rain, and then I had to get out the towels and the brush and the dryer and do all the things hubs normally does when it rains and the dog needs tending

Hi hubs! I'm glad you're home. 

What else....hmmm...here's something...I talked on the phone. A lot. Not a bad thing as a friend I hadn't spoken to in about a year and a half called and two hours later we were almost all caught up. Then one daughter called, then my mom called, then another daughter called and before I knew what was happening the clock said noon and I was still in my jammies. 

Which is fine, but it's not me, and it throws off my mojo aka my enthusiasm to begin a project. Let's watch HGTV instead, k? 

I still had my usual weekly to-dos like groceries and laundry and bible study on Wednesday and volunteering on Thursday and I got my nails done because priorities people. And I did manage to get beds changed from the last set of houseguests and some lingering bits of Christmas put away with the exception of two nutcrackers whose boxes have to be hunted down. 

Yes. Christmas. I told you, it's been a whirlwind. 

In other news I didn't kill any plants while he was away. Hubs babies the plants here in his efforts to keep outdoor plants alive indoors throughout the winter and I did not let him down. 

I put down a book I was reading and picked up another. Life is too short to read books that are just eh. Normal Rules Don't Apply by Kate Atkinson. I enjoy her writing but I was not getting this one at all. It's a series of stories which I thought were going to be related somehow but I was four stories in and it just wasn't happening. Moving on to Demon Copperhead  by Barbara Kingsolver, which is our March book club selection. 

Hubs and I are also listening to an audible of The Wager : A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann (author of Killers of The Flower Moon). We started this one on the windy curvy drive to Tennessee a couple of weeks ago and had to turn it off because the description of the rough and rolling sea and the conditions the sailors lived in was making me car sick. It doesn't take much. 

Back to my excuses...I cooked. A lot. I didn't eat what I cooked but I did freeze three meals to take to my daughter. Her friends are wonderful and I know will bring food in the early days, but these meals are for that day down the road when the baby is fussy and the toddler needs his momma, and she cannot face making dinner. 

I guess I did more than I thought. 

Hubs spent the weekend getting his hunting gear cleaned and put away and then I washed all the hunting clothes and got my own stuff organized so I'm ready to go to my daughter's when it's time. We had a rainy Saturday so we finished watching the second season of Reacher. We liked it, a bit corny and totally unbelievable in spots, but still we liked it. I'd booked us a date night dinner for Saturday at a restaurant we'd never been to and it was a lovely night out.

Question-when you're retired empty nesters do you still need date nights? 

Yes. Yes you do. We go out all the time, but often it's with other couples or groups of people or to events of one kind or another, and date night is dedicated let's talk about us time. 

We watched all the football today and I guess Taylor Swift is going to the Superbowl lol. What a year she's had, of course she'll be at the Superbowl. Personally I think everyone should calm down about Taylor and direct their outrage toward things going on in our own country and the world at large that are genuinely worthy of outrage. 

I didn't take any pictures all weekend but here's a snapshot of hubs plants, blooming and growing and bringing joy on the grayest of days. 

May we all do the same. 

Still Glad Tidings

Joy to the world! 

How is everyone? Busy? Angry? Excited? Sad? A little bit all of the above? The noise of the world presses in at an ever increasing volume, but let's all whisper joy to the world and ponder that instead. 

So often lately I'll start writing a blog post and go off on a little (sometimes not so little) rant. Then I read it back to myself and delete delete delete. While it feels good to put it on 'paper' I know hitting publish would feel less so. 

Christmas reminds us that joy is possible in spite of the heaviness of this world. In spite of the ongoing war in Ukraine, people streaming across our border unchecked, bullies on the internet, the price of groceries, drag queens performing for children while so many of the people in charge shrug their shoulders as if to say, 'Oh well, what can we do?' 

Joy to the world. Joy to the world. Joy to the world. 

Our tree is up and decorated but I haven't taken any pictures yet. Unless you count these-

Hubs and I had a lovely day recently, driving over the mountain to a little tree farm in North Carolina-

A hay wagon takes you out to the trees and then you sip a cup of hot cocoa and visit with the donkeys while the guys wrap and load your selection onto your vehicle.  

Christmas cards and letters are arriving in our mailbox daily and I love it. One of my favorite things about the season is seeing friends and family names on envelopes in the post. 

We've watched our favorite movies, shopped some, wrapped some, and had many fun nights out with friends and neighbors including this past weekends Santa Pub Crawl for charity. Absolutely everyone dresses in some sort of Santa suit or related holiday costume-  

Here's me and the hubs...if ya know ya know. 

If you don't then you need to watch A Christmas Story. 

Hubs and I have a date this weekend to see a holiday musical performance in the nearby small big city and I'm looking forward to seeing the festive lights and decorations there too. 

And then comes Christmas. Time with wide-eyed little boys who can't be quiet because it's all too thrilling. Time with brand new babies who hold tight to your finger and give sugarplum smiles. Time with matching pajama clad daughters sleeping at home like it was yesteryear. 

Luke chapter 2 and o holy night. 

Let heaven and nature sing. 

Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.