Monday, October 3, 2011

October 3 2011


October 1 2011
            Today is Nate and Beth’s wedding!  Our afternoon and evening will be taken up with the ceremony and reception.  I’m really happy for them.  Beth will be our first granddaughter-in-law.  In a way, she has been an adopted granddaughter since she was in high school.
            Being grandparents means we didn’t have anything to do to get ready for the festivities.  Well, I did make some little place cards to tell people what the different mint flavors are.  The kids and their various moms and dads are going to be busy making, taking, decorating and beautifying themselves, the church and the reception hall.  We, on the other hand, have been relaxing!  Well, I did bake a pumpkin dessert for the Fellowship Dinner at church tomorrow.  But that certainly was not a strenuous task.
            The pumpkin dessert was the first time we’ve used the oven in the new trailer.  It seemed to work fine.  RV LP stoves tend to burn a little hotter and bake a little unevenly.  So, it was nice to see that it came out looking okay.  When we head out for the wedding we will leave early enough to drop the dessert off at our church for tomorrow.
            It seems fitting that the first use of the oven is to create something to share at church.  Almost like an offering to God.  On a related note; we have talked about asking our pastor to come out and bless our new home.  However, as of yet, we haven’t ask him.

October 2 2011
            Well yesterday got busy shortly after I wrote the above.  So, it did not get posted yesterday.
            Our cat, Kramer, is about fourteen years old and has only been outside about four times.  Each time terrified her.  For years, if the door was left open, she would either fun and hide or sit off to the side and look outside – but never getting too close.  Well, sometime on Wednesday she got outside.  The reason that I noticed she was missing was because some friends came and visited and I realized that Kramer was not there demanding to be petted.  Ella and Sue, one of our neighbors, rode around on their golf cart looking for the cat.  But they were unable to find her.
            Last night when we returned home from the wedding reception Kramer was in her cat carrier sitting on the steps.  Sue and her husband, Stoney, founder her hiding under another neighbors motor home.  They finally coaxed her close enough to grab.  Sue remembered seeing the cat carrier stored under our trailer.  So they put the cat in the carrier and left it where we would find it.
            Kramer was very affectionate last night and again this morning.  I think she missed her people more than I missed our cat.
            Today is Arik’s birthday.  It is amazing that that fat little baby has grown into an awesome man, a good husband and father who will be forty years old NEXT year.  I wonder when you stop thinking of your kids as kids?  Not yet evidently.
            Today is Sunday and Ella is working all day (eight hours) to make up for not working any on Saturday (wedding).  I went to Sunday school and church and helped with the fellowship meal afterward.  I brought food to Ella at her work and then I came home and changed.
            I did want to make a comment about our great-granddaughters at the reception last night.  Their parents and grandparents are all part of blended families.  That means that these two little girls had SO many laps to sit on and so many people watching out for them!  It was nice to see these in-laws, x-in-laws and exes sitting at the same tables and getting along so well.

October 3 2011
            I baked bread in our new oven in our new trailer yesterday.  I had posted a photo of the loaf on Facebook.  A friend commented, “Do you share recipes?”  Here is what I sent her in reply.
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Bread Recipe
            Recipe is kind of a loose term when talking about the way I cook and bake.  However here is what went into this loaf – with alternates that may or may not be used in any combination – depending what I feel like at the time)
About 3 cups of flour (may replace 1 cup flour with oat flour)
8 to 9 oz of water (may replace up to ½ with milk)
A couple of tablespoons of olive oil (may substitute Miracle Whip)
1-1/2 teaspoons of salt (sometime add a ¼ teaspoon of white pepper or cinnamon)
2 generous Tablespoons of sugar (or slightly less if using brown sugar)
Around a ¼ cup of 10 grain cereal (cornmeal or Cream of Wheat or leave out and use less liquid)
Slight Tablespoon of yeast

            In a large mixing bowl combine dry ingredients and add water and oil.  Stir with a heavy spoon until well mixed.  It will be a very sticky dough at this point.  Let rest about 30 minutes until spongy. Turn out on a well floured surface and knead with floured hands 20 times.  Form into a ball and let rest in a lightly greased bowl covered with a damp dishtowel until double in size (30 to 60 minutes). Turn out on a well floured surface and knead with floured hands 20 times again.  Form into a ball and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet, score top with a sharp knife and cover with damp towel.  Let rest for about 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes (until it sounds hollow when tapped)
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            We are not babysitting today because Ella had a follow up mammogram done this morning.  Everything looked okay.
            We stopped at Sam’s Club and picked up bacon (I love the maple flavored bacon from Sam’s), some original V8 juice and a case of individual cans of assorted V8 Fusion.  I plan to drink more veggies!  I’ve put some pork ribs, drenched in Cookies BBQ Sauce, in the slow cooker and they are beginning to smell tempting.  The ribs are for supper and I have no idea what to fix for lunch – hmmm – maybe some grilled cheese on my home made bread!
            Sometime today I need to attach trailer to truck and move it ahead about three feet so that I can put a leveler board under one set of tires.  I was not going to level it since I planned to take it camping once before winter sets in.  Ella had wanted to get together a camping outing with son John and grandson Nate.  John has already winterized his trailer and I think Nate’s going to be busy enough now that he won’t want to go out either.  Therefore, I’m going to go ahead and get ours leveled up on our site in anticipation of skirting it with insulation for the winter months.