Friday Wrap Up

 Good Morning!

How are you?  I'm doing so very well - no work today and I slept until 7 a.m.!  Woo-Hoo.  Bonus is there is a bit of sun out there.  Not sure how long that will last as rain is in the forecast.  but for now I will enjoy it.

When I came downstairs and opened the living room shades, I discovered that the lemon that had been growing on the lemon tree was no longer in place.  It had fallen off overnight.  There is another group of buds ready to open though, so perhaps another lemon will form (fingers crossed).

Last night I made another new-to-us dish.  Butternut Squash Curry!  Cooking in the pot:

And served over jasmine rice:

Colorful, flavorful and very, very filling.  I used this recipe and it is fast and easy.  I started cooking around 5:15 p.m. and we were sitting down to eat just after 6 p.m.

That is 5 new recipes this week!  Also I planned everything out so that we did not over-buy at the grocery store.  I'm so good at picking up way too many fresh veggies because they all look good and then we don't use them all quickly enough.  We also have enough leftovers in the frig for 3 more dinners (unless Fletch goes into some of them for lunches...).

Today we are heading to Ikea mid-morning.  I have not been to the store in a couple of years, but our wine glasses have been steadily breaking and I know Ikea has decent, cheap ones.  I alwys enjoy wandering through Ikea's kitchen area and they also have fun plants sometimes.  Plus, we can walk around a bit and not feel like we've missed out on a walk if it does rain later.  Then we plan to go out to lunch.  

I plan to spend the afternoon knitting/stitching/reading and just taking it easy.  If it does rain, I may need to curl up with my book under a blanket and perhaps doze a little!  I do love a good nap.

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Cuban Bread

 Hello Friends!

Monday when I posted about the weekend and mentioned making Cuban Bread, Kim in Oregon said she hoped I would share the recipe.  Today seems like a good day.  Here's the picture (again) from Sunday's baking:

The bread has a very good crust and a nice, chewy interior.  It is good plain.  Good slapped with butter.  Good toasted.  Good dipped in EVOO or some kind of soup.  It's good any way you choose.  It's bread!  So yummy!!

Cuban Bread

• 5-6 Cups of flour
• 2 TBS sugar
• 2 TBS yeast
• 1 TBS salt
• 2 C Hot Water

Put the HOT water in a large bowl.  Sprinkle the yeast on top and let it sit for a few minutes.  Meanwhile, mix together 4 cups of flour with the salt and sugar.

Pour that flour mixture onto the yeasty water and beat for 100 strokes.  Add the remaining flour (a little at a time - I only needed one more cup) and knead for 8 minutes (adding additional flour as you knead to keep it from sticking to you or the surface on which you are kneading).  cover with a towel and let it rise for 15 minutes.

Punch it down; divide and shape into two round loaves.  Set the loaves on a greased upside down cookie sheet and cut an X on the top of each loaf.

Place in a COLD oven - do NOT preheat the oven.  Place a pan of shallow water under the rack.  Turn the oven on to 400 and bake for approximately 50 minutes.

That's it!  Easy peasy and so tasty.  We are, in fact, having it again tonight along with grilled sausage and a green bean casserole.

On another note, I can't remember if I mentioned or not, but the two lemons forming on our lemon tree fell off!  I found them both on the floor.  But, now the tree is blooming again (and is so fragrant!), so I'm hoping for at least one more lemon to form.

Time for me to get to work!  Have a wonderful Thursday.

Lemons and a Cat

 Good Morning my Friends,

October is winding down.  Yesterday was extremely windy and many of the crepe myrtle leaves are now on the ground.  Also the leaves of the red bud.

Funny about the crepe myrtle.  Fletch walked around it in the morning trying to get a good picture and noticed that on the street side (northern exposure) the leaves appeared golden (which is how I remember it from prior years).  This year, however, the side facing the house is the brilliant red - the side that gets more sun.

In the same vein I was commenting yesterday that our wisteria vine is still very green.  I thought I remembered it turning a coppery gold in the Fall.  Looking out our back bedroom window, I noticed that the top of the wisteria is brillian red!  Again, that is the patch that gets the Eastern sun.

Meanwhile, I want to show you that we now have two lemons growing on our lemon tree!  What excitement!!  

Obviously very small still, but fun.  Remember the other year we had one growing.  It fell off before ripening, but I put it on the buffet with other fruit and it gradually ripened and we used it (if I remember correctly, I used it on some salmon) and it was really good.  So, now I'm hoping for two that will mature and ripen.

And, just because it's Friday, here is a picture of Mabel this morning.  She had come in to have some breakfast and then I didn't see her.  She was curled up on one of the kitchen chairs...yawning and dozing away.  Now she is back out romping in the yard with the visiting deer!

My 10 a.m. conference call has been cancelled.  I have a call at 1 and another at 2, but I'm pretty sure I'm finished with all the bonus calculations.  Thank goodness!

And with that, I will wish you all a Happy Weekend!