Life in the Bristolwood

Yeah, I thought so…

As Mark was going through bills and such today, he discovered that we had a rebate check for $30 that needed to be depostited today or it was VOID!  Argh!!  He asked me if I would mind running to Canandaigua to do “a few errands”. 

I went and got ready and was out the door shortly after one.  I got to the bank well before two, then drove over to Wegman’s to return an ocean full of soda bottles and cans.  I had two large trash bags full of bottles and cans that had been sitting in the garage for a very long time…Mark *gently* remarked that perhaps they needed to be recycled!

After feeding nearly ten dollars worth of recyclables into the hungry machines,  I grabbed a shopping cart and headed inside the store.  I love, love, love Wegman’s produce.  Their fruits and veggies far surpass any other grocers in the area.  I shopped around for awhile, then realized I was hungry.  I  hopped on over to the Chinese food and swooped up some Hot and Spicy Chicken, along with some Fried Green Beans. 

I hurried to the register to pay for my goodies, paper in hand from the bottle machine.  When it came time to pay, I completely forgot the paper and paid.  It was as I looked down for my keys that I realized I needed to redeem the slip of paper.  The cashier laughed and said she does the same thing all the time….she said she is always buying some stupid new item only because there is a coupon and then she forgets to redeem the coupon! Boy, did I feel better!

I rushed to the City Pier and ate my Chinese, watching the Coots, Mallards, and *suddenly* Bufflehead Ducks.  I shot a couple of photos of the ducks.   The water was so choppy and the wind so chilly, I decided to just stay inside the Explorer.

After lunch, I headed to the other side of Canandaigua to have two propane tanks for the grill filled.  Due to a case of daydreaming,  I way overshot my destination, so I took a few photos….

 Old barn (circa 1880) in color…..

And sepia…..

After filling the tanks, I shopped at WalMart (grabbing two roast chickens and a loaf of delicious French Bread for dinner!)  and then off to Big Lots for a jar of olives imported from Greece for Mark.  It was getting late and I knew I was going to be too tired to prepare dinner.

As I left Big Lots,  Ben called wanting to know if I could get him a “Slushy” from Hess.  I reluctantly headed to Hess and went inside to look for “the machine”.  No Slushy machine there. But, there was a drink called an “Avalanche”.  It comes in two flavors….Pepsi and Mountain Dew.

I  grabbed a cup and filled it up.  I turned to grab a lid for the drink and when I was about to place it on the drink,  I nearly shrieked! The drink had risen up a good two inches above the top of the cup! Argh!!! I began to giggle and “swipe” the excess drink off the top and into the runoff trough on the machine.  Being MUCH wiser, I filled another cup, allowing expansion room for the drink to rise.  I smiled as the lid easily snapped on!

I paid and rushed to the Explorer and headed home….As I drove, I made mental notes on the order of preparation for dinner.  Michelle helped me by heating the chickens  as I took a head of cabbage and grated it and made coleslaw.  Everything was ready to eat in fifteen minutes.

I expressed how tired I was and Mark snickered.  After all, he had already composed a NEW list of errands for tomorrow.  Top of the list?  A trip to Canandaigua!!!

Oh, did I mention that I also baked a loaf of Whole Wheat Walnut Bread this morning?  A very full day,  A very full day, indeed!

Last night, as soon as the kids’ company left,  I raced upstairs to lie down.  I could feel a tightening between my shoulders and a tension headache coming on.  Rather than taking medicine, I thought I would try to sleep.

When I awakened this morning, the headache was still there.  It has remained all day and it is annoying!

This morning, while I was talking to Michelle in her room, Mr. Nosy, aka “Murphy”,  came wandering in to see what we were doing.  I snapped a quick shot, and I really like this photo….

I had mentioned Michelle made Jacob a checkerboard cake.  I forgot to show a picture of the inside! It turned out quite nice, although the batter didn’t stay put!

I am rarely incapacitated by a headache, but I spent the entire day lying about today.  I feel like such a bum! I certainly hope tomorrow brings some energy and strength!

Even though I have decided that I REALLY need to slow things down a bit, with two teens in the house, I guess that just isn’t about to happen any time soon! Thus, Michelle sent me off to Canandaigua yesterday morning with a list of groceries to purchase.  She stayed home to clean, as her friends, Jacob and Jeffrey, were coming over later in the afternoon.

Mark didn’t go in for physical therapy yesterday, because he felt like he was coming down with a cold.  Trying to move about while sneezing and blowing his nose would only cause his efforts to seem worthless, so he cancelled.

I left the house and drove on to Canandaigua. And, you, dear reader, who have any inkling of what I do or am about, know that stopping lakeside was a prerequisite.  I pulled into a small parking lot and thought about getting out to take a few photos.  As soon as I began to open the door of the Explorer, a wicked gust of wind caught it and whipped it out of my hand.  I grabbed hold of the handle and yanked the door shut.  No way I was going out into that! Feeling a bit defeated, I leaned back on my seat and rolled my eyes.

Just then, a group of Canada Geese flew overhead.  I reached for the Panasonic camera at my side as I watched them looking as though they were also struggling against the wind to make headway!  Silly me….I snapped a photo through the glass.

I was about to delete this photo, but just turned the camera off and put it away.  I figured even if I had no pictures to show, I always have *something* to say on my blog, after all!  Now, I am really glad the photo was kept. It is very “artsy”   and I love the dark blue color from the band of dark glass at the top of the windshield!

I scurried off to Wegman’s and made my way through the aisles, picking up all the listed items.

I rushed to get home as quickly as I could.  Michelle had invited her friends to come at 3, and it was going to be after 2 before I got back home. 

As I drove along the road, I spotted some suspicious characters walking about….

I pulled over and took a few pictures and as the turkeys felt a bit threatened, they formed a line, single file, and walked away from me!

I carried all the groceries into the house and Michelle quickly fished out the eggs.  She had planned to bake Jacob a white and chocolate checkerboard cake for his birthday.  She rushed about and had two layers all baked by the time the two boys arrived.  She went to the garage, along with Ben, to play a game of Foosball.  I removed the last layer of cake when it was down.

 Michelle came in the house at about 4:30, and between cooking chicken lo mein for dinner for everyone, she decorated Jacob’s cake….

Wow! I could get used to someone else doing the cooking here! Michelle did a very nice job and everyone seemed to enjoy the lo mein.

I got a photo of the lit birthday cake before it was blown out….

But no photo of Jacob.  The boys stayed until about 9, and by that time, I was so tired! I thought I felt like I was catching a cold, too, but I guess I was just exhausted!

As I was going through the photos on my cards, I found this one I took last week of my Christmas Cactus. I had said I wasn’t going to take any more photos of it, but I loved this photo…the texture and color of the flower was pretty incredible!

The temperature today is still below freezing, but with no Arctic blasts of northerly winds blowing, it feels downright balmy out there!

I had made a comment that it is difficult to take Chrsitmas light photos, as there ar few lights displayed in the woods!

Last night, as we traveled home from Canandaigua, I took the high (partially dirt) road to our house.  As we drove along, I stopped the Explorer and asked Michelle to photograph the lights our neighbor has draped in the trees in front of her home.  You really need to look hard, as it was SO dark out!!  The camera’s sensor had a bit of trouble seeing in the dark….

We also spotted some really pretty lights at the Wegman’s Organic Farm barn. It is decked out in lots of greenery and white lights.   Again, I think the little camera had a bit of trouble “seeing” in the dark, as it was very, very dark!

We made up four batches of cookies today.  Lots of work, but lots and lots of cookies!!! One batch was sugar cookies in the shape of snowmen. They need to be decorated, but I think we were all very tuckered out after making and baking all those cookies! They will wait until tomorrow!

Carly and her kids came down to visit today, and what a day we had!

I was up and at it at 4:30 this morning.  We had gone shopping at Sam’s Club yesterday, to pick up many of the essentials needed for today’s “Thanksgiving” meal.   I decided to keep my photos to a minimum because:  a. GRRRRRR!!!! If I have one complaint on the Panasonic camera, it is that the mode selector, located on top of the camera,  slips into various modes with little persuasion. Panasonic would do well to lock the mode button in place, using a little slide or button so the camera doesn’t go off into another (UNselected) mode, causing terrible-looking photos! (case in point is below) and b. Carly got a new lens for her birthday and was checking it out. Therefore, I kept my mind on the food preparations!

The first photo features the brand-spanking new roaster pan I bought at Sam’s yesterday….no more mishaps with juices starting the oven on fire!

As you can see, the skin on the turkey has an unsavory yellow-look.  The bird did not appear yellow in person!

The meal consisted of: roast turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potato souffle,  homemade cranberry sauce, homemade butter cloverleaf rolls, stuffed mushrooms, green bean casserole, and broccoli cheese casserole. Oh, and I also made two pumpkin pies.  I was finishing up the dishes when Carly and the kids arrived. 

The kids had so much fun playing and just enjoying each other.  We sat down to eat at about 1:30, and Carly and I took the kids over to the park later.

Just as we arrived at the park,  so did a veritable snowstorm!

The winds howled, the snow blew about, and the kids laughed and giggled and had a remarkably fun time! I went down on the sled a few times and it was so fun! The kids reminded me of bear cubs, tumbling about and rolling on the ground.  Kids and snow were made for one another!

When Carly and the kids left, Michelle and Ben chatted on and on about how much they need to get together again!

Cindy, the piemaker, wanted to know if Miss M would come down and fill in for her while she and her husband went to church.  Of course!  I tagged along to observe the young lady, and to say I was impressed is a big understatement!

Within minutes of her arrival, she mixed up three batches (each batch makes about 25 full-sized pies) of dough and began rolling out pie bottoms.  As she rolled, Miss M suddenly decided that she needed to make up some baby pies. These are smaller pies.

Miss M worked so rapidly, my eyeballs began to spin!  Look at these nine baby pies! Five have a piecrust top and four have “crumb” tops…flour, butter and sugar….my favorite!

I watched this young lady work, and it really hit hard at how quickly she has grown up. 

Cindy and her husband arrived back home and Cindy was thrilled by Miss M’s progress. She confided that she rarely has to tell M what to do, as she surveys what is happening and just jumps in. 

Here is her reflection in one of the enormous stainless bowls they use.

My mother always had a distaste for parents bragging blatantly about their children, and truth be told, I guess I do, too.  I must say, however,  I was quite proud of this young lady as I sat quietly across from her, watching her move about with such confidence!

Oh, and I certainly know who can now help ME roll out the crusts for the pumpkin pies this Thanksgiving!

Every now and then, I will pick up a magazine….this seems to particularly happen in the summertime more than any other time of the year. I guess it is because we tend to be waiting in the truck for this or that, and it is easy to just grab the magazine and read a quick article without getting deeply involved. (I have a fit when interrupted while I am reading a book!)

A few weeks ago, I bought a cooking magazine that was filled with all sorts of summery fare. On the cover was a cake, created to look like a sea of water…..little cookie people, dressed in swimsuits garnished the cake and it was just so cute! Michelle said she would like to make something like that for a party.

Well, yesterday, Michelle had this terribly insane idea to put Murphy in the pool with her to see if or how he could swim.  Poor Murphy…..Scotties are NOT designed to swim, and although his little legs propelled him in a doggy-paddle, Michelle immediately sensed his stress and pulled him up to safety in her arms. She swaddled the soggy pup in a towel and told him how wonderful he is!

Afterward, we discussed getting doggy life vests. As Michelle talked about doggy PDF’s , (personal flotation devices) I laughed and told her she should make cookies with Scotties in PDF’s. She looked at me, seriously, and asked me to make up a batch of dough.

I made the dough right away, tucking it into the fridge. After we returned from the great kayak adventure, Michelle rolled out and baked 45 Scottie dog cookies. This morning, she went to work on decorating…..

Have you ever seen such cute cookies?

Oh, and by the way, Michelle contends she can NOT cook nor bake!

So, did that title catch your eye? And, I know….daisies have nothing to do with the bread post, but I found this cluster growing not too far from the house and they were just so pretty, I had to photograph them!

Several years ago, I joined one of those book clubs. I actually joined two….one for craft books, including knitting books and soap-making books, and the other was a cooking book club.  I bought several books from each, and, as so often happens, the books got shuffled aside and the bread machine books I had purchased wound up in a big plastic tub. 

As I was looking through the plastic tubs in the closet the other day, I discovered two bread machine cookbooks!  I took the largest book out to quickly browse through it…..as I looked, I suddenly found myself hungering, hankering…..for bread!  I made a list of some of the ingredients I might need from a few recipes and tucked the book aside.

As I thought about posting this entry on my blog today. I looked for the title Bread Machine by Jennie Shapter,  only to discover this book is out of print.  If, however, you can find a copy of it, I highly recommend this book! (I also discovered it was previously published as The Ultimate Bread Machine Book. )

This book is filled with all types of exotic and delicious recipes. The recipes mostly use the machine only to mix and proof the dough, with some work ahead in the form of shaping and baking…..however, I think the work is well worth it!

As I looked through the book, one of the recipes that caught my eye was for Multigrain Onion Rolls.  Since I have discovered the marvelous Kitchen Aid Food Processor I bought, along with my terrific Bosch stove that has a “proofing” mode,  my bread machine is now sitting on a shelf in the basement. (one of these days, it needs to find a home!) 

The first step in making the rolls was to lightly brown a large onion, chopped, in 2 tablespoons of butter. Seeing the picture of the onions in the skillet is what really caught my eye!  It was funny, as Mark looked through the book later,  he commented he had no idea how I picked that recipe! (apparently he isn’t as onion-addicted as I!)

So, here are my rolls as they debuted this afternoon for lunch. (served with my Broccoli-Cheese soup I made as the rolls finished up)

I only wish you could taste these rolls….they are so light and delicious!!! They really do not have a strong onion flavor at all, but are quite savory!

The kids really loved these rolls and late this afternoon, Michelle wondered aloud how they would work for hamburgers!

Tada! The recipe made a dozen rolls and we still have four or five left. 

Can’t wait to make my next recipe!!! The one downside to my baking escapade was when I accidentally “chopped” the tip of my thumb while chopping onions! Oops! 

 Chris, over in Scotland,  bakes sourdough bread and got me excited about making some of my own.  I had a bowl of starter sitting on the counter, and when I cut my thumb,  I waved my hand, causing the starter to tip and spill out of the bowl!  I was so disappointed, but there is enough to still make some bread. I am thinking that  it will work out, as I had stirred the starter only about half an hour before.  I will probably toss out the rest of the starter, as I am unsure how to replenish it, but the book mentioned above has a recipe for sourdough starter, using no yeast. (the recipe for the bread states that the airborne  yeast spores will cause the flour and water mix to ferment…perhaps because of the use of organic flour?)

 I still have a couple more days before the previous starter is ready, so this is like a great adventure in baking!!! Stay tuned!

Oh, and by the way….I was bragging about the fabulous book, NOT my skills! I hardly would qualify as a “baker”….I am just so excited!

Since the weather refuses to cooperate and become a bit warmer….sunnier…whatever…..

I have decided that with the United States holiday called Memorial Day coming up on Monday, I would share a recipe. “THE” recipe, from Land O Lakes. If, perchance, you are going on a picnic, (the weather this weekend looks like we will be hopping from November chills to July }}}heat{{{!) or, if you would love to razzle-be-dazzle a chocolate lover-in-your-life, this recipe is for you! Mark says it seriously is “over the edge”!

Fudgy Candy Topped Brownies

• 3/4 cup margarine (I only buy butter, so butter it is at our house!)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1- 12 ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt (I never, ever add salt, but it is in the recipe)
• 2/3 cup coarsely chopped peanut butter cups

Heat oven to 350 degrees, Fahrenheit. Place margarine and sugar into large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH until mixture just starts to boil; stir until well-mixed. Add 1 cup of the chocolate chips and stir until melted. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing well. Add flour, baking powder and salt and mix well. Stir in remaining chocolate chips.

Pour batter into ungreased 8″ square baking pan. (I use a round 8″ cake pan since I have no square pan!) Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs. Sprinkle chopped peanut butter cups evenly on hot brownies. Cool completely before cutting.

***Now, since I don’t often happen to have peanut butter cups sitting around the house, I made these yesterday and decided to “improvise” with some chocolate/peanut butter frosting. I melted about 1 tablespoon butter, along with 1/4 cup peanut butter, and 1/4 cup chocolate chips. (cocoa powder would also work in place of the chips) I then beat this by hand, mixing in enough confectioner’s sugar to make a stiff frosting. I then added 1 teaspoon vanilla and thinned it a bit more with some milk. To say that this frosting was just as good as the candy is by no means an understatement. I guess perhaps the candy would look a bit more impressive for a special gift.

So, there you have it~

Now, for those of us who take our camera everywhere….

I walked down to the mailbox shortly after noon. As I grabbed the Nikon, I thought to myself, you had better switch out lenses…..put on the long lens.  Feeling in a hurry (will I EVER slow down???) I just left the lens on that was already there.

I got all the way down to the mailbox when I heard an Indigo Bunting singing just as sweetly as could be. It was across the street, in a bush. I whistled as I walked over with the camera poised. The little bird looked so tiny, and it just sat there, singing beautifully! I snapped several photos. And, not ONE of them is any good. DRAT!

Here is my beautiful Fuchsia, instead!

This evening, the kids went to a church youth group with one of their friends. Since Canandaigua wasn’t too far away, Mark and I drove on up to the city.

As we drove northward, what should catch our sight, but this brightly-colored balloon! We don’t think we have ever seen one flying about this time of the year before. And just look at that sky!