Advent of Spring...38º

A few warmer days this week followed by snow showers next week, typical spring for Wallowa County...The crocus and daffodils are slowly making their way through the mulch put down last fall, with a few blooms showing.

Wednesday, Pam and I had a "girls day out" in LaGrande...I had a visual field exam scheduled at the eye doctors, which took only about a half hour total...The rest of the day was ours to spend shopping, browsing, eating and talking...We chose the Thai restaurant  for our lunch and enjoyed it very much and both brought home doggie bags...It was a fun relaxing day, doing some catch up, as Pam had been out of town.

I was back in water therapy this week, only a few people in the pool, making it a relaxing time...Today I will spend the morning, picking up, cleaning etc, with a break helping with the food alliance program around noon...Visited my friend Margaret yesterday afternoon...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Food Alliance...27º

A couple of months ago, on a whim, I volunteered to help with a program (through Community Connection) called "Food Alliance."...I believe it started in Enterprise, when almost outdated groceries (mostly bread from Safeway) was displayed at the senior meal site, for people to take home free...No income guidelines were in place...Actually this practice was in place several years ago and just recently became affiliated with "Food Alliance," and now is set up for 3 days a week in Enterprise, and 2 days a week in Joseph and Wallowa...The food from (Safeway/Albersons) now consists of meat (frozen before the sell by date), prepackaged salads, and breads...All things about ready to expire, free to people from all walks of life, no income guidelines...All you have to do is show up, wait in line, and choose a set number of items from the products displayed...After a slow start in Joseph (where I volunteer) the program started one day a week and has grown to 2 days a week...Some days we have a lot of food available, other days not so much...All food that is not given away is given to the local food bank for distribution...To be continued as I volunteer on Friday and promise to take photos...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Taken a few weeks ago.

Long Weekend...25º

Saturday brought early morning storms, internet problems, an empty house...The quiet always seems good but then becomes overwhelming as Herb and I settle back into our routine...The "Girls," had sheets off their beds, the car loaded, sewing stuff all put away, breakfast eaten and on the road by 9am...Cienna took the departing "selfie" as the sun peaked out, cold wind blew and snow flakes swirled around our heads...We didn't worry too much about getting the photo just right and soon they were pulling out of the driveway, 6/7 hours on the road to reach home in Portland...Herb did some laundry, I rearranged the fridge, trying to decide which leftovers to keep and what to throw...Reuben sandwiches were on the dinner menu...Internet back on but didn't want to connect, so I put a call in to Apple and they resolved our problem...Hard to believe how much our life revolves around the Internet, as we read books, peruse facebook, google stuff and play games.

March 2018

Sunday was another sunny but cold day, Herb worked on the weeks laundry and I played in the kitchen...Have been wanting to try my hand at tamales for some time now, so seemed like the perfect opportunity...I had researched on the Internet, picked Bobi's brain about how she did it...Assembling all the ingredients and prepping was the most time consuming (until I got to the steaming part) and the assembly was messy!..I put the first two in a small pan, steamed them for an hour, for Herb and I to try...They tasted good so I finished up with more for us to eat and a dozen in the big pan, steaming away for future meals...I only made half of the batch of corn masa dough and two flavors of tamales, (some turkey and a few mushroom and cheese...I will do a full batch next time, now that I know a bit about the project...I used parchment paper to roll them in and twisted both ends, so not your typical tamale, but covered with homemade salsa, topped with sour cream, they made a good dinner...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Turkey/cheese/cilantro/spices

ready to roll.

Ready for the steamer.

Steamed and ready to eat.

Unwrapped, covered with salsa and sour cream,

they were very tasty!

More Busy Days...27º

Yesterday saw the girls doing more sewing, scratching their heads, trying to get the bean bag chair to shape up...Although it is still in the "flat, oblong, shape" it needed to have a straight side and sort of square corners, before they add Velcro closures and sew the final seam...They will add the stuffing after they get back home in Portland.

While they were busy I prepped food for our dinner of shrimp fetticini, over home made pasta and salad and made a small batch of sour dough bread...I left the cream sauce for Bobi to make and with the two of us in the kitchen, it all came together quickly and like most meals that take hours of prep, we ate it, in a matter of minutes...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Shrimp ready to saute.

Pasta before cooking

Butter and garlic for cream sauce

Sour dough bread

Busy Days...43º

Breakfast was a combination of eggs and leftover sliders, made into a "scramble," toast and fruit on the side...We stayed at the breakfast table as Cienna related adventures from her recent solo trip back to Thailand (the country of her Rotary exchange 4 years ago )...She filled in details of visits and excursions with friends (mostly rotary), her overnight stay at the elephant sanctuary, reconnecting with host families and last, spending 5 days at a beach town before flying home...She had traveled by bus, van, taxi (car and scooter) navigating her own way...She talks with confidence and poise.

I love hearing her voice as she tells her stories, but we have other things to accomplish in the 5 days that they are spending in Joseph...I put a corned beef in the crock pot and we make a trip to Enterprise and the grocery store...Back home "the girls" resume their beanbag chair project, again cutting, sewing, serging and pressing...Late afternoon our late St. Patrick's day dinner is ready...We then retire to the living room and relax while Cienna shows us the photos of her Thailand trip and tells more about that adventure...Our nightly card playing ends the evening and we are ready for an early bedtime...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

PS The project is coming together, only two more days.

Putting together the pieces

Another view

Debating

Trust me, it will work.

Mango Delight...34º

Tuesday morning found Cienna in the kitchen whipping up her latest dessert...Champagne mangos bought at bargain prices needed to be peeled and sliced...We had them on a fruit plate alongside Thai/Basil chicken for dinner and again for breakfast with french toast made with Challah Bread...What to do with the rest of them?...How about Mango/Lime cheese cake.

It is delicious.

While Cienna was in the kitchen, Bobi and I were upstairs going through boxes of old jeans looking for just the right ones for another project that Cienna and Bobi are working on...Cienna ended her gap year early...She is enrolled at Oregon State for spring term, moves into her dorm on April 1st and starts another adventure...For the past month Bob and Ci have been shopping for bedding, furniture, etc for the dorm room...Instead of buying a "bean bag" chair they found a pattern and are making one out of old jeans...So now we have fabric pieces scattered throughout the house and a path from the kitchen to bedroom, to upstairs...The sewing machine and Bob's serger are humming away...Pictures will be posted tomorrow.

We played cards last evening, Cienna the big winner at "5 Crowns" and Papa and Bobi winning at "Hand and Foot."..Due to unforeseen circumstances Rusty has delayed his trip to Joseph until a later date...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Monthly Update...39º

I have a feeling that I will be very irritated at myself for not writing in my blog more often...I love looking back at my old posts as they bring back memories that would be forever lost, if I had not written them down...So be it drivel, blathering, nonsense or photos, I aim to do better!

With the imminent arrival of our family this week, I got in the baking mood...Nothing puts me in the baking mood like cleaning, sorting and rearranging dust upstairs, like I did last week...I would much rather cook than clean...So this week I baked molasses cookies, oatmeal raisin/chocolate chip cookies, ate two (that's a record for me) and froze 6 dozen...After reading the book "Stir," that has many Jewish recipes, Challah (hallah) bread jumped out at me...The basic dough ingredients are very similar to my dinner roll recipe but with a different outcome...I actually followed the recipe almost to the letter, mixed the ingredients, let it "rest 30 minutes, then "folded" (not kneaded) it 8 times," repeated this step four more times...Covered it tightly and refrigerated it overnight...Yesterday morning I divided the cold lump of dough into 6 even pieces, rolled them into 14" long rolls and braided 3 strands (rolls) each, into two loaves...Let them rise for about 3 hours, before baking.

Second Braid

                      My first braid                                                    

My first loaf seemed loosely braided, so I tightened the second one that I thought made a prettier loaf, but in the end they both looked lovely and tasted sublime...Herb and I devoured 1/2 loaf in record time...I have no idea what Challah is supposed to taste like and think mine needs to be a bit lighter, maybe, maybe not...I'm thinking that day old it would make incredible french toast.

Since I was on a "roll" I mixed a batch of my basic dinner rolls, added flax meal and made 24 slider buns...I weighed each one, keeping them at about 2 ounces per roll, they raised nicely and looked perfect, maybe just a bit larger than the ones in the store...Since I had been busy all morning and not given a thought to what we might eat for dinner (besides Challah) I cooked a couple of hamburger patties, sliced onion, tomato, dill pickle, slathered the buns with blue cheese dressing and we dined on gourmet hamburgers for dinner!

Slider rolls (different dough)

Now we have added 1 and 1/2 loaf of Challah and 22 slider buns to the cookies in the freezer...Let the festivities begin...Bobi and Cienna arrive tomorrow, Rusty on Wednesday...Looks like we have a snowy week ahead, so more cooking, sewing, laughing, eating is on the agenda...I will keep you posted...Hugs To All...OWAV:)