A story from the past... 16º

SNOWBOUND... I wrote this story a few years ago, how different Christmas was in the 50's...

A winter wonderland, that’s how I felt about it.  A move to McCall Idaho in December of 1950, when I was eight years old landed me right in the middle of this snowy paradise.  Snow falling daily, wind-blowing, roads drifted closed so that a team and bob sleigh was, at times, our only transportation.  It was like a dream, and made me think of all the songs about winter and sleigh rides.

  Our team of horses Bert and Dick were gentle and hard working.  With just a flick of the reins they turned left or right, walked slow or changed to a trot, they did exactly what my Daddy wanted, without him ever saying a word.  Morning and night the sleigh was loaded with hay to feed the cattle, with me holding the reins, while hay was thrown onto fresh, sparkling snow.  The cattle, steam rising from their warm bodies came running and bawling after us to get the first bite of hay.  Back at the barn the horses had to be unharnessed, brushed and fed.  I soon learned that I could help by walking under the horse's belly unsnapping and loosening the harness so we could get our chores finished and into our warm house for the breakfast or supper that Mom always had ready.

 More beautiful than ever was our Christmas tree that year.  Could it have been, because Daddy hitched up the team and with everyone bundled up against the cold wind, our breath visible in the air we found, cut and hauled the tree home?  Then Mom used her special magic, with a few treasured ornaments, strings of lights and icicles carefully placed to make it the tree, that every year we tried to duplicate. 

Christmas Eve a few packages were under the tree and our stockings were hung.  We didn’t have fancy matching stockings for everyone; instead Mom would get stockings from Dad’s dresser, one for each of us.  We used his because they were the largest, and would hold more candy and nuts, with a banana or orange sticking out the top...continued...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

This tree is similar to

our tree, I borrowed it

off the internet.

Holiday bazaars, lunches, music and more...28º 1/2 " of snow.

Bobi and I went to the first bazaar of the season in Joseph, the day after Thanksgiving...My first bazaar in many, many years...It was overwhelming, my mind, brain can't take it all in, the noise, crowds, and everything from homemade to made in china...I saw, spoke to a few people that I know and probably look over or past several others, as my eyes glazed over and my mind shut down...Bobi bought me a tiny pin for my coat, it says "Hello, I'm going to cry."..We left shortly thereafter. 

Many years ago I would have been waiting in line to get in the door and even for a few years, I set up a booth and sold homemade Christmas tree ornaments and hand dipped chocolates...Now i'm very satisfied to stay home, make my chocolates and share them with family and special friends.

Pam and I went to a soup luncheon yesterday, food was good and the noise level not bad...I hope to attend at least one music event because I do like Christmas songs...I will put up the little tree, that Herb made years ago, and Rusty and I will have a quiet holiday, here on Barton Heights, friends welcome! Hugs To All...OWAV:)

3 Good Years...very dark, cloudy, I think. 37º

 Today will be a wrap-up of our successful bread making/baking/selling adventure...We sailed through our 2nd year and had some help along the way...Cienna came for a visit and was a great asset to the market, she knew about "markets," after helping her Mom at the Tigard market for a few years...She was friendly, good at carrying on a conversation with friends or strangers and Papa usually bought kettle corn for the two of them to snack on...It was a fun addition to our usual summer visit.

In September that year, a family reunion was being held inTwin Falls and we decided to make the trip...Rusty, Bobi and Cienna arrived in Joseph a few days before, so we could visit and also Bobi had been to the coast and picked up fresh tuna for us to can/jar...So mid week found Herb and I doing the bread routine and Bobi and Rusty jarring tuna...Our kitchen is quite small, especially if you add 4 adults, 1 child, and 3 dogs...Luckily the weather was warm and the pressure cooker was setup outside...Cienna managed the dogs, keeping them outside, most of the time, and the rest of us "danced" around the kitchen, utility room, living room, and deck, trying to stay out of each others way.

Total for that week, was about 75 1/2 pints of tuna, our usual 40 loaves of bread, market ready...We made it to the market on time, and on Friday we drove to Twin Falls for the reunion and returned home Sunday, exhausted but happy.

The third year, I decided to do the market every other week, it was a good way to end our adventure...We were tired, we had a great time, we left on a high note...I still love making bread...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

My Mom's pressure

cooker, very old.

Bread Making Adventure...40º Cloudy

 Scrolling through hundreds of photos this morning I finally found the one I looked for yesterday...I didn't have an iPhone/camera or a laptop, back in 2007, only a cannon power shot for photos and I took way more photos of flower gardens and family gatherings, than I did of food...Maybe if I go through a shoe box full of "real photos" for 2007, 08, 09. I will find one of our "bread booth."

Continuing on with my story...Herb and I both became "professionals" in our specific jobs...I mixed, kneaded and baked the bread...He bagged, added labels, arranged in boxes (being careful not to mash the fresh loaves) and loaded them into the truck, on top of the canopy, tables and signage for our booth.

Arriving at the courthouse lawn in Enterprise, we quickly unloaded and Herb masterminded setting up the canopy...I would have been out of luck without him on this process...It took both of us to make it all work...I soon found out on our initial day, that giving away samples, sold the bread and cookies, so I had pre sliced a loaf of bread and cut a couple of cookies, to entice people to have a bite!..I'm a sucker for "free sample," so figured others would be also, I was right.

Normally people walk through markets, eyes straight ahead, glancing left and right, only occasionally, making eye contact, but as soon as I said, "Would you like a free sample?" I had them hooked, the bread flew off of the table.

Occasionally we had a few loaves left over, sometimes we exchanged with the other vendors, a loaf of bread for a pkg. of ground beef or a pkg. of salad greens...Other times we brought the bread home to share with friends or freeze...I might get a call on the weekend, "Della, we are having guests over for dinner on Sunday, do you have a loaf of bread in the freezer?"..."Yes, I do and I can slice it and wrap it in foil, so all you have to do is warm it in the oven, pick it up anytime."..We never sold "freezer bread" at the next market...It was made fresh every week.  Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Loaves cooling

Looking Back...Breezy, Balmy 49º

 As I pulled out my Bosch mixer yesterday to made an extra large batch of bread, it reminded me of years ago, about 2007, when I read in the local newspaper that Beth Gibbons was starting a "Farmers Market" and looking for vendors.

Herb and I had been retired since 1994/95, spent some years traveling in our RV, tending to our property here on Barton Heights and helping to care for my mom, who passed away in 2005...I must have been looking for something to do in my spare time, when I picked up the phone, dialed Beth and said, "Do you want a bread vendor in the market?" Dead silence, then, "Are you serious?"

That was the start of a 3 year run, (summer months) when Herb and I made and sold 40 loaves of bread a week...I had given no thought to what this would entail, I just knew that I liked making bread and had many years of practice at my job in the Joseph School cafeteria...So I could do this and Herb was will to come along for the ride...He would do the heavy stuff!

I soon found out that my kitchen-aid mixer would only make 5 loaves at a time and my aim was 20 loaves to take to the market...To start I mixed a batch in the mixer, another by hand and then did a repeat...Our first market day soon arrived, Herb loaded the back of the pickup, with a card table and the bread, we set up our "booth." and sold our 20 loaves in about 3 hours...The next week we bought a canopy, a 5 foot table and I was trying to figure out how I could make 40 loaves...A new mixer was in my future...The Bosch mixer would do 10 loaves in each batch.

We settled into a routine of making 20 loaves on Wednesday, and 20 on Thursday morning and arrived at the 3pm market with warm loaves, selling them first...I set up samples of the 2 kinds of bread, "Oma's Grainy Bread," whole wheat with seeds and the other choice, with raisin/craisins...We later added bread pretzels, with honey, that was a disaster, and finally settled on extra large, carrot cake cookies as an addition...Hugs to All...OWAV:) To be continued

Not the market bread.

More food and activities for Thanksmas...29º Breezy

It is breezy and cold this morning but we are lucky to live in the corner of Oregon, away from the bigger cities and freeways...I 84 seems to be closed, off and on, anywhere from Ontario to Baker City, to LaGrande, to Pendleton every time we get a storm. Mountain passes, semis, black ice, fog, freezing rain, seem to be the major causes...Thankfully we don't have to travel out of the county or even in county as we do have slick roads, and windy conditions, to deal with.

Continuing with our celebration, "stuffing/dressing" is always on the menu...Bobi makes her special stuffing adapted from a recipe off of the internet, it is so yummy...Artisan Bread is the base, onions, celery, broth, artichokes, Italian sausage, parmesan cheese and sage...We ate it for dinner with leg of lamb, had leftovers for breakfast with a soft cooked egg on top, and all by itself as a bedtime snack.

Artichoke, Sausage, Stuffing

Most celebrations find us working on a jigsaw puzzle...I bought one at a yard sale this summer that I thought would be good, didn't realize is was twice as big as we usually do, 1000 pieces instead of 500...Bobi got it started, Pam helped a bit, I mostly looked at it, but found it mind boggling, (not as easy as the ones I do on my computer) it wasn't nearly as much fun without Cienna here with her bubbly personality added to the mix...Bobi almost got it finished before leaving for Portland and Rusty finished it up...It is now crumbled up and put away in its box, think we will pass it on to some unsuspecting people at Christmas time...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

PS..For puzzle enthusiasts, this is a Portofino puzzle. 

Breaking Daylight...23º, high of 30º, cloudy/snowy

Light enough outside that I see a dusting of snow and the forecast says more could be on its way...Almost anything is better than the dense fog that enveloped our valley last week...It is bone chilling cold! 

Even in the fog, Bobi braved the cold, to take the lid off of the hot tub, where the two of us could soak away our aches and pains...We enjoyed soaking several mornings at dawn, nothing better than our view of the mountains as, on some mornings, the fog lifted and receded back to Enterprise.

Hot tubbing was a major source of entertainment for many years here on Barton Heights...In the late 80's, Herb and I purchased a 6 person hot tub and enjoyed it for many years...It was Cienna's own personal "swimming pool," when she visited us winter or summer...We took a family photo, Gramma Blanche, included, all of us in the hot tub and sent it that year for our "Christmas Card."..Pam and I spent many evenings soaking under the stars, mountain view, with a glass of wine and a floating bowl of popcorn to share...The last few years that I worked, found me soaking at 5am, a life saver for me as I struggled with vertigo...Eventually we place an ad on FB, free hot tub, you haul.

Two years ago, when Rusty moved back, he answered an ad on FB and we now have a cozy two person hot tub, for soaking and viewing the mountain on starlit nights/mornings...Hugs to All...OWAV:)