Food for today and food for the future

I sit here now with the sun streaming in behind me. This seat gets pretty hot in the afternoon. Too hot... laundry calls. The air is cooling outside.

Back...

Today was a general domestic day. I baked some raisin bread (click for the recipe). It was as good as it looks! Sorry to torment the dieters and daughters on foreign soil ; )


While it was rising, I sorted some cupboards... the pantry, the baking pans, etc. I love the idea of a house-husband, but I do wish he'd apply his usual perfectionism to my cupboards. I think it's a mental block with him. Dough hooks do not go with the serving spoons. They go in the drawer with the baking tools!

I spent some time potting around in the 'garden'. Jurgis was going to make some planters, but we don't have enough materials, so that's not going to happen. I did make some seedling starters though.


The bolts are there to stop them rolling off. My seeds are ancient, so I'm not sure if they'll germinate, but I won't know if I don't try. I labelled the bottles, as you can see. Hm.... let's see... lemon balm (my all-time favourite herb), catnip (an essential), German chamomile, Swiss chard (I miss that stuff), green beans (why was the seed bright pink??), peas and one more attempt at gem squash.


See the hi-tech closing device? Nifty, huh?

 

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Star light, star bright

Photo credit goes to Alec Kennedy. I suspect he is not the creator of the site, but I found the site informative anyway.
On a clear night, when I lie in bed and angle my head to look up out the window, I look straight at the Southern Cross. For me, it is very appropriate that the top star of the Southern cross is named Theta Carina. I don't know much on the subject of astronomy, but I do know that the bottom star is brightest and perfect for wishing on : )

We're far from any decent bakeries. Oh there is a bakery at Walmart, but the bread is dry and not nice. There is another bakery, Cepam, but you pay through your nose and the bread isn't great. So... I'm finally back to bread baking. I got myself some bread pans at the dollar store (I nearly fainted when I saw the price of pans at Walmart) and we're baking every second day. I say 'we', as Jurgis is perfect for kneading dough! The finished result was light, fresh, filling, tasty.... need I go on? This photo is an old one. I'm too lazy to haul out the camera and I really should be hauling out my sewing machine instead.


Life is not all perfect though. The cats are annoying us beyond belief. The one, in particular, sits outside our front door crying all day... an insistent, persistent, wail. I'm angry about this. The cats, for street cats, are totally dependant on being fed... totally! The woman who lived here tamed them and fed them regularly, even trying fresh meat on them, which they rejected, apparently. You should have seen how they ran up to her when she came here. She left them because they're 'street cats', but not before she'd had them spayed. Now we've inherited the problem. There's a good reason I only have one cat. As it is, we feed a lot of animals. Pet food is not cheap here. She had the cats spayed, but not dewormed, obviously. To me, they were her pets. What if the people who moved in were cat haters who'd maltreat them?

"Many of you have forgotten this truth but you must never forget it: you remain responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Tat is online! Properly! Or as 'properly' as WiFi let's one be online. Yay!

Ok, now I need to get my sewing machine out. I have some unexpected time off. One student cancelled out completely (financial problems) and another cancelled just today due to unforeseen circumstances. It's the kid and she'll put the class back, so that is good.

 

del.icio.us Tags: stars,cats,southern cross,bread

Lazy hazy Sunday

The sky is blue today, scattered with fluffs of clouds, drifting along. The air is warm and mellow. I doubt it will stay that way. Chasing the fluffy white clouds are some heavier ones, but we will enjoy this while it's here.

Jorge was outside finishing off my latest chopping board. The photo of him woodworking is from last year when he was making our biltong box, but the scene is virtually identical. Jorge is incredibly good at woodwork and he loves doing it. He's limited here because of the weather and having no under cover place to do it. I have often said he could make a living out of his woodwork, though it has brought in a fair amount of pocket money. The trouble with Jorge is that the moment his hobby starts earning, he loses interest. It's no longer fun then.

The chopping boards get bigger and more decorative with every one he makes. This board must weigh all of 5kg (11lb). It's huge! I'll sneak outside and take a photo in a minute.
The wood is Ipé fumaça, one of the Ipé family. Ipé is a protected tree here. It's rare to see one in the city. Isn't the tree beautiful? We seldom get our wood from dealers, though this piece was bought by Jorge. He usually finds his wood in hoppers or demolition sites.



I had a chuckle at Romany while I was out there. He likes nothing more than to sleep in the sawdust at the foot of Jorge's 'workbench', regardless of the noise of the machinery going on overhead. I went to take a photo and he had no intention of moving an inch. I prodded him with my foot and all I got was a yawn... so a yawn is just what you're getting. Tat said he looked like roadkill. I personally think he looks like he's having a laugh at our expense.



There! I have christened my new chopping board. The bread I baked came out beautifully. We miss 'real' bread here. We only get bread rolls that are crusty and pure air on the inside. This bread is sooo easy to bake. I have the recipe up. It didn't come out too badly considering I don't have bread pans. Excuse me now if you please... I'm off to steal another slice. I worked off a lot of calories kneading that lot, you know ; )

Gosh, this house is lined in sawdust!