Tuesday Baking, Birds, and Other Things

I am a little tired this morning. It’s my own fault, though. I discovered a documentary on Hulu last night on Margaret Atwood. I knew it was too late to start it, but reason does not always prevail in my world these days. I admire her as both a writer and an activist. Her power of keen observation and the way she applies that observation to her work is something I must be careful not to envy too much. I guess we must all have that one author that pulls us in.

Speaking of authors and writing, I logged onto my library account last night and put two ebooks on hold: Becoming by Michelle Obama and Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. One I plan to read with my friend Lauren as an ‘online book club’ and one was recommended by my friend Molly. I have not done much reading during this pandemic so it will be nice to settle in and read some.

When I woke this morning I was excited to see an email from King Arthur Flour. My flour finally shipped! I have 5 pounds of all purpose white and 5 lbs of all purpose wheat flour on the way! I managed to buy SAF instant-yeast from an online store – Waffle Pantry. So, I once again feel comfortable about baking some bread.

Yesterday I made a single 9” layer cake. You may remember I wanted to try and recreate a cake my grandmother used to make. She made a one-egg cake with a black walnut and brown sugar glaze. I was able to find a couple of recipes online I felt like trying and I must say, it turned out pretty darn close! The cake is unbelievably moist and the taste of the black walnuts took me back to my childhood. It is amazing what memories our senses can trigger. Black walnuts have a very distinct and earthy taste — they truly are one of the tastes that whisk me back to another place and time.

These are the recipes I used if you want to try either of them for yourself:

Easy One Bowl Yellow Cake
Broiled Nut Icing

Let’s talk AirPods. I love using them if we ever need to go out because it reduces my need to touch my phone. Siri will read me my text messages and send me text messages and even make calls for me, all with my phone in my purse. Last week I opened the case and dropped one on the floor. It bounced, then disappeared. I was so confused. Well, I got down on my knees in the kitchen and discovered there was a space under the cabinets on the back of our kitchen island. Frustrated, I told hubby, then proceeded on to the post office. When I came back, hubby was able to get his hand into the space and had the AirPod in his hand but then it slipped out of his hand and he heard it hit the floor — under the island behind the toe kick. 🙄 It is now unreachable unless we do some deconstruction in the kitchen.

The hummingbirds are definitely back, although I have only seen one or two males so far. We have two pair of Rose Breasted Grosbeaks that frequent the feeders every day. They are here during their migration but we do not typically see them stay around all summer long. They are a little aggressive at the feeder, happily lingering there and chasing other birds off. The bluebirds are also here every day. The Bluejays also make their presence known.

I have been pulling all my art supplies out of the nooks and crannies in which they have been stored. I have large pads full of gesture drawings from old Life Drawing classes which I am finally going to throw away. There are a few drawings that I will keep, but most are charcoal and do not fare very well after years of storage.

That’s about it for me. I will leave you with a little Moody Blues on this Tuesday. Enjoy!