Sylvia's Simple Shots

On November 1st I was out in fall coat, no boots, and dry roads to drive on.

November 2nd it snowed and turned cold. Temps in the -15C to -25C and the sky was overcast.

I can stand cold if the sun is shining.  

This was taken November 8th when the sun finally started shining.  

Today, is November 11 and finally it is -7C just after lunch.  I am heading out to enjoy it.

An Irish Country Village by Patrick Taylor - It was great to reconnect with these characters. Dr. Barry Laverty and Dr. Fingal O'Reilly who run a general practice in Ballybucklebo in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. The doctors see patients in the morning and make house calls in the afternoon.

Miss Kinkie Kincaid is still the housekeeper and chief cook for these hard working men. 

Dr. Barry has been at the surgery for about 6 months and is learning about a small medical practice, about the culture of a small village, and knows most of the patients he sees.  He is dating Patricia Spence a civil engineering student.

Barry had his medical competency questioned and is awaiting post- mortem results, Patricis is studying for a big exam which may change her next career move, Fingal meets an old classmate from years ago - Kitty O'Hallorhan, and the local pub the Black Swan maybe cease to be if the local councilor has anything to do with it.  Needless to say that tragedy must be avoided at all costs.  Totally enjoyed this book though it is earlier than some I have read so I know the outcomes of some of the situations in this story.

With the cold weather and the staying inside it was natural to turn on the oven and get some baking done.

I made Chocolate Bran Muffins for the first time in months and have resolved to have one a day.

They are chocolate and sweeten with applesauce, which contributes to a healthy snack or dessert.

I baked a roll of Chocolate Wafers which have been in the freezer for several months.  I should have rolled them out a bit more as these were pretty thick but really delicious.  I will have to make some more of Christmas.

The entry into the oven was a couple of chicken thighs roasted in my stoneware baker.

Here is supper that night with a good helping of coleslaw, fresh tomatoes, baked yams with some white rice.

Yummy and the house was warm from having the oven on from 2 - 5 pm.

Cottage by the Sea by Debbie Macomber was a great read. Annie Marlow. a nurse, has been rocked by tragedy and is struggling to make sense of her new reality. She heads back to Oceanside in the Pacific Northwest to a cottage she spent summer by the sea with her family.

She rents the cottage, meets an artist who has lived all his life in sea side community, grows a garden, befriends her recluse landlady and enjoys her work at the medical clinic.  She learns to find peace and to trust again.  Annie finds that the surest way to fix what is damaged within to to help others rise above their pain and find a way to heal.  I would recommend this book.

I have started putting milled flax seed on my breakfast.   It is a healthy thing to do.

I buy the whole flax seeds and put 1 cup into the blender each week and store it in the refrigerator. I have put the extra bags in the freezer until I need them.

I always like to have a measure in the container for the things I use regularly. My rolled oats, my powdered milk, my Cheerios tupperware container so I was looking for a tablespoon measuring spoon for this jar of flax seed.  

The the thrift store a while back I found this gorgeous round stainless steel measuring spoon.  It is so cute and now I use it every day and it makes me happy!

Recent Photos

I tried Sour Cream biscuits this week.   I add dill and garlic powder to these which makes them yummy!

They turned out okay but they don't seem to brown the way the ones posted on the internet do.  I buttered the tops  and then put them under the broil for a bit to get this nice color. 

The stone in the background is a new addition to my kitchen.  It is 16 inches in diameter which is very large. But it held a full batch of biscuits which was the objective. 


I added a few pieces to my blue and white collection.  A nice Home Sweet Home watering can, a deep blue glass which I have but a tea light into and a very tall cut glass vase.


I have also collected a few lamps to my help light objects of my photography better.  These are great because they can hang or clamp.  They use a smaller light bulb so that gives me another level of lighting.  They are IKEA so good quality.

I also acquired these smaller still lights which have clamps.  They use chandelier bulbs which is again another step lower in power which will provide less light but will fill in shadows when needed. 

You will see that they are clamped to a stand.  Again, it was at the Thrift Store the other day and I thought that will work for providing lighting at different heights.  I believe it is a speaker stand.  It telescopes so I can clamp any of these smaller lights to it and move them up or down several feet.  Yes!  The base is heavy and will be very stable.

In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption. 

I finished this book this week which a friend lent me. I totally enjoyed this read about the network of female spies during wartime.  They flew under the radar most of the time because men did not think they were smart enough to be spies.   Eve Gardiner and Charlotte St. Clair are brought together through an interesting connection.  Much of the story is based on true accounts of the women and men who worked in this system of information gathering and sharing in France during the war. I would recommend this book.

Sharing at Share Your Cup #280 hosted by Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson.

Recent Happenings

I have been out of the joining on line parties for nearly a month. November is always craft sale month for me so it is a very busy time.  I made the time today even though there is still a to do list waiting.

We had a great Welcome to my Kitchen fellowship time last week.  A couple of ladies shared the responsibility where one hosted and the other provided snacks.  We had home made cinnamon buns, pistachio cool salad, a variety of cheeses and great crackers.

The tea was hot and plentiful.  We made at least 3 pots for 13 ladies in attendance.  We had a few coffee drinkers as well.

We had a wonderful time as we always to getting caught up and sharing about getting through tough times.

I met my sister half way between our homes recently to pass stuff to her and bring home stuff from her.  It cuts down on time and gas money and we were able to visit a few thrift stores while we are there.  I was glad that I had just had my all weather tires put on for the trip out of town.

One of the things that came to my house is my updated plate rack.  I had a near disaster with this wire rack about 2 months ago.  I really enjoyed having the plates vertical instead of horizontal so asked my handy brother in law if you could stabilize it with wood supports on either end. He applied tung oil to the surface before he assembled it was it was all done when I got it back. It looks fabulous and as you can tell it does the job wonderfully.  Thanks Brian!  I owe him lunch next time I see him.

I placed it on the freezer between the 2 cupboards so it breaks up the white surface without limiting the air circulation.

The kitchen is really coming together and with a new dishwasher it is staying tidy!!

It was not tidy for most of the day today.  Flour, butter, and savory and sweet elements went into 3 batches of baking for the fund raiser Bake Sale tomorrow.

I made variations on the tea biscuit recipe in the Puritan Cookbook.  The first was Buttermilk Biscuits, then Savory Cheese Biscuits (my favorite) and then a try at Cinnamon Pinwheels. I baked them in silicone cups in the muffin tin.  The dough was not what I thought it should be but with no experience they look like they turned out okay.

The biscuits were cut with a nice recent addition to the kitchen of a 2 inch scallop cookie cutter.  In my opinion it makes them the perfect size and pretty too.

I love that it has a handle and it was exactly what I had in mind when looking for a cookie cutter for my kitchen.  Maybe sugar cookies will be next.

Well I could not bake most of the day and give it all away.  As it was there were 18 pinwheels and I made sets of 4 for the bake sale so that leaves two!  Imagine that.

So I took time to have tea.  I made Oprah Chai Tea in my Maxwell & Williams Fusion Yellow tea pot with the built in infuser.  It is a nice deep pink color to go with pomegranate seeds on my plate.  A mandarin orange for vitamin C and a bit of old white cheddar cheese for a bit of protein.

I have recently added these beautiful blue and white oriental napkin holders to my blue and white dinnerware collection.

It was nice to sit down for a bit before I start on the next project tonight.

 
I bought this pomegranate to share with my niece during her visit last Saturday.  It was a quick visit and it did not make it to the table.

I am reminded though how we found a quick way to get the seeds out the shell.  You can check this post out for all the details.











I have read a couple of great books in the last month. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane was excellent.  I had to wait to get it from the library but it was worth it.  I heard of the book through this book club hosted by Angela.  I hope I remember enough to offer a few comments on the book.

I got this book through our book exchange at Welcome to my Kitchen.  We bring books we have read and put them on a side table then others can browse the selection and bring a new book to them home to read.

I was not sure I would like this book but it was still on the table when the ladies left on November 16th so I thought why not!

It was a good ready with good history of Paris and when so and so lived, etc.  It is set just after the end of the Second World War. A young lady takes her life in her own hands and decides to pursue an art career in Paris. How bad can that be and of course as you can see from the cover this was a handsome man thrown into the mix for good measure.

I am sharing with the following:

Share Your Cup #273 hosted by Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson

Bernideen's Friends Sharing Tea

Anything Goes Pink Saturday hosted by Beverly

Tuesday Cuppa Tea hosted by Ruth

Friday's Hunt 1.7

I'm submitting this post to Friday's Hunt hosted by Teresa at Eden Hills.

The prompts are:
Starts with G
Week's Favorite
In my kitchen

This is Gluten-Free Cheese Cake which I served during tea with a friend this week. I was able to buy just 4 pieces and it seems the crust is made with nuts which contributes to it's gluten free status. This is the leftover piece which is New York Style cheese cake.  We ate the chocolate pieces during tea.























I made whole wheat cheddar cheesy tea biscuits today. With Valentine's around the corner I chose to cut a few in heart shapes.  I added one to my chicken noodle soup for supper. I chose this shot as this week's favorite.

Here's a shot of the tea biscuits cooling on a rack on the kitchen counter while the second tray is baking.  I cut a couple with my Steeped Tea teapot cookies cutters.  I cut the hearts with my trusty Tupperware cookie cutters. You can see how small the heart ones, perfect for dipping in soup.