A new doctor at one of our outreach clinics...He doesn't want his problem solved; he wants a reason to keep complaining.

Send him a bill. Enclose a tongue depressor, labeled "Clue Stick."

Sigh. Off work an hour and a half late and no progress on my appraisal. Tuesdays.

Tuesday’s are stupid.

I got a package from Hamacher Schlemer today. I did not order anything from them. I opened it, and the paper inside said ordered by and shipped to someone in Rhode Island. Oooook....did they stick the wrong slip in the box? Check with friends. Yes! One sent me something from them! But not what was in the box. So there is some poor woman in Rhode Island waiting for her cashmere zip up turtleneck poncho (!?!) and she will not get it.

Awww. That happened with my mom trying to send my brother wool socks from REI. The order got broken into several packages and she was trying to keep track of all of them and he eventually got a package from REI that even had socks in it but they were kid sized so presumably some kid did not get their socks. REI presumably replaced those, and told my brother not to return them. Fortunately his landlord’s daughter could wear them, so all’s well that ends well but it was just such a peculiar coincidence that the misship was still socks, it stuck in my head.

Oh billytea, how fraught! I'm so glad the injuries were minor and that everybody came out of it okay. I know you're all going to be jangling from the stress of it. Be mindful and take care of yourselves.

None of our cats ever went after power cords. There were a few tchotchkes they determined must be eliminated, though, and were eventually successful at that.

Bread was my go-to for office and other potlucks. Pretty basket, red-checked tea towel, paddle-handled wood breadboard, bread knife with a blue onion china handle, empty cheese crocks packed with sweet butter, and butter spreaders on board. The parquet round board was for boule, white, or mixed white-wholewheat. The long parquet paddleboard was for braids, and the regular walnut paddle board was for everything else. Pumpernickel and whole wheat in long shaped loaves, or braids, and white in braids, shaped loaves, boule, and actual loaf-pan loaves. I did whole wheat and white braids, but the one I tried with whole wheat, white, and pumpernickel was a failure. It was fun, though. And I never had to dither about what to bring. For the holidays I did a long braid and circled it into a wreath, and stuck a bow on it after it was baked. Success!

I do miss bread.

Oh billytea, how fraught! I'm so glad the injuries were minor and that everybody came out of it okay. I know you're all going to be jangling from the stress of it. Be mindful and take care of yourselves.

Thanks everyone for your kind words. Ryan and I are doing ok. His school sent him a bouquet of lollipops, so that was good of them. Apparently his school assembly this morning (combined with chapel, it's a Lutheran school) was all on the subject of the car accident. (I suspect he's going to be sick of the attention pretty soon.)

Hopefully, he'll be sick of the attention just before it dies down.

In re bread, I used to make a cranberry-orange quick bread ("quick" being a category, not a description), but I'd keep some cranberries out and when the loaves rose and baked enough to start forming a crust on top, I'd halve the cranberries and arrange them to look like flowers on the top. Not a lot of extra work, but they looked nice. Sometimes I'd give them to people ahead of the holidays and say that, if they took them to their office potluck (remember those? sigh ....) I was essentially giving them the gift of time.

Bread was my go-to for office and other potlucks. Pretty basket, red-checked tea towel, paddle-handled wood breadboard, bread knife with a blue onion china handle, empty cheese crocks packed with sweet butter, and butter spreaders on board. The parquet round board was for boule, white, or mixed white-wholewheat. The long parquet paddleboard was for braids, and the regular walnut paddle board was for everything else. Pumpernickel and whole wheat in long shaped loaves, or braids, and white in braids, shaped loaves, boule, and actual loaf-pan loaves. I did whole wheat and white braids, but the one I tried with whole wheat, white, and pumpernickel was a failure. It was fun, though. And I never had to dither about what to bring. For the holidays I did a long braid and circled it into a wreath, and stuck a bow on it after it was baked. Success!

What a beautiful description, Bev.

I do miss bread.

Now I do too!

In re bread, I used to make a cranberry-orange quick bread ("quick" being a category, not a description), but I'd keep some cranberries out and when the loaves rose and baked enough to start forming a crust on top, I'd halve the cranberries and arrange them to look like flowers on the top. Not a lot of extra work, but they looked nice. Sometimes I'd give them to people ahead of the holidays and say that, if they took them to their office potluck (remember those? sigh ....) I was essentially giving them the gift of time.

That sounds lovely too. Never a bread maker but I had started exploring cakes with Matilda after the GBBO, but that went by the wayside when I started the diet. However, when Janet (mother of Matilda's friend Iris) got shingles I was happy to have an excuse to make her Victorian sponge with raspberry whipped cream and chocolate ganache.

Since it's going to take her a few more months to heal from the Shingles, I think I'll make her a dessert a month until she gets better.

Then I can do the lemon marscapone cake with a candied walnut bottom I've been thinking about. And the banana bread I used to make with olive oil and lots of fresh thyme and lemon zest.

Bev, that sounds so amazing and beautiful. I've been very utilitarian with my bread baking lately - currently baking off rye/spelt/sourdough sandwich loaves for Peanut's lunches, but I'm going to try a sourdough banana cinnamon swirl bread today. M found a commercial version of it that he loves, and I'd love to see if I can make it here.

A number of the quick bread recipes I've tried seem kind of bland and too sweet for my taste. I found a book of sandwich ideas that included bread recipes I liked. One's pumpkin bread that has pepper and cardamom in it, another's maple-walnut that has a little bourbon. Both are good and not too sweet and have a little kick to them.