Long Time No See...

I've been in one of my August Slumps...similar to a July Slump but accompanied by more anti-social tendencies...

But...I've picked up little signs that summer is waning...even if the thermometer is supposed to read 103*F by the time all is said and done this afternoon...even if the bleepin' a/c unit for the back of the house...read "Bedrooms"...has apparently decided today would be a lovely time to go on the blink...

Sheila's Top 5 Signs that Summer Will Be Gone*...after a while...

1. if I get up early enough in the morning and step onto the back deck, I can catch a soft cool breeze

2. the singing bugs (I have no idea..frogs? crickets?) are carryin' on something fierce...

3. the crows from the woods next door are, well, more crow-ish

4. the evenings are softer...still hot as...but now the evening light cuts across the pines with a soft gold colour...lingers a while...and then slowly dark comes on, fading in from a soft-then-deep purple...In high summer, the evenings are more like Hot & Bright Then Bam Dark...

5. I'm getting in the mood for baking...and deep cleaning...and making "things"...early stage prep work for holidays and cool weather nesting...

The evidence:

Faux sourdough bread...from a recipe from a friend that uses a starter made of instant potato flakes! well, I never...I managed to goof this recipe half a dozen ways and the bread still came out wonderful...I'll post the recipe if any one wants it...

half of one of the loaves disappeared like *this* [imagine snapping fingers]...part of that, I'm sure, was the great bread...the other part was, I imagine, due to the fact I would not buy any bread at the grocery store...I was determined the next loaf of bread used at #17 would be made my own 8 fingers and 2 thumbs...and since I kept goofing up the time table, we were without bread for, oh, just over a week or so...

the most heard question/remark at #17 this past week: "Are you baking the bread today?"...and then I'd lie and say "yes"...because I kept thinkin' I could bake the bread...until I dragged the recipe out and re-read the directions...and the bread is resting in a new-to-me bowl bought from the Antique Mall up the road...love it...I want to branch out my yellow ware collection into the green bowls, but still love the yellow ones so much that this is sort of a compromise bowl...sort of a transition piece...

oh yes...it is possible to justify just about anything, isn't it?

movin' smartly along, I finally washed the fabric I will use to begin a quilt...I was thinking "yo-yo", but maybe I should just do a patchwork...this is going to be my first quilt...but I still need to iron the fabric...that fabric has been sitting waiting on the iron for over a week now...I hate to iron...well, that isn't true...I just hate wrestling with the ironing board...

and here is Mr. Brown...he came by way of Gretel and her Marchpane Pig etsy shop...and, by the way, reading Mrs. Appleyard and I, led me to uncover what "marchpane"** means! I'm feelin' a bit smug about that right now...Mr. Brown is an example of scherenschnitte...but more importantly, the moment I saw Mr. Brown and his companions out and about in the evenin' time, his story popped into my mind...and I love when a piece of art just comes to life like that :)

bless his heart...I wish we could all be so self-satisfied as Mr. Brown...

now I'm off to refresh my coffee...actually, to turn it into an iced coffee...and catch up on my blog reading!

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*feel free to share any signs you have seen that autumn might be comin' along here shortly

**adding "marchpane" to My List of Favourite Words

AND...I forgot to mention Toni awarded me with this! Thanks, Miss Toni and I should pass it along? I believe this is the first award I have won since my Senior Superlative...(should I share that? is that mildly-to-awfully embarrassing?)

wait...is a Senior Superlative even really an award?............................................

Faux Sourdough Recipe, courtesy of Miss Suzanne over at Southern Inspiration

Starter:
1/2 c. sugar
1 pkg. yeast
3 T. instant potatoes (flakes)
1 c. warm water
Mix in jar. Let stay 3 to 5 days in refrigerator. Use 1 cup to make bread.

Part 1
1/2 c. sugar
3 T. instant potatoes
1 c. very warm water
Remove starter from refrigerator in the evening and set on cabinet overnight. Next morning, mix Part 1 ingredients well and add to starter. Let stand out of refrigerator all day. (It will bubble) At the end of the day, use 1 cup to make bread. Return remaining starter to refrigerator, covered with foil. Keep in refrigerator 3 to 5 days (I usually waited a week and started bread on the same day every week) and feed again. If not making bread, give 1 cup to a friend or throw away. Starter must be fed every 3 to 5 days (or weekly as I mentioned).

Part 2
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. corn oil
1 T. salt
1 c. starter
1 1/2 c. very warm water
6 cups bread flour ( I used a combo of reg. white and whole wheat....usually about 1/3 to 1/2 of wheat flour; didn't use bread flour)

In a large bowl, make stiff batter of Part 2 ingredients. Grease large bowl. Put dough in and turn over (the batter, silly, not you!) Cover lightly with plastic wrap. Next morning punch down and knead 3 to 4 times. Divide into 3 parts and knead on floured board 8 to 10 times. Put in greased loaf pans. Brush with oil. Let rise 4 or 5 hours (or all day), covered with wax paper(spray the wax paper with cooking spray to minimize chance of the paper sticking to the dough). Bake 30 to 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove and brush with butter (I didn't do this.)

This bread is very flexible...can use varying flours, can stretch the times it suggests, and you can use 2 larger pans than 3 regular for bigger size loaves. Try it --it makes a moist, kind of dense bread that is good for sandwiches and toast!!!

Suzanne says you can also use this dough to make cinnamon rolls...I was so caught up in just tryin' to get the bread done I completely forgot all about that...but I'll remember for next time ....thanks, Suzanne :)