Saturday, June 25, 2016

A Day in the Kitchen

Whew! I was hoping to get off the farm today and "do something." I did something, alright, but I didn't get off the farm. Actually, I barely made it out of the kitchen.

After breakfast and washing up the breakfast dishes, I started a loaf of bread in the bread machine. I had a black banana that needed using or pitching ... so I pitched it into the bread maker to make Banana-Raisin Oat Bread. I realized I didn't have any milk, so I walked down to the milk barn and filled a jug. Look at that! I got out of the kitchen! After all the ingredients were in the machine and it was merrily doing its thing, I washed up everything I had dirtied in the process, and filled the sugar and flour canisters.

Next, I tackled the "stupid" black raspberry jelly that didn't gel when I made it last week. It was barely syrup consistency, so I opened the jars and poured it all into the pot. I washed all the used jars and got them ready for the new and improved product. I boiled the flopped jelly till it reached the jelly stage and ladled it into the waiting jars. It's now almost the consistency of gummy bears. Not quite, but ... :)

I washed the pot and utensils, wiped the sweat from my brow, and started a raspberry cake. I'm never surprised when I do something goofy in the kitchen. Sooner or later I'm going to drop, knock over, or spill something. Sure enough, the edge of the bowl caught the handle of the measuring cup, spilling the sugar in the process. I started to sing, "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child." Don't ask me where that came from, but it certainly made me laugh.

Cake in the oven. Previous stack of dishes dried and put away. Newest batch of dirty bowls, measuring cups, and spoons washed and stacked. What now?

Hey, I know! As long as all the jelly making paraphernalia is out, why don't I make another batch of black raspberry jelly? I had juiced enough berries last week for two batches. I made the one batch that didn't gel, but surely I'd have better luck today. The timer rang, I pulled the cake out of the oven, and I got everything ready for more jelly.

Made the jelly. Cleaned up the mess. Washed the dishes. Again. Timer went off on the bread machine. I put the loaf on the cooling rack.

Edith called to say she was going to come mow the yard, so I left the kitchen (yay!) and went outside to pick up sticks from the yard. Came back in to get supper on the table. Fortunately, we had leftovers. Thank God for leftovers. BUT, we had fresh raspberry cake for dessert. And then I washed the dishes. Again.
The cake was supposed to have a glaze over the top, but that's just more sugar and more calories that we don't need. Instead, I sprinkled mini chocolate chips on top before I baked it. End result? Delish!

It looks like the new batch of jelly did what it was supposed to do. Weldon will give the final verdict at breakfast tomorrow morning. Or maybe tonight when he comes in from chores. And, yes, I had a little chunk of the bread - because I can't resist fresh, homemade bread.

The photo is a little disappointing. I worked way harder than what you see here :) It was a good day, but I won't do a repeat anytime soon. Whew!