I finished the meeting around 8:30 PM and decided to read. I also made the bed and finished, though I did not fold or put away the laundry, and was disquieted by a church meeting. I try not to talk at these meetings, but I got a bit carried away. With that done, I decided to read more about the American Civil War. As has happened of late, the clock seemed to be moving fast, and before I knew it, it was near 11.
I started the morning late. I woke around 3-ish, rehydrated, and climbed back into bed. Woke again around 5, finding my bed too warm. I then rolled over with no sheets. I woke again, now cold, a few minutes later, I thought. I rolled over and blinked, and the clock, made up of my charging iPhone screen, Apple Watch, and AirPods, said it was past 8!
It had rained all night, and the sound of water running off the roof and into the various pipes was loud. It was extra dark, and I think the two made me miss my usual sunrise wake-up. It is so dark now that I need an alarm, or I start my day missing the early morning!
I made coffee. I also disassembled the bread maker and removed the surprisingly damp milk bread, or sweat bread, as it is also called. This is really a white, soft loaf that has milk powder that I make often. I like the soft texture, and the milk powder helps it resist turning fuzzy with mold, so it lasts longer. Oddly, despite the name, it contains no sugar. It does use plain flour. I have read that the bread has a post-WWII history in Japan. During the occupation, local Japanese received food from the Allies, including American flour. The Japanese used flour cooked in milk, called a tangzhong, to make a softer loaf. In the recipe I use, the milk powder has a similar effect (the recipe slightly mismatches the Sweet Bread setting and the recipe that comes with the Amazon Basics Bread Machine).
I sliced most of the new loaf and added to the freezer bag I had for bread. I have a few slices of the wheat bread left from my previous spin with the bread machine. I do not eat bread fast enough to stop it from molding. Thus, I freeze it and toast it when I want it.
I then assembled focaccia dough from another recipe in my bread machine. I chopped garlic and fresh rosemary I snipped yesterday while cutting a few roses for M@’s wife, Niki, and also brought some rosemary to M@ and Niki on Sunday for the Dungeons & Dragons game. I did the assembly in the now-cleaned bread machine with bread flour this time. I put in less yeast than recommended, oops, and sprinkled some in later.
I let the bread machine dance (I put a kitchen towel under it so it does not walk off the counter, again) while I wrote the blog and did my usual morning items. I had a banana with my freshly made liberal coffee, forgetting the bold button again.
For lunch, I made a salad with olives, cheese, toasted bagel slices (from a box), and tuna. Yes, even some lettuce, and though I didn’t drown it in Olive Garden Italian, Deborah doubted I should call it a ‘salad,’ especially when I pointed out the olives were stuffed with blue cheese.
The focaccia dough had finished after 90 minutes of time in the machine; I spread it out (and I should have sprayed it wtih non-stick or used a larger sheet of parchment paper) in a 9 ” square pan (with a pie-shaped parchment liner that did not quite make the edges), brushed it with olive oil, sprinkled with more rosemary (which next time I will do just before it is finished), and lightly sprinkled with sea salt, coarse grind.
I showered, dressed, applied the creams (once again) to end the flakes and skin reactions from psoriasis (Skirizi slows it, but it will not stop without direct intervention), and all that. I sliced up the bread after managing, with some difficulty but no loss, to get it out of the pan. I took the bread on a cutting board, wrapped, and headed to Doug J house.
(Notice the markers way past my yellow marker)
I have been invited to the gaming group that Doug J. They have been playing for decades, and I am now the younger gamer. All of them are friendly and wickedly talented gamers. They often pretend to be confused or unthreatening, but Dave’s 30+ score in Ticket to Ride: Europe suggests more was going on. Also, Mike followed Dave. Doug J and I were only four points apart at the bottom and nowhere near the high scores. Next, we played the Pick 7 card game, and I ended up at the bottom. They asked me to suggest some “hard games” that I have in my collection for next time. I will send a few, but I mentioned Concordia, Brass, and The Lost Ruins of Arnak.
I returned home, time-boxed by a church meeting, and did the Zoom call.
And that takes me full circle; thanks for reading.
