Monday, May 13, 2019

Rain Means Green, Indoor Days = Baking Time, Avon Arrives


Home on the Ridge
When we woke up on Monday, May 13th, it was to another dull, cloudy, rainy day. Good grief, Charlie Brown! Make the best of it, we say. Again, again and again. So, we had our tea and I abandoned my walk again. Again. It wasn’t very warm, sitting around 37F/3C but at least the strong winds of last evening had calmed considerably. We don’t have great grass up here, weed-less grass has never been a ‘thing’ for us but the rain certainly has greened up what we have, grass and weeds alike. So, there is one good thing about the rain, I guess. 

It's so rocky up here but where the grass grows
it is green
First thing on the agenda was to get the garbage down to the road. We finished our brew and I got the bag ready and checked the recycle bins. Only one needed to go so I put them by Ptooties. Bill drove them down before 9 am. The pickup is around 10 so we were on time.

These are the dishes I borrowed from Pat
They sit in water to be baked
We also wanted to take a trip into Durham so got cleaned up and did that. Stopping at Rob and Pat’s first for her little dishes, we had a nice visit for half hour or so. It is always nice to see them and Bill and Pat are able to joke around with each other. Rob and I were pleasant to each other today, for the most part. Ha ha, we have fun and they know we love them to death. 😊 From there, we drove to Foodland, the local grocery store and I ran in to get some bread for Bill and some heavy cream for Jell-o.

Heating the cream, Splenda and vanilla
Bill needed some vapor barrier for the Hangar so we stopped briefly at Home Hardware. Look at us, supporting local economy!! One last stop at the Esso for a fuel up and then we headed home. Nasty cold day so his plan was to work in the Hangar with our electric heater. The door won’t close tightly but he’ll figure it out so his feet especially don’t freeze and that it is warm enough to work on his airplane too.

Finished product
Inside the Suite, I had my own plans. Custard, Jell-o, banana bread and slippers. I have a nice ball of the chunky wool I love and want to make myself a warmer pair. Apparently, this weather is sticking around so I want to have warm feet! Without the furnace running, the floors are where we notice most of the coolness but our Blue Flame picks up that slack when we have it on. We are very pleased with our electric infrared carbon heater and it has been working just about every day for us since we've arrived home.

My sisters Avon order arrived
I made bacon and eggs for breakfast and then we got the dishes out of the way. Bill went out to work on the Hangar again and I carried on with my custard recipe. Wish me luck! I boiled water and prepared some sugar-free, carb-free Jell-o so it is setting in the fridge. Raspberry this time. I finished the custard and although it only made 4 single servings, it looks good and is another dessert we can eat, guilt-free.

My big ball of wool waiting to be made into
slippers
Bill isn’t big on bananas, he wasn’t keen on the milkshake because not only did I add strawberries and pineapples, I added a banana. He could taste it and his nose wrinkled up. So, with 4 leftover bananas looking like the picture below, I offered to make him Banana Date Nut Bread. Well, he sure likes that idea! I got everything blended as per the recipe and my own variations with the fruit and nuts. Just before pouring it into the loaf pan, UPS drove up the lane with my Avon order. The young driver left after hearing our ‘story’ and saying “I want to do this!!” 😊


Inside, I got an idea. Madame IP to the rescue! Not that it would take any less time, but our convection oven has worked today so let’s see if I can bake banana bread in the instant pot. Why not? I Googled it and came up with clear instructions (which I need) on how to go about it. I sprayed the inner pot and used the Pot-in-Pot method as recommended. Next step, I spooned the mixture in and covered it semi loosely with foil and crimped the edges to seal.

The banana bread ready to go in the IP
My baking pot has a handle so I just added a cup of water to the main pot, set the trivet in an placed the pot on top. There was no need to use any makeshift handle for the trivet or the pot. I baked for 60 minutes and while waiting, I walked down to the mailbox to see if there was any mail. It was drizzling so I got a bit wet but it was worth it. The FREE sunflower seeds that I’d ordered from Vesey (Honey Nut Cheerios offer) on Facebook arrived! Yay!

You got Mail!
Once the baking was done and Madame beeped, I let it release naturally for 15 minutes with the lid on. Next, I released any excess steam manually, removed the lid,  the inner pot and then the foil. I let it sit for 15 minutes before testing to see if it was done. They recommended turning it gently upside down onto a plate. Easily, my bread came out and I let it cool for another 15 minutes (the recipe should be called 15-15-15 bread) and sliced a piece for Bill. He is the tester.


It doesn’t look like regular banana bread, instead very firm, not crumbly. That can be good but Bill said it tasted very good and that makes it alright by me. Another Instant Pot success. We sat together, after he closed up ‘shop’ out in the Hangar, and we watched some of our recorded programs. Bill works tomorrow so we won’t be able to watch them until later in the week and by then, we’ll have a bunch of new ones. At 5:30 I started supper.

Sunflower seeds for the bees
Tonight, was fish and chips. I cooked the French fries in the air fryer and the pollock filets on the stove. Everything turned out great and we were eating and cleaned up by 6:30. The fries took longer than I expected. I made him a couple of sandwiches and between us, we got his food ready for his time in London. Breakfasts, lunches, suppers and snacks. It takes a bit of planning and a bit of prep.

Now my feet are really warm!
After dishes, we watched more television and read some of our books. Bill finished his J.A. Jance and now reading James Patterson’s Princess. I finished my blog posting and then joined him in our recliners.

Supper was good
Clemson had a good day. He slept for most of ‘our’ waking hours either beside me in my chair, on his Daddy’s lap or upstairs on our bed. In his old age, sleeping, eating and doing his business are top priorities. Just like a baby, funny how we start that way and end up that way. LOL This has been a day of rain and cold temperatures. I managed to fill the hours by baking and crocheting. I have a new pair of slippers to show for it. I’m happy to have indoor things to keep me busy.

I hope your day has been a good one. Thank you for your visit!

13 comments:

  1. It was good day to get some inside things taken care of waiting for summer to arrive someday, this weekend should be wonderful if the forecast is right.

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    1. Yes, it was a good inside day and I found lots to do. :)
      fingers crossed for the weekend weather - ha ha we'll see!

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  2. Now I have a craving for custard. Never thought of banana bread in the instapot. Can't wait to try it. Thanks for the ideas!!

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    1. Oh my and that custard was delicious!! Also low carbs and keto.

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  3. I admire your bravery when it comes to the IP. I actually made some custard in the IP and it came out perfect. LOVE your slippers. I think I need to find that pattern!

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    1. I figure what have I got to lose? with the IP. If it turns out bad, change it or don't do it again! haha
      My slippers are never perfect and never exactly the same but easy and warm. :)

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    2. You can Google Free Crochet slipper pattern and you get all kinds. :)

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    3. First, I want to say a big “thank you “ for the creamy jello recipe. It was a big hit and a definite keeper!
      My daughter, Andi, gave me her brand new, in the box, IP after deciding it was too scary / intimidating for her. Frank made a roast in it once, it’s been in the cabinet ever since. After reading about all the different things you’ve made, I might have to put on my big girl panties and give it a try!
      I ordered an air fryer today from Amazon. We don’t often eat fried food but your French fries look yummy! Sometimes we just need French fries. LOL
      Sounds like it was a good day for baking.
      I didn’t realize there was a difference in the pick-up, delivery notification of mail in Canada. In the U.S. (at least the 3 states I’ve lived in) we put the flag up when there is out-going mail. The mailman then puts the flag down after picking up the mail. We don’t know if we have mail without checking the mailbox. I like learning new things about our neighbor to the north!
      I really wish peameal bacon was available here. Looks like something we would like. Does it taste the same as regular bacon?
      Sorry I’m so wordy tonight...I don’t comment often, guess I save it up. LOL
      I really enjoy your blog. Thank you for sharing your days with us!
      Peggy in Buckeye, AZ

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    4. Never apologize for being wordy! I love it that you comment when you can. I'm so glad you enjoy the Jell-o. It is easy to make once I remember to do the actual Jell-o in advance of when I want it! :)
      Good luck with the IP. I'm no longer afraid of it. I know what it does and everything I make is on a 'well, let's give it a try' basis. That way I'm not disappointed (too much) if it fails. The banana bread isn't the best but I did have a couple of different flours in there and I think that is why it is so dense. I said firm but couldn't come up with 'dense' last night! LOL
      The airfryer is nice for a meal of fries. I didn't enjoy the homemade ones (cutting our potatoes) they took too long and were soft. I add a bit of oil in a bag, shake the frozen fries first and then cook. It still took about 40 minutes so not a fast meal, persay. I agree, sometimes we just need them. :)
      Sorry, if I mislead you about the mail. Ours is the same, with the mailbox delivery. They put the flag up if we have mail, we put it up if we have out-going mail and the flag goes down when we/they empty it. The flag wasn't up for the flyers because they are delivered by a local deliverer. It is grocery, home depot, flyers etc. Therefore, I never know if they've been dropped off yet. Plus, we are too far from the mailbox to see if the flag is up. A great excuse to take a walk down the lane! for a while, they had someone delivering the flyers by just dropping them at the end of the lane in a blue bag.
      Peameal bacon is yummy but more like ham rather than bacon. It is very salty which we like and I do believe that our bodies need lots of salt unless individually there are issues.
      Thank you for your comments. I'm not sure where Buckeye is in Az but maybe one day we can meet! :) Have a great day, Peggy!

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  4. Love the little ramekins! I'm pretty sure Pioneer woman at Walmart has some that are not too expensive. Great looking slippers and you do them so quickly :) Ken loves banana bread so I buy bananas to get them that color on purpose! I didn't know sunflowers bring back bees! That's an awesome reason to plant them for sure, they always remind me of my grandma. In Arkansas she always had a row of them surrounding her garden :) Our last 80 degree day today for a week or more :( Time to get outside! Have a great day sweetie!

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    1. I'm so glad Pat had some or I'd be out looking our own Pioneer woman!! :) I'll have to pick some up anyway for the next batch of custard. It was soooo good!
      I'll have to learn what else to make other than slippers and scarves. And I need to get back into thinner wool.
      It might be a special mix of Bee Friendly sunflower seeds but because of Daddy and his cb handle "Sunflower", it is my favourite flower. Bees or not. :)
      You are so lucky with an 80 degree day, send some our way please!

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