January 2021

January 18, 2021January 18, 2021

Yummy Pumpkin Bread

Yummy Pumpkin Bread. Okay, so you know how some days you wake up and just want a specific food? This morning as I turned my water on for tea I just knew I needed some Yummy Pumpkin Bread to go with it. I immediately started making some. There was no arguing with myself I was going to have pumpkin bread.

Out of my stashed recipes, I found this recipe that I am sure came off the back of a Libby Pumpkin can at some point in the last 40 years. As my computer is dying a slow death I have been backing it up with Time Machine and revisiting years of saved files and recipes, this is one of them.

As you may have guessed the pumpkin bread is now in the oven and my house has a wonderful smell drifting through it. And later I will enjoy it with my tea!

Here is the recipe you are waiting for! Try it and let me know what you think. Please feel free to share your favorite pumpkin bread recipe because sometimes you just need pumpkin bread to go with tea.

Yummy Pumpkin Bread

3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. each nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon

1 1/2 c. each granulated sugar and packed brown sugar

1 c. oil ( I used 1/2 butter and 1/2 coconut oil)

2 c. canned pumpkin

4 eggs

1 c. each raisins and nuts (optional) ( I used 1 cup of chopped walnuts)

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and

spices. Add the sugars, mixing well.

***It is worth the sifting just for the memories. I have a sifter that looks just like the one from my childhood.

Mix dry ingredients with the oil and pumpkin, stirring until

well, combined.

Add eggs, one at a time, blending thoroughly. Pour into 2

greased and floured 9 1/2 x 5 1/4-inch loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes or until the tester

comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pans.

Place on a wire rack to cool.

January 10, 2021January 9, 2021

1933 Biscuit Recipe

I am not really sure where the 1933 biscuit recipe originated from. It has been in my files for many years. Yesterday I did something I have not done in years. I made a single recipe of biscuits! That’s an accomplishment for me! Below I will share the single recipe and then my Redding size batch that I used while I was raising my family.

A Little Family Trivia

This is not my grandmother’s recipe but I do remember seeing my mom and my grandmother make biscuits. They started with a huge bowl of flour and then made a well in the middle and added the ingredients and slowly mixed it by hand. I am not sure if they measured the ingredients beforehand or by instinct knew exactly how to make them. My dad called these pinching biscuits. Still makes me smile. If any of you have heard of pinching biscuits please let me know.

1933 Biscuits Ingredients:

2 cups sifted flour

2 tsp. baking powder

4 tablespoons butter or shortening

1/2 tsp. salt

about 3/4 cup milk

Sift flour once, measure, add the baking soda and salt, and sift again. This will make your biscuits lighter or softer. Cut in shortening or butter using a pastry cutter or I use my hands by rubbing the butter into the flour until it is like tiny pebbles. Add the milk gradually, stirring until a soft dough is formed. Turn out on lightly floured board and lightly “knead” for 30 seconds, enough to shape. Roll 1/2 inch thick and cut with 2 inch floured biscuit cutter. Bake on an ungreased baking sheet in a 400° oven for 12-15 minutes. Makes 6 biscuits.

Redding Family Ingredient Amounts

This makes a lot of biscuits! Enough biscuits in fact to feed 8 hungry boys and maybe a few girls.

8 cups flour

8 tsp. baking powder

16 tablespoons shortening

2 tsp. salt

3 cups of milk

For this Redding size batch proceed with the directions from above.

Enjoy your hot biscuits with honey butter or strawberry jam! Yum!

Below you can find a link to another biscuit recipe I have used.

https://redaredding.com/homemade-biscuits/

Happy Baking!

January 9, 2021January 9, 2021

Unexpected Happenings in the Covid Life

The excitement was building as I packed, weighed, and readjusted my bags. Hoping to carry the most needful things to my friends in Africa. Just a few more days and we would be on our long flight. I was excited about spending two months in one community but I was also dreading the 14-hour flight with a mask. And then the unexpected happenings in the Covid life.

Discovering Anxiety

Last year I discovered that I must suffer anxiety at least in some situations. After falling last February and tearing a muscle in my arm, I am a lot more careful for sure. Visiting the doctor to assess the damage, I went home and assumed it would be back to normal soon. After months of trying various things, I gave up.

I have no insurance so I do not go to the doctor very often. I went back to the doctor and he ordered an MRI. Thinking nothing of it I showed up for my test got strapped in and prepared for my test. The earplugs were the last straw. I knew there was no way I could go in that tube. Asking for a moment to get me together the tech took one look at my face and must have seen something resembling terror. He said, “she can’t do this. The other machine is available so let’s try that.” I managed with much prayer, closed eyes, and a conversation with the tech to be able to manage this one. I rehearsed each Bible memory verses I had memorized in my 60 years and felt a new wave of gratitude for my healthy life.

Covid Testing Requirement

Back to my trip. I was already planning my coping skills. Lots of diet coke, bathroom breaks, eating, sleeping, books to read, lessons to review, etc. Our bags are all packed except my personal item and Lawrence’s carry-on. We had taken the required Covid PCR test and awaited the results ($750 poorer). The nurse called and said your test is negative, Esther’s test is negative but Lawrence’s test is positive. My heart stops. We fly tomorrow, at least we were supposed to fly.

Lawrence and I sit and discuss possibilities. This is an unexpected situation. We feel pretty good. No one has a fever. Lawrence has a little cough. Could it be a false positive? The nurse said not likely and to quarantine for 10 days and go from there. I contact the airlines, our friends in Malawi. They ask questions I have no answers for. Will we all get it? Do we reschedule our flight? Do we assume the best outcome or wait? Wait.

The Wait

We are on day 11 of the wait. What do I do when I was not supposed to be here? Better prepare my lessons, order groceries, update everyone of the change of plans. Check on others we may have been around as we wait for us all to get sick. We take vitamin C, D, Zinc, lots of fluids, juices, and chicken soup, check our temperature and oxygen levels, and rest and pray.

I am so very thankful to know God and to know his timing is best. Thankfulness for the prayer and concern of loving friends and family. Thankful that we apparently suffered a mild case.

So yesterday was the suggested day to retest and now we wait again for the results to see if we proceed with our plans.

Month: January 2021