Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Dessert, bread, and a visitor!

 




Trying to cut back on carbs and sugar this week - so hard for a bread lover
and dessert maker!
We have been eating too much of both - only because there's not much else
to do.  No, that's a lie, there's plenty to do, but once 5 PM rolls around and 
the kitchen aromas of roasting and simmering ramp up, the fire crackles on
the hearth. . . . . . . .and the TV calls out "turn me on", our evenings seem
set and meals have been including crunchy bread and a sweet dessert
perhaps too often.

We've missed walking for few days as the rain and chilly air have been
miserable, and my sciatica painful.  Today the sun is back, the birds are
hungry, and a naughty squirrel has spent much of the morning on the
 front porch eating the birdseed we scattered for the birds!



Photos of the squirrel this morning - staring in the window and whom I'm
 sure would have a meaningful conversation with me if it could!!!

15 comments:

  1. Your bread and dessert look so good! We have been headed towards a Mediterranean diet. It is pretty easy to do here with all the fresh veggies and seafood. But I will say it is hard to break old comfort food habits.

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  2. . . . . and Penny dear, did you notice three layers of "you" in that photo, your 'best apple pie ever' recipe, your mosaic silver try, and the wood turntable you and K made! As you can imagine you are never far from memory around here!
    Sunny today after a lot of rain - off to the grocery for healthy things, then a little walk.
    Mary -

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  3. The poses your visitor struck for the camera have me giggling. Although they can be a nuisance, they are awfully cute.
    Your pie and bread look delicious and lovely too. It would be impossible to resist them. We have been hitting the comfort foods over here a little too heavily too. I have made efforts to reign in the sweets a bit and up the fruits, veggies and smoothies.
    Sorry to hear about your sciatica. As a fellow sufferer, I know how awful that is. Hope it feels better soon.
    Your little vintage cookbook is charming.

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  4. What a funny squirrel! I'm sure he would have enjoyed a discussion with you!
    Bread is rather a comfort food, especially if it is artisan made, as ours is at the local farm shop. I do have to ration it.

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  5. Darling Mary,

    Oh if only you lived closer, then we could share the calories and assist you with the consumption of your delicious looking bread and pie.

    Although lockdown mania drove us more into the kitchen than we like or are used to, we did manage to master pastry and bread making which were all time firsts. However, neither effort looked anywhere near as good as yours and now we have the food 'sent in' as our mothers would say!

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    Replies
    1. Darlings - thanks for the kind words re: my baking skills. I take it you are currently hanging out in Budapest not the UK. Do you still have that delightful lady Timea working for you?
      I want so much to come back - Bob still always tells people we meet that my favorite city is Budapest! How about M Restaurant - it is still there and is that charming gentleman Miklos running it?

      I have so much I want to ask you. Stay well and continue being the happiest of our friends.
      Mary XX

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  6. Your bread and pie look so good. Bread is my weakness, but I, too, am trying to cut back on carbs. The squirrel looks like he would be a great conversationalist, and would probably chat willingly for some of that bread!

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  7. Dearest Mary,
    You are a great baker, magazine worthy photos!
    For the past two days it has been very sunny here and I've started walking the big dogs of a friend with her together, around a lake, in nature. Not far but those 2 km out in the fresh air feel so good. My husband's knee ligament is almost worn so he's not supposed to put much pressure on his knee. Biking was good, not causing any pressure but he was way too weak for over a month and is now about back to feeling well. But he's seriously studying the E-bikes as that will take a lot of 'risk' for his heart off his chest. We have hills, no matter where you go and it might cause problems that you don't want to provoke. So we'll see.
    Oh my, I've suffered quite some bouts with sciatica till we both started taking our daily dose of Youtheory Turmeric capsule from Costco: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/375980268870219122/
    That really has helped us and IF we feel some problems, we take 3 capsules daily!
    Even one of our cats is getting his feline drops with Tumeric, he had problems with one hind leg and he's good.
    Just a tip... up to you!
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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    1. Mariette, thanks for the heads up re: sciatica pain - it's really debilitating! I do use quite a lot of Turmeric in my savory recipes - I do not eat any meat/poultry (for 40+ years) and Bob only eats a little now and then - but we will ask my doctor if OK to add Turmeric pills to our daily supplements. I know several people who swear by it.
      Mary -

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    2. Mary, using the spice alone will never yield the needed 95% of curcuminoids (always look for that being mentioned!) and those are not Turmeric pills but just supplement. We have medical friends from India and it has been proven for ages to be an excellent way of curing and/or avoiding lots of ailments.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

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  8. I'd help you get rid of that wonderful bread and desserts anytime, Mary!
    Love the squirrel - he or she knows exactly where to go to for a meal :-)
    Over here, it has been raining a lot, too; on Tuesday, I did not set foot out of the house, not even for a short walk. Yesterday was more favourable, and I caught just the last of the sunset when I left the house straight after work. I just feel so much better once I have stretched my legs and aired my head after a day spent sitting at my desk and staring at computer screens.

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    Replies
    1. I'm planning to head out for a walk this afternoon - sunny and dry - as I'm finding I feel so much better afterwards, as you seem to also Meike.

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  9. Dear Mary, wow to those gorgeous photos of the squirrel!!
    The cookbook looks so lovely -- and "me too" is living at the moment on low carbs and almost no sugar - then it is a kind of modern torture to see THAT bread! I'm so hyper-sensitive by deprivation that I believe I can smell it -- ahhhh!!!

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  10. What very cute squirrel pictures.
    I am feeling like a slug just because I am not walking and eating too much of those carbs.
    I keep telling myself I will do better, but I don't.
    Hugs!

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