This is my first post in a long time, so much to write about it is spilling over, so what first.
May 2020 Our granddaughter and I spend most of a day working on a life skill. We made two loaves of Sourdough French Bread. She hadn't ever made bread before, and I hadn't made any in a very long time. Our joint adventure was truly a success!
I got my recipe for the bread and for the sourdough starter, from Taste of home.com. 5 stars for both recipes. I subscribed to their magazine, which is much easier to read than using the website. lots of ads, video tutorials, competing lists of recipes... but I'm 70+. plus saving our ink and paper...
Right now, on May 14, 2020 I was able to order yeast from Amazon. I have self-rising flour for the starter, and the bread uses All purpose flour and starter + yeast.
I have my grandmother's dough bowl, and next time we make bread - next week, I'll make sure we use it for the first rise. I told her a couple of short stories about her 2nd great Grandmother Clella Byers. What a great cook she was! And an inspiration in many ways of my learning to sew. She begged to let her teach me, so all the refusals I've had from daughter and granddaughter are straight up Karma!!!! I offered to show Liv how to sew a face mask, and perhaps she'll eventually let me do that.
Her bread kneading skills were AMAZING, because a couple of summers ago, she like many other kids, became entranced with SLIME, and all the variations there of. It didn't seem to be of much value other than the possible science principles she'd discover. But let me tell you that girl made the most finely grained bread... tiny gas openings not gaping holes! The bread was delicious and what a wonderful addition to their meal. Her dad was sure we bought it, but we sent mom pictures all day. She tiktoked an episode of her series on quarantine cooking - Raman. lol we chatted and laughed, and had a fun day. Yeast bread has a couple of intensely busy times separated with time to let the yeast work... so she had time for Minecraft, and some other art work she'd brought along.
She loves to watch cooking shows like chopped, so she is much more aware of kitchen crafts than I'd guess. Her mom, our daughter, expects some help with dinner, which started years ago. Liv's first original recipe was "EarthDay Salad" from about 1st grade... she washed and chopped things up and added all kinds of veggies to it, but it was enjoyed mostly by grownups, as she took her own obligatory no thank you bite.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
On to the bigger world issues. I am opening a section in my Cotton Eyed Jo shop on etsy to sell masks and surgical caps(designed by www.twelvebees.ca who also has an Instagram account you might want to check out and follow) if you live in Canada, she might still be teaching sewing in a fabric shop... sorry no more info currently although I'll try to bring more info and revise this section.
She has vacationed her etsy shop for now, but some great tutorials on YouTube, with the same twelve bees in title... definitely clear and can help you see how to do a better than average job.
*****************************
Section #THE NEW NORMAL
My masks and a very few mask and caps sets will focus on sturdy, with eclectic fabric choices. Bright spot, I am sewing out of my stash, so costs will primarily be the postage. All the items I sew will be made from 100% cotton and elastic for ear holders/or ties made from fabric. Don't check for them today or even this month, I'm still working on the masks I'm donating to the local postal drivers.
Especially, important to say that although they will be sturdy, they are just face covering masks. Not professional PPE so great for those who'd like a unique mask. Not sure if they are the type of mask that cancer patients might use, but again they will be sturdy.
"""""""""""""
Stay healthy, be kind to others, and help to make the New Normal better than this last few years of divisive partisanship has been. Jo
