Two Loaves

I was surprised to discover I hadn't made any basic white bread for quite some time. Years in fact. I more or less know how long because I inevitably post the bread images and recipes here.  This bread I've made before and you can find it by using "bread" in the blog search box (upper left corner).  My last few bread baking sessions have focussed on making healthier breads but on Wednesday I felt like some good white bread.

I didn't think to take photos until the baking was done.  I could hardly wait to taste the bread but it needed to cool first. When I finally had a taste the bread was very moist inside and crunchy on the outside. Just perfect. Is there anything better than warm bread with butter or jam or both on a cool day? Next time I go shopping I will see if there is any multigrain flour in the shop. I haven't looked for it since the grocery store changed hands. If there is none I can purchase some whole wheat flour and perhaps a small bag of white flour too. In thinking about the title for this post it reminded me of the miraculous story of the five loaves and two fish, except instead of two fish I have two loaves *wink.  Many of you will know the story very well. Others of you may not have heard how Jesus fed a multitude of people (5000 people) on five loaves of bread and two fish that a young boy in the crowd had with him.   

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John 6:10-14

¹⁰ And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

¹¹ And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

¹² When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

¹³ Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

¹⁴ Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

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What an awesome miracle.
 I have an equally awesome miracle to share with you. A miracle that occurred over Christmas.  For sure, Jesus is still in the miracle working business. If you've ever been a part of a miracle you know how exciting it is.  I will share the story here on the blog so please visit again soon.
Deb and her readers at Friday Foto Friends might be interested in this story.

This week I was also reminiscing about the beautiful walks along the waterfront that I took in late Fall. We had a spectacular Fall season. I always enjoy Fall. I have a few photos of dogs and birds which I want to share with Eileen and participants in Saturday Critters.

Can you spot the dog and the geese?  There's also a seagull in the background on the rocks.

Last but not least, I'm sharing a fabulous sky from the first day of this year, 2018.

 It was a real delight to have such a fabulous sky greet me on the very first day of the year. 

It is very unusual because it is generally rainy season. Having said that the weather has now warmed up several degrees and so we are back to some rain.  The weather can change very quickly on the coast.

The first photo was what it looked like here on New Year's Eve Day and on New Year's Day.

The last photo was taken at twilight on January 1, 2018.

I am blessed to see the beautiful mountains whenever the sky is clear.

Thank you for stopping by and sharing a piece of your day with me.

Joining in with

Skywatch Friday

 Friday Foto Friends

&

Saturday's Critters

Make it for Christmas

This year I learned how to make a few things for Christmas gifts.

I made some Frankincense and Myrrh Perfume.  I didn't quite make it as per the recipe because  I had some issues getting all the right ingredients.  But I did try it out and next time I will  have everything in stock. I still have the 5 roll on bottles which I ordered from Amazon so I can make more  of this perfume or any other scent I desire.  I sourced the ingredients from local stores but they are also available on Amazon.

The bottle with the cap off and the steel ball roller is the one that I made.

One thing about the perfume is that several of the oils are quite pricey (frankincense, myrrh and the jojoba oil used as carrier oil).  Of course a little goes a long way but if you do not like the scents then you've made the perfume for naught.  I didn't mind the experiment because the frankincense and myrrh oils are associated with the Three Wise Men who brought gifts to the baby Jesus but you might wish to at least sniff the essential oil testers if you buy in person.

Here is the recipe if you would like to try it yourself.

The other gift I made is called Vanilla Infused Sugar. I don't use a lot of sugar and neither do my friends but a little of this special sugar will be a treat.

This sugar will now infuse for one week and then I will strain out the vanilla pods.

I just made enough for several small jam jars (using about 2 cups of sugar and 3 vanilla beans).  I will give these as gifts when they are ready after tying some raffia around them or some colourful ribbon, adding labels and short notes with some ideas for using the sugar.

Here is the Vanilla Infused Sugar recipe.

Earlier in the week I also attended a workshop and learned how to make some very simple candles and bath bombs.

The candle making was super easy.  There were a lot of people in the workshop so the instructor decided to do an easy project which involved only two items:  beeswax sheets and rolls of candle wick. If you would like to make these items but don't have supplies near you these are items that can be found on Amazon.

To make the candles you simply place the wick at one end and roll the beeswax tightly.  At the end you gently squeeze the ends to the body of the candle. The wax melts and seals itself.  It surely cannot get any easier than that. Beeswax sheets now come in a variety of colours.  I used purple and the little candle below is just for me. I guess I should trim the wick a little as it is a bit long.

You can get quite creative with the beeswax sheets and use several colours placed in various ways to make a pretty pattern.  I think these candles would also make nice birthday gifts.

The bath bombs we made are also super easy to make.  The recipe is here.  The recipe link I've shared will take you to a very similar recipe to the one we used. The instructor also brought dried herbs and flowers which we could add to our bath bomb mixture and/or to the molds themselves.  One of the batches mixed by my group wasn't quite wet enough so a bit of it came apart at the top (see photo above, top right).  That's okay because these bath bombs are just for me.

I had a lot of fun with my workshop table mates.
They were all super friendly and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Now I must get on to wrapping the rest of the gifts I am giving. Believe it or not I still haven't posted two parcels but I have to do a bit of sewing before I can post one of them.
The lead up to Christmas will now be spent cleaning, putting up Christmas decorations, buying food for Christmas guests and generally getting ready for Christmas.
I'm a bit late with things this year though I started my preparations (gift buying) early.
I really want to enjoy a Christmas of peace and joy.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Have a wonderful Christmas season.

Joining in with Our World Tuesday.