Summarizing Current Life Happenings

Hi friends and fellow bloggers,

 

I hope all of you are doing well. I've been seeing that many countries have experienced huge snowfalls over the past week. Where I live we were also expecting snow but it never arrived in my neighbourhood.

Sky this Week

The sky this week has been heavy with rain.  I was actually hoping for some snow for a change of pace but it looks like rain in the forecast for the next few days at least.

The sky on Tuesday, January 25, 2021

 

I got this little surprise on Monday, January 18, 2021. These pansy blooms popped up in a long neglected pot.

The sky on Monday, January 24, 2021

 Cooking

Cooking is a daily need for most of us. Here are a few of the things that have been on the menu this past week.

 

Cabbage and navy bean soup in tomato broth

Shrimp and vegetable stir fry over steamed rice

Spaghettini and Parmesan cheese with Kielbasa sausage and vegetables

Ham and pea soup with freshly baked bread rolls

I baked some bread and gave a loaf to my nephew.

Christmas Wrap Up

 

Mail has been slower than usual over the Christmas rush due to Covid protocols. But all mail did eventually arrive.

The winter Pea Coat I bought for my nephew arrived and he came to try it on. Thankfully it fit him perfectly and he liked it very much so I won't be needing to return it.

 

Two lovely little books arrived from my online friend in Folkestone, England. I enjoyed reading The Little Book of Mindfulness and the gratitude journal will be very useful. I'll start using it when I can get through my major project and a few other things so I can be more mindful when writing in it.This time of year is always super busy with the Annual General Meeting of the Strata (key things being annual budgets and inevitable strata fee increases), city property assessments, property taxes, property vacancy declarations and filing of federal and provincial taxes.

 

 Gifts from a friend, Joy in 

Nottingham, England

She always sends wonderful packages of interesting things.

 Reading

I haven't really gotten into reading yet. But these books are currently in my 'to read' pile.

Slowly making my way through this book.

I borrowed, The New Bohemians Handbook thinking I would get to see a lot of lovely decorating photos. I was disappointed that the photos are so small.

This is a newly borrowed book by Kristin Harmel. I read two of her books just before Christmas and enjoyed them so much so I'm looking forward to this one.
 

Home Improvements

Before Christmas I mentioned that I will be making a few home improvements mainly to help things function better for daily living and to assess what might be needed or detracted from my home as I continue with the decluttering.  Some of it is minor maintenance.  

The first improvement was painting one wall in the entry way and moving a small Asian chest/armoire from the living room to the freshly painted wall.  I also touched up the door to my bedroom and master bathroom (more to come in those areas later). The second improvement was to install a new range hood. I've gone without one for so long and I could not keep up to the accumulating grime on various surfaces. I was very happy when my brother bought me a new range hood and installed it for me as my Christmas gift. Before he did that I cleaned behind the kitchen stove and painted.  I laughed when I saw the upside down bow he placed on the range hood after installation. He wanted to make sure it looked like a Christmas present, lol.

 

The third item was to order some shelving for the kitchen to address the lack of a pantry. I have been wanting to order one of these shelving units for the longest time and have been checking them out both on line and in the retail outlets. I wanted a particular specs and I finally found one on Amazon which I ordered and received just after Christmas. I tried once shortly thereafter to set it up and it fell apart. I never tried again until last night and I'm pleased it went much more smoothly and seems sturdy.  I am very pleased with it and think I should have got one a lot sooner.

This is a work in progress. I am still rearranging and deciding what goes on these shelves.

But so far I'm loving it! It's a huge improvement ton having food on the floor and a small cart where everything was forever overflowing (as in the below photo).

 

Kenyan Missions

Over the past week we managed to get a new smart phone for Pastor Jonah. It will soon be time to send monthly medical, food, nutrition support and seeds and fertilizer to a few families. If you can help at all, please send your  donation via Pay Pal to kerichojoy[at]gmail]com (taking out square brackets). Otherwise we would appreciate if you could continue praying for the needs of the villagers. Thanks so much! 

Over the next while I'm continuing to work on my digital project. I don't expect to be back to regular blogging until it's finished but I pop in to read blogs here and there. I hope all of you continue to stay as safe as you can while we all await vaccinations. I don't expect to get mine until at least the middle of summer, possibly a bit later depending on how the roll out of vaccinations goes and whether our country gets the vaccinations that have been ordered for us.

Take care.

Note: I had trouble uploading tonight and the fonts kept going awry. I tried to fix it.

The Sky Over Me in November

Yesterday's sky was quite dramatic and the rain came down in buckets for much of the day. I moved my patio table against the wall and put on the new table cover I purchased last week.  It's a cover that covers the table and chairs but it is extra big and I don't like the look.  I'm going to box it up, return it and buy a smaller cover for the table. I already have a cover for the chairs which I will stack as it takes up less space.

 

Believe or not, the geraniums are still producing new blooms but not as prolifically and everything in the garden has pretty much seen better days. My main hope is to get the patio furniture put away properly before throwing out the container plants. I did manage to wash the patio chair cushions, buy the patio table and chair cover and try it on. Next I'll have to buy the new patio table cover and then everything can be put away properly.  I'll have to wash the table again as it got wet in the meantime and wipe down the chairs so they don't rust with water pooling on the arm rests. Those of you who have garages can just store everything in your garage but here in the city many of us do not have a separate garage or even extra storage spaces.

This next two photos were taken on Sunday, November 15, 2020. I barely remember what I do from day to day because the routine is pretty much home based.  It's a good thing we take photos, lol and can find the dates on the photo files. 

The last sky image is a colour by number painting I did on an app. I haven't done any of these paintings for several months but on Wednesday night I spent hours painting.  It's so easy to while away the time on the app and before I know it hours have passed by.  I'm not sure why I find it so appealing. I think I just like seeing what colours take shape and how quickly I can complete a picture since some of them are rather complicated. Wednesday night I completed them in record time as most of them were quite simple.  This particular scene speaks to me of northern Canada and Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) though I don't think there are mountains like that in the very far north.

I've been running back and forth to the post office to mail cards and letters and also to pick up packages that never arrived. I've already had to cancel one order coming from California because the company is going out of business due to Covid and I needed to get my refund before then.  The package had tracking but the information was confusing and the parcel never did arrive after 2 months.  I also ordered parcels from a Canadian company.  They are not using Canada Post as their delivery service and they are several days past the estimated arrival.  Supposedly they have now arrived so I'll check tomorrow at the post office.  Last but not least, I also ordered a parcel from an Etsy Store based in Montreal, Canada. I ordered several weeks ago and the package has not yet arrived.  The package came with free shipping and I didn't know until after I ordered that there is no tracking number provided. So I do hope it eventually arrives.  Since Covid 19 pandemic was announced, the parcel service is very hit or miss. For quite some time the post office was operating at half capacity at their main distribution center.  I think they are now staffing up for the annual Christmas rush. I've noticed that the small postal outlet where I go, they have been inundated with parcels, mail and in store customers. It has always been a busy postal outlet but nowadays it's just crazy busy.

~~~~

I've been busy cooking as usual. I suppose most people are these days and with more restrictive Covid measures in place things are not likely to change soon.

Saturday I made a ground beef soup with lots of veggies (potatoes, carrots, onions, mushrooms, celery) and macaroni in a tomato broth. Mom used to make a variation of this with home made biscuits and it is really nice to have on a chilly night. I wasn't up to making any bread so we had sourdough store bought sliced bread.

 

 

Sunday was roasted ham with mashed potatoes and green peas. We had leftovers on Monday and snacked on it here and there since then. I also cut up some pieces and froze them along with the bones to make ham and pea soup on another day. The ham looks much bigger than it is because I took a close up photo.

On Tuesday I made Sweet and Spicy Korean Ground Beef with rice and slaw. It's the second time I've made it and it is quite good so I see it becoming a new staple whenever I have ground beef and don't feel like having the usual.

Wednesday we had spaghettini and meat sauce as well as garlic bread with enough for leftovers on Thursday. It looks a bit strange in my bowl because I put spaghettini on the bottom covered with sauce and Parmesan cheese, then I decided to add more on top of that.

I've been feeling hungrier with the advent of the cold weather so have been back to having more protein smoothies and snacking on dark chocolate covered cranberries and cashew nuts or mixed nuts. 

I'm not doing too much reading right now as I'm trying to catch up on my very long list of 'to do's. I had good success this week with making 2 personal phone calls that I've been wanting to make. I also did a follow up call with a credit card company that is very remiss in handling disputes. I told them today that if they have not received the form they requested (and which I've sent 3 times with the first time being in July), that I want them to know I intend to lodge a formal complaint about their handling of this matter. I was dismayed to discover that though I faxed the latest copy of the form to them on November 13th, they cannot even tell me that they received it because it takes 10 -14 days to 'reach' the system. I asked if they can receive documents by email and they said 'no due to security reasons'. So ridiculous and I am not impressed. I told them I will call back on November 27th.

I am however feeling very good today because at least I did make progress on another matter which has been occupying my mental space and managed to make a few phone calls and emails to move the matter forward. I still have more 'to dos' requiring phone calls and various other follow up but bit by bit they will get done. Thank goodness I have the time during Covid 19 as ordinarily I would find it difficult to find the time to get these things done. I know some people are bored and finding they are not happy with having to stay home and limit their lives but there are others of us who maybe also don't like having to stay home and be cut off but nonetheless we are finding it a blessing to have 'found' time to get things done. Hopefully we can all look forward to 2021 with more optimism and joy. For many of us, it's all in the perspective.

 

 Keep well and keep safe.

Joining in with Skywatch Friday.

October Wrap Up

Hello everyone, 

I trust you all had a good week. I've had a very busy and productive week. Much of it has been spent catching up on a lot of little things that needed to be done and it feels good to get some of it out of the way.

I also was able to get a flu shot out of the way. It's a good thing too because most of the pharmacies here seem to have run out of the vaccine and they don't know when they will get more.

I went out on Hallowe'en evening to get my flu shot at one pharmacy. When I got there I learned they were all out. I took these night photos of the autumn leaves as I made my way to the pharmacy. I thought the autumn leaves looked so pretty with the night lights shining on them.

The big structure you see in the distance is a heritage building that is undergoing repair. The workers fully enclosed the building and are now wrapping it in plastic so that the work will be protected from the wet and rain over the winter months.

I took a photo of the moon but it is only a speck in my phone camera.

Since it was Hallowe'en a number of people on the streets were in costume.While I was in the pharmacy there was a man wearing a Little Red Riding Hood cape. Can you see him at the end of the aisle in the photo below? I'm sorry I wasn't able to get a full view of him for you.

 

Thankfully the night in my neighbourhood was very quiet other than the fireworks that went on until the wee hours of the morning, I heard that wasn't the case in the downtown area where the number of people gathered to drink and party; all while standing too closely together and not wearing face masks.

On Tuesday,  I took a trip to the library to return several books and pick up one more.  Since Covid I've been reading mostly digital books.  But not every book is available as an ebook.

The most recent book I read, A Recipe for a  Perfect Wife, was a very satisfying read though I found the ending unexpected and a little bit unfinished. It did not take away from my enjoyment. Basically this book is a dual story: one of the homemaker/would be writer who purchased a home in rural New York along with her husband.  The other story is about the previous home maker who lived in the house during the 50s. Basically the new home maker finds the old letters and recipes of the former occupant and begins cooking and dressing like a housewife of the 50s. The basic premise is that the life you see a person living, is not necessarily the life you think it is. In both stories, the women are trying to find a balance and an independence in their lives that neither of them actually have.

The next book I hope to read is called Elizabeth and Her German Garden written by Australian-born writer Elizabeth von Arnim.  It was first published in 1898.  It's a year long dairy of the author's experiences in learning to garden and about her social life. The book is very popular and has gone through numerous reprints over the many years since it was first published.

I'm also reading The Little Common Sense Book of Investing. In this book the author, John C. Bogle is basically trying to teach the reader to invest in index funds rather than waste time and money on investment managers and timing the markets.

Besides reading, I continued with deep cleaning and a little decluttering here and there.  Recently I ordered a few items on line which didn't fit (rain shoes and a long sleeved top) and so along with the time spent to look for just the right thing to order, I've had to spend time preparing the returns by mail.  In addition to on line shopping I made a trip to a brick and mortar store where I purchased a carpet cleaner. I haven't owned a good carpet cleaner for many, many years and have only been using a lightweight steam carpet cleaner.  It does keep things looking better but really doesn't give a good cleaning.

Lately, the carpets have been bothering me a lot. I thought maybe it is time to replace them but I do not have the funds for that, nor do I want the upheaval that would bring right now.  After reading the reviews on the carpet cleaner I took a chance and purchased the one in the photo below.  I was so eager to find out if it worked well and I didn't even take the time to pre-treat stains.  I have to say I am very pleased with the results.  In the photo you can see the reservoir of dirty water after cleaning the high traffic areas in the front room.  I intend to do another more thorough cleaning before I decorate for Christmas.

Update on Kenyan Missions

Eunice continues to be in private hospital in Nakuru.  She hasn't improved much in the almost two years she has been there though we continue to hope and pray for more improvement.  I guess one would say she is more or less stable though from time to time she has a downturn and needs blood and other medical interventions and medicines.  We still hope to move her to her hometown.  However it is yet to be determined when and how, or even if, it will be  physically possible once we find a spot for her in Kericho town.

Some of you might remember Ernest who got run down by a motor vehicle last Spring. He recovered with the help of a donor who reads this blog though his recovery was very slow.  A few short months after his full recovery he suffered a bad slip in the mud.  He fell and fractured his leg. Due to him trying to break his fall, he also suffered a dislocated joint. He was attended to at the local hospital and was recovering at home. On the day he was to have his plaster removed it was discovered that his leg was very inflamed and that he had a blood clot. They tried to help him at the local hospital but in the end transported him to the missions hospital near Bomet. The doctors there were able to help him though it was touch and go for awhile. He is now back and home and will be getting daily physiotherapy with the help of his brother.

Pastor Jonah also did not go unscathed. He had a terrible cold and some kind of infection. At first we were afraid it might be Covid,but thankfully the tests were returned negative. Instead he had some kind of bacterial infection which cleared up after a week of medicines.  I think this is the same bug I had when I last travelled to Kenya though Jonah also had a very bad cough.  Sadly, a cousin to Jonah also lost her husband to cancer this past week so it has been a very sad week for the family.

I've heard from my sponsored boys in Kenya and Ethiopia. Sadly, John who is the eldest, lost his mother to a brain tumour. She had been sick for a few years but I didn't know that she had a brain tumour. The boy's family is now preparing to lay the mom to rest. Thankfully the children and their father are not sick.  

Ian, the other boy I sponsor lives in Solai near Nakuru.  He too is doing okay. 

Wondimu, the third boy is from Ethiopia and he and his family are also fine. 

I give thanks that all the boys hey are safe during these challenging times. My heart aches for John and his little brother. They are so young and now have to go without the love of their mother. At least they have a father who seems active in their care. I think the father has had to take a bigger role than usual in the care of the children due to the mother's long term illness.  I know the father himself has been going through a tough time emotionally. No doubt the stresses and concerns of his late wife's illness over many years has caused him both emotional and financial stress.

Last but not least, the young Engineering graduate I was hoping would come to Canada to study was accepted for admittance into the Engineering Board of Kenya. He had to pay an application fee and wait for 4-6 weeks after submitting documentation. Then the Board wrote to him to let him know he was accepted and to provide registration instructions.  In a few weeks he should be fully recognized as an engineer in Kenya.

With this post and updates, I say a final goodbye to October.  It's been a good month for me despite the challenges we all face, the delays involved in dealing with my personal business and the issues faced by those I care about. I pray that November will be an even better month, not just for me but for those in Kenya, my family members and loved ones near and far and all of you dear readers. Stay safe.

 Thank you to those of you who pray for and support the missions in Kenya. May God richly bless you and enlarge your territories.

This & That

(It's a long post today.)

Weather continues to be very warm here and life continues to be busy.

Yesterday I was catching up on laundry, going to the Diabetes Clinic, meeting a old friend for lunch and making countless phone calls concerning my mother's medical needs. There are many things she needs that are not supplied by the new facility amd we have to go through insurance to get them.  The facility where she now lives is privately owned and very new so they have absolutely nothing on hand to properly look after someone with complex care needs.  I was not prepared for that and no one told us that before the move so that things could be properly prepared.  When mom moved in, I learned that the Occupational Therapist (OT) was not yet on board and so that meant mom had to wait several weeks to get a proper assessment in order to get the medical supplies that she really needs or uses. Needless to say she has been in tremendous pain and discomfort since Day 1 and sadly, I've seen her health and state of mind begin to deteriorate rather rapidly.

The OT started last week and she is moving as fast as she can on getting a new wheelchair but there are many other things that mom needs and so I've gotten involved.  Please keep us in prayer and especially my mother. I'm hoping we can alleviate some of her distress and discomfort very soon. I'm working with multiple parties to try and make it so. At least if mom can see some progress she will feel encouraged and her spirits will be lifted. Trust me, it is taking all my time and stamina at a very busy time and when I am not feeling entirely up to it.

But I thank God that today things seem to be moving in the right direction.  I needed this day as I've been feeling quite stressed and struggling to pace myself, get adequate reset and stay grounded.  First, I talked to a pastor that mom asked me a few days ago to call.  I couldn't call sooner because I had a guest earlier this week.  The pastor wanted me to call her and explain what mom is dealing with so she can pray more specifically.  I've talked to this pastor once before and she is such a kind and down to earth woman.  It was a delight to speak with her again and  to know that we have her prayer support at this stressful time.  She said she would like to call my mother every week and I was overjoyed! Mom will love that since the new facility where she lives has no Sunday church services.

Flowers from a community garden.

I was also able to make contact with the insurance provider to determine what they need in order to approve  new electronic wheelchair my mother needs.  Since electronic wheelchairs are incredibly expensive, it requires all kinds of paperwork and reports to be in good order before such a device is approved.  If everything is properly done, approval can be done within a week which is quite rapid.  But if things are not done right, it can delay things considerably.  Fortunately the person I spoke with today told me exactly what is required and hopefully the OT will not be offended when I try to work with her to ensure that all goes smoothly.  I feel I must get involved for my mother's sake.  I know from experience of getting mother's first wheelchair that I had to get involved then too or mother never would have gotten her wheelchair.  Despite the reports and recommendations that were made on her behalf at that time, it took me writing a letter on her behalf to justify why mother needed such a wheelchair.  Once we got the approval, it still took 8 months to get the wheelchair from the provider.

I am praying the time will be reduced as she is dire need of proper support.  I was told by one service provider employee today that it should never take 8 months and that the longest he has ever seen a person wait is 2 months.  This was good information  and gives me a guidelines.  Of course the order for the new chair will not go through the service provider who took 8 months the first time round.

In addition to a wheelchair mom needs several other items (parachute sling, trapeze, etc.) to help the staff help mom in the daily work of getting her ready for the day and for bed at night.  Private facilities don't seem to have any equipment for their residents. I guess everyone has to buy their own unlike government run facilities which provide a lot of basic things like trapezes, commodes, over the bed table trays, etc.

Other needs include finding an over bed table or two and an appropriate mattress topper to prevent pressure sores. These items do not seem to be covered by the national insurance plan and so I'm exploring other options.  For example, I learned that the Canadian Red Cross can loan over the bed tables but so far I haven't found out where I can get an appropriate mattress topper.  The insurance plan seems to classify mattresses as "furniture" even though some of them are medical devices to prevent pressure sores.

I do not want the insurance plan to purchase everything because I do not want to have to deal with them when mom no longer needs them.  Also if I end up having to move her again, I really do not want to have to move all the medical equipment with us. It would be better if some things could be rented though the wheelchair will probably be purchased.  I may be asking too much as the OT and supplier are used to doing things between themselves and not involving family in whether to purchase or rent items. I will interject myself as much as I can since I am the one who has to deal with the aftermath. It would be so much better if these places could simply involve family members but they don't seem to unless you call them. Even then it is "touch and go" as to whether they will actually listen to you.

I've had to learn a lot about facilities and medical suppliers, insurance policies and multi-government regulations since mom first became incapacitated and needed more support than I could provide.  I've learned that this whole area is a very complicated field.  I've also learned that everything that a senior person needs by way of medical devices is astronomically priced and the industry must be raking in the money with all the seniors and baby boomers who are going to be retiring in these kinds of places.  Seniors have very little say in what goes on even when residence claim to put "resident's first".  There are also a lot of appalling things that go on in these places.  If I can avoid going into one of these homes myself in future, I will but sometimes it cannot be helped.  Therefore, I now try to help other aging friends facing these kinds of decisions in the next few years. Most people don't want to even discuss or contemplate such moves while they have the capacity to do so.

Though I spent a lot of time on the phone today on medical things, I also did other mundane things. I made dinner and found some time to replenish the vegetable bins. If I'm up to it, I like to wash all the vegetables and peel what I can before storing them in the crisper for use. I don't do this task every time I purchase vegetables but it makes so much of a difference when I do. I also eat more raw carrots and celery sticks when they are already clean and stored in the crisper.

Special crispers I purchased for vegetables since I often have too many for my one big crisper.

This is my one large vegetable crisper. I use the other one for fruits and vegetable "overflow".

I washed my spinach in the salad spinner.  This helps to get the excess water out before I dry them off with a towel and put them into my small crispers.

It is now the weekend and I have to get some bloodwork done tomorrow. I hope to be able to get some cleaning done too so next week I can catch up on things and friends outside of the house and continue to deal with mom's medical needs.  It is still very hot here so I don't feel like doing too much in the heat of the day. It is cooler at night and so I am now about to wash my kitchen floor. It will be good to wake up to a nice clean floor.

I'm tempted to stop off for a foot massage tomorrow if I can get an appointment with one particular person who I've found is the best so far. If he isn't available, I will save my money as the cost adds up. I've had three massages already this month! Only 1 of them was really worth it.  In case you are interested I'm posting a chart of the different areas of the feet that correspond with different parts of your body.

Image from Acumats which sells mats you can stand on to massage different parts of your feet.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Have Slices? Will Bag!

I want to say a big thank you to all of my new followers. You are all appreciated. I hope you will not just pass by once but come again and come often. It would be great too if you leave comments or check out some of my older posts.  If you see any problems like photos that aren't where they should be, let me know so I can "fix" it.

I promise, I'll be by to visit you soon.  If I take the time to read your posts, I will also take the time to comment.

<<<<<<~>>>>>>

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.

Acts 2:46

I have a meat slicer which I inherited from my mother last year and I've never used it.  I was wondering if it would do the job of slicing the bread I made on Monday (see post here).

I brought it down from the upper cabinet, washed it up and used it. It took me awhile to remember that you need to hold down two buttons at once and move the bread at the same time. The slicing was no problem, once I got the hang of it.

I'm rather pleased with the results.  The 4 loaves of bread will last all month.

I was able to get 17 slices out of the larger loaves, and 12 slices out of the smaller loaves. I froze the two larger loaves and kept the smaller loaf out for use. The 4th loaf has been sliced with a knife on an as needed basis. I'm guessing that slicing the bread with the slicer makes more slices so the loaf of bread would last longer. But I can't compare the two methods since I didn't count the slices from the loaf I am slicing manually.  In any case, I far prefer the machine slicing method! The loaf at the top of the photo (below) was already in the freezer when I decided it needed a photo opportunity, lol.

The bread crumbs will be dried and added to my bread crumb "bag".

In other news, I haven't been very good about tending to my garden because we are getting enough rain to keep it nicely water.  The garden is giving me pleasure with it's brightly coloured flowers and nice shades of green leaves.  The herbs grow far too fast for me to use them all.  The very tall plant to the lower right of the bird bath is parsley. I didn't know it could grow so tall!

The bird bath needs to be cleaned every now and then as all the blossoms from the tree above it get in the water.  But the little birds love to come and splash on a sunny day. You can see there are a few clouds in the sky but overall the day was bright and hot. It's back to rain on Friday. It saves me from watering the plants.

Submission for SkyWatch Friday. Please check in there and see submissions from around the world.

Basic White Bread

I'm still looking for my favourite bread recipe. One day, I will try making artisan bread because I love crunchy, chewy bread.  For now I am still making the traditional bread loaves and experimenting with different recipes. I often substitute whole wheat or multi-grain flour for some of the white flour in the recipes because of my diabetes.  But in this batch, I only used unbleached white flour. The recipe is from the Robin Hood (maker of flour) website.

Ingredients:

1 tsp (5 mL) sugar
1/2 cup (125 mL) water, warm
1 envelope (8 g) active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp/11 mL)
1 cup (250 mL) milk
2 tbsp (30 mL) butter or margarine
2 tbsp (30 mL) sugar
1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) salt
1/2 cup (125 mL) water, warm
5 1/2 cups (1375 mL) white flour

Directions:

1. DISSOLVE 1 teaspoon (5 mL) sugar in 1/2 cup (125 mL) warm water in large bowl. Sprinkle in yeast. Let stand 10 minutes, then stir well.
2. HEAT milk to lukewarm. Stir in butter, 2 tablespoons (30 mL) sugar, salt and 1/2 cup (125 mL) warm water. Add milk mixture and 2 cups (500 mL) white flour to dissolved yeast mixture. Beat with wooden spoon or electric mixer until smooth and elastic.
3. STIR IN 2 1/2 cups (625 mL) of remaining flour gradually. If necessary, add more flour to make a soft dough which leaves sides of bowl. Turn out on floured board. Round up into a ball.
4. KNEAD dough, adding more flour as necessary, until dough is smooth, elastic and no longer sticky (about 10 minutes).
5. PLACE in lightly greased bowl. Turn dough to greased top. Cover with greased waxed paper and tea towel.
6. LET RISE in warm place (75°-85°F/24°-29°C) until doubled (45-60 minutes).
7. PUNCH DOWN. Turn out onto lightly floured board and divide into 2 equal portions. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
8. SHAPE each portion into a loaf. Place seam side down in 2 greased 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" x 2 3/4" (1.5 L) loaf pans. Cover with tea towel.

The bread dough is ready for it's second rise.  I guess I could have made the loves nice and neat and smoother but I think these will taste the same *wink.

9. LET RISE in warm place until dough rises 1 1/2" (3 cm) above top of pan in centre and corners are filled (45 to 60 minutes).
10. BAKE at 400°F (200°C) on lower oven rack for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from pans immediately. Brush top crust with butter if a soft crust is desired. Cool on wire racks.
11. QUICK NOTE: This recipe makes 2 loaves. You can double the recipe to make 4 loaves.

Cooling the bread. I think it turned out nicely. I gave it a taste test after cooling.
The bread was delicious. It was also soft and moist without being full of air.

Nutritional Information
Servings Per Recipe	8
Per 2 slices (85 g)
Calories	214
Protein	6.9 g
Fat	3.4 g
Saturated Fat	1.9 gm
Carbohydrate	38.9 g
Fibre	1.1 g
Sodium	451 mg
Cholesterol	8 mg
Vitamin A	3 %DV
Vitamin C	0 %DV
Calcium	0 %DV
Iron	12 %DV

 
These did not last very long because the loaves were small. I also made two larger, multi-grain loaves later in the week. Those will last a little longer.

How about you dear reader?
Do you have an easy bread recipe that you believe is tried and true?
I'd love to hear about it.