A lovely gift from Tuo knives~

 

As you know I quite like Instagram..you just learn so much.

This week..Tuo Cutlery wrote to me.

I guess they had noticed I have baked quite a bit of bread recently and offered to send me one of their bread knives.

I mean..Look.

I've never owned anything like this cutlery wise.

My mom's pieces are my heart treasures..

But in my normal life..I do have some good knives..

But nothing compares to this.

How nice is it to be offered something so special.

I am not bragging.I am grateful.

This knife is the best bread knife ever:)

The day I received it..yesterday:)  I made Suzie's bread from the blog and IG account .I have to tell you I love her book Baked..

I have reviewed it here..

This bread above I whipped up in the aft..a Muffeletta baguette.

Worked like a charm.

She had posted a story/video on IG.

You can ask this busy girl anything..she answers.

Nice nice person.

King City,Ontario.A Canadian gal.

The mousse you see there is EXCELLENT..so funny I had made it yesterday morn after doing groceries.

Keeper list.

Ricardo's Chicken Liver Mousse with Maple Syrup and Brandy.

Easy peasy delish.

The same day..(busy)..I made Suzie's date squares and tried to warm up w/ tea after my morning IGA run..

On most days:)

And to be 100% truthful..pre-covid.

Footnote..watched the inauguration and this Canadian girl had tears.

Many moments.

Is that strange?:)It just looked and felt right and hopeful for all.

All started with Lady Gaga:)

I have to end with Amanda Gorman.

I won't go over and over every little bit..of everything..

The Bernie Sanders   thing is being overdone...IMHO give the guy a break..you're either underdressed or overdressed..Memes everywhere.

A little disrespectful in some cases.

Just my humble opinion.

Take care..mask up..

♥

I loved my Crayolas..my Prismacolors..

 

The only thing that changed..the supplies..I still love playing with art supplies;)

I discovered Roisin Cure on Instagram..and have been stalking her:)

I finally clicked in to a zoom class after purchasing her book..It arrived end of December so perfect timing.

I loved it ...

I took a second class:)

Faces..

These are the only 3 I can show..they are in her book and we draw along with her..

Again I loved the class but I need practice..

Visibly

So I sent this to Caroline..Fred took this pic of Oli ..we had bumped into them..12 ft apart on the golf course and I asked Fred to take a pic..feeling cocky with my new class.

OHLALA..I will practice tons..before trying new things..

I had attached the note to Caroline..Didn't want to scare Oli.

I took a pic through our widow of "pops" and his two boys..

Roisin can paint true to life portraits..botanicals..etc but her first love I think is Urban Sketching..quick..expressive..to make memories..That's one of the things I love to do..

I like practicing things from fave books too.

I hope this shows you that ANYONE can paint.Sincerely and seriously.And the materials to start with are not expensive.

Just have fun.

You don't have to paint perfectly to get a memory saved.

Sinceriously:)

Above fabulous No-Knead Olive Bread..Sinceriously easy!

You can find the recipe here..

So this is how we go for a walk..  here..

Does this look normal to you? Grandad is ahead of Lucas so more than 6 ft separate them OUTSIDE.

All you entitled people ..not wearing masks getting together..in groups..

I am not impressed.
I've  not hugged my family since March..we've not been in each their homes since March.

Get it?

Why can you go on vacations? Get together?

Jump in cars together no masks..

I saw Bruce Willis shopping NO MASK.

I saw a video of Sylvester Stallone IN his home w/ AL Pacino as a guest..NO masks..Guy Fieri cooking for them.

So impressed.

If you want a distraction from all that is wrong right now..

I recommend..

I loved the first epi and look forward to them all.

I mean I still like Your Honor..lol..

but this is an escape to pure bliss.

The cinematography..the cast..the cute animals..the beautiful countryside..

It's Call The Midwife for animals I said to J..:)

New Lockdown~Curfew~

 

Bread ..the staff of life...

 

The bread is Ricardo's no knead..for NYE I just wanted a small grazing/charcuterie board..so bread was called for..and I love warmed Naan for hummus etc..these Naans WORKED..I have tried others ..and the consistency was not right for me..

None other than Half Baked Harvest 's delicious recipe.

Oh I love her pics..food..videos:)

Twice in the past month I have tried sourdough starters to no avail..

Mind you our home is not kept at 80F..

I don't know why I am intent (obsessed..) at making a sourdough bread..the no -kneads are GREAT and crusty and holey and beautiful.

I have a few recipes..and vary but mostly I Ricardo it..

So I Googled and proofing boxes were like $180 US and discontinued..

My oven..the light is not warm enough..

So Jacques had an outdoor wall fixture..flat..so perfect to be on the counter..I had no storage bins that were empty(of course)..but we have buckets lol and a thermometer.

So it seems to work..my starters are so far no discard starters..only..

and mostly RYE flour and filtered water..my starter recipe was found here..

I have tried one dry starter to no avail..trying again thanks to two wonderful long time friends..Once it works..I'll come back :)

I found a beautiful feed on IG..actually my daughter Caroline found her on Tik Tok ..sent me a photo of a gorgeous bread and said make 2..well my no-kneads don't hold shapes like this at all  so I was determined and I had dear enablers  who had encouraged me and I had let them down..I had to persevere;)

So it's pretty but not high enough..It was good..had holes..but dense..I'll keep on till I get it:)I should have left it in fridge 24 hrs.

You can find Barb..on IG at Barbsbeautifulbread!If I add an IG link here my whole account appears...

Then I made Alexandra's Easy Sourdough Bread..

It's ok..but I want a way better crumb..lol..

and no knead is soooooo easy..but I love me a challenge.

I will keep at it because I have Hope In a Jar 3 under that bucket as I type and Dough-Re-Mi..:)

But..if you don't want all the fermentation periods apart from one overnight on the counter..Ricardo and all the other no-kneads ..then no kneads are great....are GREAT.

So funny why do I play with bread in DARK clothes and garden in pale?

Why don't I pull the oven rack out to lift the cast iron lid to check?It would be smart and then I would not burn the top of my mitts..

I need to re-adjust.

I don't like to say look what I have ..look what I got..except garlic and flowers and cookie cutters..but look what I received..the plushest warmest blanket..this is my journal..I lost most of the pics..starting over ..so I am taking 3 small liberties..It's full size..the quality of all pics is exceptional.Shutterfly.

And these handmade ornaments:)

On lockdown for an additional month here.

Took my x country skis out.

You know what happens when you have not done it in a few yrs..(we showshoe)..your balance is off and unlike being younger you are no longer fearless:(

Take care.