Whoosh: Patrick, baking and blizzard preparations + prayer request

I woke up to the Blizzard Watch being a Blizzard Warning for

our part of New Jersey and for NYC.

I've been working on prep since Saturday, when I made a soup.

Today I got my baking done.

2 tins of vegan! chocolate chip cookies;

two loaves of bread + 6 rolls;

4 small tins of Koek, 1 medium, 1 large.

I moved veggie burgers, English muffins, batteries up

from our garage freezer as we have no indoor door to it

and the snow may block us from getting in, etc. 

I have jars of filtered water; we filled the tub

for toilet flushing, if we lose power;

we have lots of wool blankets; Mr Husband bought a 

hot water bottle, as if we lose power but not gas, we will

still have our stove top to heat water.

Mr Husband bought gauze and medical tape...

he burned his wrist when he put it over the 

electric kettle that does not whistle and had 

steam coming out of it; it's a second degree burn, 

blistering... it does not hurt him now, but was quite painful last night.

We have a shovel upstairs if needed; 

we could get up to 24 inches of snow.

I ordered a new phone battery bank (a portable charger for the phone) on 

Saturday and impressively Amazon delivered it the next day...

we have an older phone charger as well, both are charged,

our phones are charging, my digital camera batteries are charged...

We have done everything we can think of...

We will see what happens.....

***

We were at Patrick's after church,

we worked the afternoon and evening,

with a nice dinner break.

We ended up not getting home till 10 PM,

then my Husband had his wrist burnt,

after we were putting away the things that we brought from

Patrick's home; it was a good but intense (emotionally) time.

The beautiful lamp in the picture above is from Patrick's study.

It's such a treasure; we worked on the kitchen a bit and 

I was given a beautiful silver coloured bread basket, some

kitchen things and some baking tins.

I treasure them and have used the two bread tins 2x already today.

It feels like such a good way to honour and love Patrick,

as we miss him and keep praying for him...

I can't stress what a special time yesterday was for us...

***

So, Mr Husband got home, was doing fine, we had dinner,

did some things, (Koek baking for me!), and then did our prayers.

And then I found out that for the last hour or so, my dear Husband's

throat has been sore.

This really worries me.... he got the flu last March, in Lent,

and it began with a sore throat.

He went to bed already with it still being sore.

He had his first full time week last week...

as you may remember, he was sick full time 5 weeks and then

on half time 2 weeks... for flu and subsequent illnesses. 

***

Please pray that he (and myself) do not fall ill...

***

We are as ready as we can be for the storm that is coming.

Now we pray and wait. 

***

I am remembering again the three prayers Elizabeth Goudge writes of:

Lord I adore

Into Thy Hands

Lord have mercy.

A dinner with 'out takes' and preparing for a storm

I had dear friends over for dinner last

Thursday night...

I kept looking at the table in puzzlement,

thinking to myself,

all the food is there, but what is missing?

Potato with fried onions and goat cheese,

another ginger lemon chicken...

Salad (brought by friends!), orange juice and honey glazed carrots,

my 'Theophany dishes'...

It was not until a few minutes that I realized

that I had wine in the fridge to put out

and I got my answer!

drinking glasses! I forgot them!

And napkins :)

Phew, that explained it all!

It was a lovely meal with such

good friends and gentle, worthy and real conversation. 

There, with glasses. :)

All better...

*

Well, Cleo and I are preparing for the snow storm we 

are said to be getting.

She's preparing by making daring and funny leaps 

onto furniture...

*

Actually she did the funniest thing last night, 

too bad I did not get a picture...

Mr. Husband and I were eating a lovely meal of 

the left over ginger lemon chicken, 

with some mashed potatoes (with butter and soup cream!)

and salad and there was Cleo on the

very top of the seat back of our chair by the kitchen island counter

standing as tall as she could looking down at our meal

with great interest, her eyes as wide as can be.

Mr. Husband, knowing her to be a sneaky thief of food,

and now seeing her so blatantly looking,

gently but quickly stomped his foot and she scurried away...

a bit behind my dining chair, still looking!!!

So funny.

*

Anyway, I am doing lots of wash

at present and am planning on baking bread soon,

making this week's smoothie, 

watching the weather (all window shades are open in my living/dining area!) 

and praying.

I am also planning on getting out our blessed Candle-mas candles that 

are for times of trouble, strife or storm.

I won't use them until the snow really hits...

*

Meanwhile, I also have to relight many of my lampadas,

but do have some candles faithfully burning meanwhile.

*

My only request for this storm is two fold:

1. no injuries or death of anyone

2. that power does not go out.

*

Please join me in prayer for this and for all those who are 

suffering today!

The Bread is Beautiful and the Snow Plentiful

Forgot to mention...
I got the email suggesting our house blessing
be rescheduled for another day.
*
With the amount of snow coming down
and the drive that would have to be done
by many to have this blessing
it is not worth the risk, danger, etc.
*
So we will be rescheduling...
*
Meanwhile,
the bread is baked
and Mr. Husband and I each had 1 slice
hot out of the oven
with raspberry jam!
*
Here it is risen,
unbaked...

I did a new for me thing
and used our pizza stone to bake them on,
with the parchment paper underneath,
and under the pizza stone,
a Pyrex casserole dish with boiling water
in it,
both of which were in the oven when
I turned it one for the 30 minute preheat. 

The parchment paper was a bit too long... :)
But no fires, no burning, no problems! :)

The secret to the golden bread
I mentioned in my first sour dough bread post:
brush the just hot out of the oven
bread with olive oil.
*
Before I did this,
it was a pale pale golden hue. 

I was looking at the bread
freshly baked and was puzzled...
something was different...
*
Then I realized that I had forgotten
to pierce the tops!
Oops...
so this one cracked open,
the other did not...
*
These two loaves were denser
than some of my other sour dough loaves;
but I think that the dough may not of risen as high
during the first rising time...
*
There can be all different factors...
and I read in this blog post
that Gretchen Joanna posted
that weather can influence baking and that
sunny days help the bread rise more...
*
I also used a pizza stone and
had water underneath;
another way to do it,
that I did with the cranberry orange bread,
is to open the oven and spray water in...
So many things to experiment with... 

But still,
the bread was good!

Now I just need a soup to go with it
or another hot dish...
*
If we have power tomorrow,
I am thinking of baking a baked chicken with
milk/cream sauce that I have not
done before...

Meanwhile,
the snow keeps coming down.

 

But we know where our hope is:
our faithful loving Saviour
and Lord
Jesus Christ.

Ready, Set, Go

 Cleo and I are ready!
The storm can come.
Mr. Husband is on his way home. 

 

 I went to the store twice
with my red cart
and got many good supplies.
*
What's more, I found these recipes,
Since I have a gas stove and
if we lose power
like when Hurricane Sandy struck
we still have our gas stove
but not the oven due to the electrical panel
to start it and not wishing to hurt our selves
trying to light the oven.
*
I found:
Stove-top raisin bread pudding
(I would have to use cranraisins for Mr. Husband
does not care for raisins baked)
*
Stove-top traditional Irish soda bread
*
Stove-top raisin bread
(That I could use cranraisins for too)
*
I had so regretted not having
any bread recipes when we had no power
for almost three days...
*
With my smart phone
I can access these recipes and if I have a chance
I will write them or print them tonight as well...
*
Now the question is if we will have the house blessing
or not...
After seeing this alert...I am not sure if it will
happen, as some would have to travel a
great distance to get to Mr. Husband and I's place...
*
As my Mom tells me,
prepare and put your trust in the Lord!
Prayers requested!