e*clec*tic

On my way home this morning from a night spent with some awesome friends. I noticed how eclectic my neighborhood was. Then I realized that and the innate charm of my house is probably what drew me to this street. It makes me happy and this time of year there is a week or two that my street is the most beautiful place in the world. All the trees pop out in blooms around the same time and the Camilla bushes still have their blossoms so there is just a riot of color and texture assaulting your senses as you drive down the road. Reminds me of the 4th of July.

It is a rainy day. Last night the moon was 99% full and beautiful. It looks like there won't be an encore performance tonight. I think the other day Weather Bug predicted a few days of rain. I try and not worry to awful much about what the weather is GOING to be and instead focus on the day ... Well the day has come and it seems they were actually right this time. So I'm thinking lazy day.

When I got home this morning I went to start the brisket but realized I needed the big crockpot and it was in the guest room behind the residing guest's dog cage ... So change of plans. I didn't want to wake either one up since said guest had been out last night also with a different set of friends and I wasn't sure when they were headed back north today.

No problem, in fact it worked out better making the Irish Stew today because that recipe actually doesn't call for a crockpot. So said stew is stewing away and I will start the Irish Soda Bread in about an hour. The recipe say it takes two hours. An early dinner on Sunday is nice. I'll get everything together to do the brisket this afternoon and just pull it out of the fridge and set it to cooking when I leave for work in the morning.

Ok, I made the olive, bacon cheese bread. G liked it, I was disappointed. To be fair I didn't completely follow the recipe. It called for 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour ... In eating clean, all purpose flour isn't on the list ... So I substituted 1 1/2 cups of all purpose for whole wheat. Not sure how much of a difference that made since I did shift it. The other change was ... lol ... I used Cabernet Sauvignon, red wine, in place of white wine. That was all my fault, I grabbed a Merlot for a dinner and I grabbed a white or what I thought was a white and was the Cabernet for the bread recipe. So when I uncorked it and measured it out ... SURPRISE, red. It made the dough darkish and kind of creepy. Lol ... Again that could have been all in my mind, but it sure didn't look like the picture. Would that have changed the taste that much? Who knows. It never specified a certain kind of white wine and there are plenty I don't like, I do on the other like Cabernet Sauvignon.

Bread is in the oven. It has to cook for an hour then sit for another half hour to cool off. There is a step or direction in the soda bread recipe that states ... "Once it's out of the oven, let it cool. This is an important step! The gluten proteins need to set, so the bread is fluffy (not gummy) when cut." Hmmm. Maybe that is what happened to the Olive, Bacon & Cheese Bread...?

 

“May you always have

Walls for the winds,

A roof for the rain,

Tea beside the fire,

Laughter to cheer you,

Those you love near you,

And all your heart might desire!”

 

Taste testing the stew it is soo yummy can't wait to eat!

e*clec*tic ; a combination of many different individual elements of the styles, themes, mediums or inspirations pooled from many sources. I love this word. If you were privy to my Facebook page under Religious Views you would see the word, Eclectic. If you every had the chance to stop by and visit you would say my house has a very eclectic style. Inside my head is filled with thoughts and images that are extremely eclectic. If you looked my name up in the dictionary the definition would be eclectic. I am this word!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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