Sunday, April 19, 2020

Simple Pleasures by Annette Dashofy


How are you all doing? I hope you’re staying well and staying sane.

Two weeks ago when I blogged here, I wrote about my grand plan for getting through this out-of-control time. Today, I confess I’ve only had partial success. I’ve maintained my morning yoga practice, which is often the most peaceful part of my day. I’ve been getting out and walking on our ten acres, spending time on the bank of our creek. 



Unfortunately, those creekside walks are quickly coming to an end. The briars and brambles are weaving a natural barricade to my access. The grass in the pasture is getting tall and providing perfect hiding spots for ticks.

Funny how Lyme Disease has taken a backseat to other terrors this year.

The spring-cleaning part of my plan, especially the decluttering part, has failed. When I decide to toss stuff, I need a place where I can repurpose it. DVDs and (a few) books go to the library. Except the library is closed. Other items go to charities like Goodwill.

Except they’re closed too.

I started clearing and making piles…and then realized those piles with nowhere to go looked worse than the cluttered shelves and closets.

So I’ve put the brakes on decluttering.

It’s still too chilly to power wash the porch or plant flowers, but I do look forward to both those chores.

Instead, I’ve found peace in the simpler things. Reading a novel or how-to book. 

Playing and cuddling with Kensi Kitty. Baking bread.

Ahhh… Baking bread.

I have a bread machine which takes up too much space on my counter. The bread it creates somehow makes my jeans shrink. So I’ve kept it packed away unless I receive requests from family for a loaf.

Since very early on in this quarantined state, I’ve been intent on baking my own bread. Those first weeks of TP panic also cleared the store’s shelves of baked goods. And of yeast. Store-bought bread soon became available. Yeast? Not so much. Apparently, I wasn’t alone in my desire for fresh carbs.

This week, my husband, whose job is deemed essential and who has been dutifully going off to work Monday through Friday, stopped at our small Amish grocery on his way home and snagged two bulk packages of yeast! One for me and one for his mother, a home baker from way back (no machines for her!)


The part that made me laugh hysterically? That same day, I’d placed an order on Amazon for yeast!

Yes, I’m going to be making a lot of bread around here.

Even though I have the machine and don’t have to knead the dough, I find the process soothing. Perhaps it isn’t the process but rather the smell. Seriously, does anything smell quite as delectable as baking bread?


And then there’s the anticipation. Waiting for that golden-crusted loaf to come out of the machine…the soft crackling sound of carving into it…the way the butter melts on the warm end slice…


Heaven.

My closets may remain cluttered for a while yet, but in the meantime, I’m embracing the little things. Simple pleasures. A purring cat. Some morning stretching. A loaf of bread.


What simple pleasures have you rediscovered during these crazy times?

14 comments:

  1. Yum, now I'm hungry and Amazon is not shipping bread machines for weeks.

    Simple pleasures at a time when life is upside down are the best. Touchstones to comfort us and give us hope.

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  2. Instead of watching TV, we tune into a Metropolitan opera HD production, a different one each evening. "We" includes two standard poodles, the puppy getting a real eyeful of operatic antics. Sword fights, murders, and suicides. Friday night, we watched "Phantom of the Opera", a 2011 anniversary production from Royal Albert Hall.

    Metopera.org

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  3. I've enjoyed the videos of your local creek. Nothing soothes me like a bubbling brook or creek, especially ones with large river rocks. I've been taking walks in the evening with my cell phone, and each time I call a friend I haven't talked to in a long time. I've been catching up with friends that I usually hear from only at Christmas time. I've also been calling friends who live on their own. Talking to someone takes my mind off my walk and makes me walk further, and it helps me connect with others.

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  4. Kait, I guess everyone has the same idea. Comfort food.

    Margaret, the arts are a wonderful distraction.

    Grace, I'm glad you enjoyed the creek videos. It's been too cold and wet out for me to get back down there, and I may need a machete now. As for talking with friends, YES. Doing it while walking is brilliant!

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  5. I made a sourdough starter to guard against the yeast shortage (I think a lot of people are buying yeast up to brew beer, in addition to the bakers, old and new.) Fortunately I had some unbleached flour to use, which makes a quicker and possibly more tasty starter than bleached.

    So far, we've made bread, pizza dough, pancakes (with the discard from the starter) and banana bread from it.

    I use a bread machine, but I don't usually bake in it. I set it for dough only, & remove it when the dough's ready to shape & rise the last time.

    The sourdough takes much longer to rise, so I start it around noon to have fresh bread for dinner.

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  6. I'm impressed that you found something to take your energy out on.. the bread dough. We started the decluttering and you are so right... the more clutter removed, the more cluttered things look because they're not hidden anymore.

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  7. KM, I love sourdough and am toying with the idea of making starter. I haven't made pizza dough recently but you've made me think I need to!

    Debra, I intend to get back to decluttering once the libraries and Goodwill stores start re-opening. I fear they'll be overwhelmed with donations though.

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  8. I love the comfort of this post, Annette. To me, making bread is not a simple pleasure, but I'm glad it is for you! I made one perfect loaf of bread in junior high school home ec class and decided to retire at the top of my game. My teacher was so impressed with it--no tunnels, perfect texture. I'm so sorry the ticks are keeping you from strolling your acreage. That's tough. Glad you have warm bread!

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  9. But the kneading is the best part of making bread! Feeling the dough shift from sticky to elastic, getting to squeeze and pound it into shape. Real tactile fun.

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  10. Delicious post! Someone said they got yeast from a bakery that had extra, and a chef friend made her own sourdough starter, capturing spores in the wild. We seem to be reclaiming old skills.
    I, however, am practicing mindful laziness, and reading and reviewing. ;-) I have a stack of books, for which the library has now extended the due date to July, but they hadn't managed to get UNDER THE RADAR to me before shutdown, so it became one of my rare purchases . . . and worth it. Still trying to get Amazon to value my reviews, but I have posted on Goodreads and my own storytellermary.com site. We get by however we can, and as a wise gentleman told me, "any day I see the grass from THIS side is a good day." <3

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  11. Kaye, I have very hit or miss experience with making bread by hand. It's the machine that makes it a "simple" pleasure.

    Gina, you're right of course. But I limit my kneading to occasionally making dough for pizza.

    Mary, I am deeply grateful that you purchased Under the Radar. I'm honored. Amazon can be a real pain where reviews are concerned.

    Marilyn, go get a snack! :-P

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  12. Annette,

    I started the Keto diet a couple of weeks before we were told to stay home. I didn't feel more energetic, and I didn't lose weight. So last week I began to eat bread again. My mood lifted right away. After a few days, my joints began hurting, and my stomach ached. So, I guess I'm going to 'virtually' enjoy your bread but go back to Keto to see if it's my imagination or not.

    One of my simple pleasures is walking, and I'm noticing more birds and flowers. My husband works in health care, so I'm taking time to make creative dinners for him. We also found our backgammon game and have started playing it again.

    Thanks for your post today and the reminder not to forget simple pleasures.

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  13. Jackie, please thank your husband for his work in health care, especially in times like these.

    Those walks are wonderful for reminding us that nature is blissfully unaware of our woes.

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