A lovely volunteer Poppy in the garden bed!

Hi,

Just sharing some pretty Poppy photos! We didn't have as many nice poppies this year, but the last one is beautiful! It was a volunteer Florist Pepperbox Breadseed Poppy (seeds of original plant were from Baker Creek seeds)! 

Here are some photos:

Hope this brightens your day a bit!

Many Blessings,

Denise A. Buchwalter-Losczyk

A few souvenirs from London!

Greetings!

Finally taking time to post about our London trip this year! We enjoyed our Rick Steve's London 7 day trip last year, so we decided to return this year. Be sure to carry a RFID protected wallet for your cards. Last year we had one card scanned, and we hadn't even removed it from the wallet it was in. This year we both had protected wallets. 

It was a busy, fun trip. We planned it ourselves this time. We experienced a lot of new things, and discovered we are a bit more achy when walking! The things we enjoyed the most were the theatre shows we went to, and also shopping at a market, and at the local grocery stores. 

The sites were nice that we visited, but everything seems to be spread further apart - so lots of walking. We discovered that it is easier taking the bus, than going up and down subway stairs now. A few things to deal with, but we did well and enjoyed our trip. (We are both a bit older, and have a bit of arthritis!)

I plan to post more photos - there is a lot to see in London and in England, so it was easy to fill up our itinerary.

Here are some of the souvenirs we brought back, they are Paterson's Shortbread from Iceland store in Winchester (it was a bargain purchase, but very good, all gone now!), Penguin Pin from Victoria & Albert Museum gift shop, we also purchased some soap, notebooks from Liberty London store, Tana Lawn fabric bundles from Liberty London - I'll most likely use them for quilt/art projects, Koh-i-noor watercolor stack from Kew Gardens - we also purchased some flower seeds, Koh-i-noor Chalk pencil and erasers from Tate Britain gift shop - I discovered the Chalk pencil works well on fabric for marking and is easy to erase, a nice surprise! We also made it to Fortnum & Mason's Piccadilly store and purchased half off Easter candy, tea and biscuits. 

I tried to purchase a little something from the places we enjoyed the most. Many sites (museums) had free admission, so buying a little something helps support them.

Hope you are doing well and enjoying the Spring season,

Many Blessings to you,

Denise A. Buchwalter-Losczyk

Mission completed! First loaves of Sourdough Bread!

Hi!

I purchased some dehydrated Sourdough culture earlier last year, I think around my birthday. I finally decided in early December to give it a try!

I began using bleached white flour (one of the flours in my pantry), but didn't like how it was developing. I decided to try feeding the starter with Rye flour, and it then worked quickly!

Starter risen in jar

 

View from top of jar

Here are photos of my first loaves:

1st loaves of Sourdough Whole Wheat bread

I found an easier sounding recipe on AllRecipes.com. You mix the starter with the flour, salt and sugar (I used a little honey) mixture. Then let it sit in a greased bowl overnight, in a warm location. The next morning you knead it a bit and divide for loaf pans. Then let it rise again. (I let it rise a little over 2 hours, our house is a bit cool right now.) The recipe also is in cups and tablespoons, rather than grams, which was helpful for me! I just ordered a food scale, so I can use some other recipes I have in cookbooks.

We baked the bread in our solar cooker. It came out wonderfully and tasted great too! I use whole wheat flour and white flour (50/50) in the bread recipe, with the rye starter.

It was fun, and not a cumbersome as I thought it would be.

I have started using the sourdough discard (the portion you take out of the starter when you feed it) in recipes. So far I've made Sourdough crackers with sesame seed on top and Sourdough Pumpkin pie. I plan to make Pumpkin Pie again tomorrow - using some pumpkin we have in our freezer. Both recipes were enhanced by the sourdough and tasted wonderful!

I encourage you to try it if you like baking and sourdough! It was actually a very fun process! 

I also read that the sourdough culture is good for inflammation - which is great for arthritis. Also, the fermentation reduces phytic acid, which improves mineral absorption, making it easier for your body to absorb calcium.

Here is a link I found with some of the information on calcium absorption: https://www.sourdough.co.uk/glossary/calcium/#:~:text=Long%20fermentation%20in%20sourdough%20reduces,body%20utilise%20calcium%20more%20efficiently.

Hope you enjoyed this little post on a different topic!

Blessings to you,

Denise A. Buchwalter-Losczyk