A Walk Down Memory Lane

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Took a walk down our old street this morning. This was our house. The owner added a front deck and changed the garage doors and the landscaping is a little different, but otherwise it looks the same. Many good memories were made here – all three kids were born while we lived in this house.

The builder had quite few lots in the neighborhood, but was building larger houses than what we needed. We liked the houses he built, so we contacted him. We said we were interested in building a house similar to one a few doors away, built by another builder. He told us to go have him build us a house then!

We still preferred his work, so he told us to look for something square and with few hallways, as this would keep the cost down to something we could afford and would fit with his usual construction. We found a house plan in a magazine more in line with what we wanted. He made a couple of small changes and we were off! He used the plan a couple more times in the neighborhood with a change in the roofline.

As I remember, he and his wife had 6 kids – 5 girls and finally the desperately-wanted boy so he could name his business “… and Son.” I wonder if his son went into the business or if he even wanted to? He was about two at the time.

The builder’s wife selected all of the wallpaper and tile and so on in his spec houses. We didn’t care for her choices, so I was glad that we were involved from the beginning and could make our own selections – although I had many dreams involving wallpaper patterns.

The builder was finishing up a new house for his family of eight at the time he started ours. He laughed and told us, “Your house would fit in my attic!”

Several of the houses on the street look much the same. Quite a few have changed out windows and doors. One is nearly gutted to add on a second floor. No one was at work on it. Perhaps a delay because of the corona virus pandemic.

I often think I would like to downsize back to this house, but my husband doesn’t seem to agree, remembering the mid-80s bathrooms and kitchen. But who knows? Maybe they have been updated.

Pandemic Pantry Potluck – Easter Dinner

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I’m documenting a little slice of our life during the pandemic with a Pandemic Photo Journal and a Pandemic Pantry Potluck. We are having most of our groceries delivered and joined a Community Supported Agriculture farm. I’ll be sharing a few recipes, how the CSA is working out, or possibly musing on the state of toilet paper or grocery delivery service – whatever appeals to me on a given day. We are so lucky to have a well-stocked pantry at a time when so many have lost jobs and find themselves waiting in very long lines at overwhelmed food pantries. Now is a good time for sharing as we are able.

Easter was certainly different this year. None like it ever before. Easter egg hunts confined to homes and back yards. Virtual church services. Eating alone, or with whomever you share a home, and not the usual extended family. Some families were creative and shared meals over ZOOM, making sure at least someone made the traditional dishes. We were not so creative.

At our house, it was just my husband and me. And honestly, what we would eat on Easter was left to happenstance. We didn’t plan ahead to order the usual ham and other traditional items when we put in our order for our grocery delivery and we were too late once we thought of it. We found a pork loin in the freezer and a couple of potatoes from our veggie box, so we figured we could make do.

After “church” we ate leftovers, deciding to cook a meal for supper. I used the recipe I usually use for pork loin, one I got from a Southern Living cookbook.

Roasted Pork Loin

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons dry mustard
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 (4-5 pound) rolled boneless pork loin roast

Combine first six ingredients in a bowl, stirring with a whisk until blended. Trim excess fat from pork. Place pork in a shallow dish or heavy duty zip-top plastic bag; pour soy mixture over pork, turning to coat. Cover and chill at least eight hours.
Remove pork loin from marinade. Bring marinade to a boil and set aside. Place pork loin halves together and secure with string. Place in a greased roasting pan. Bake at 325 degrees for two hours, or until meat thermometer inserted in thickest portion registers 160 degrees, brushing with marinade during first hour of cooking. 10-12 servings.

Note: I never tie the two halves together like you are supposed to. I just snuggle them fairly close together and shorten the cooking time. Check after an hour and see how it looks. If I’m in a hurry, I set the oven at 350.

See the potatoes we got in our box?

They look like white potatoes, but they are a little pointy on the ends. Hmmm. I had decided to roast the potatoes and when I cut into them, I realized that they were sweet potatoes. I had never seen white sweet potatoes before, but they are a thing. They were good too, with a milder flavor than regular sweet potatoes.

The Easter Bunny didn’t come and bring Cadbury eggs or a chocolate bunny and I would be  sharing the book Thunder Cake with my ESL students the following day, so I decided to bake a cake. The book has a recipe for Thunder Cake – a chocolate cake with a secret ingredient. If you read the recipe, it seems obvious that tomato puree is the secret ingredient. But if you read the book, you realize that the secret ingredient is … thunder. I have made the cake twice and it always comes out crumbly and a bit dry. The students pointed out that I was missing the secret ingredient. I does taste good though.

I drained and puréed canned tomatoes with my nifty immersion blender. Since I am trying not to waste food, I saved the juice and leftover purée for something-I-would-be-happy-to-have-this-for-later. Alas, they remain in the refrigerator unused. I have not yet perfected the no-waste lifestyle.

All in all, it was a pleasant Easter, if not the Easter I would have preferred.

And I got my chocolate fix.

My husband and I each had at least one piece of cake in the evening. When the ESL book club met on ZOOM, I told the students that I had baked them a cake and held it up for them to see. Then I turned it around to show that I didn’t wait for them.


I hope you feel nourished by whatever your pantry provides today.

Pandemic Photo Journal – April 12-18, 2020

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I am trying a weekly photo journal of my life during this stay-at-home pandemic. The idea is to post on Sundays and include one photo for each day of the week with some text. I may not limit myself to one photo because I have a hard time with rules like that. It seems a perfectly logical thing to do on a family history blog. This is certainly an historic time.

Sunday 4/12/2020
* Easter Sunday worship at the computer

* Easter Sunday blooms

* Prepared book club lesson for tomorrow – Thunder Cake. Since the Easter Bunny didn’t bring any Cadbury eggs or chocolate bunnies, I decided to make the recipe in the book. I have given it two chances now and it always turns out crumbly and dry. Tastes good though. Way too much cake for the two of us, but it is hard to share these days, so we have to make that sacrifice!

* Thankful my family in Monroe, LA are all okay after today’s tornado!!

Monday 4/13/2020

* ESL Book Club. Good discussion, but lots of pretty common vocabulary that even the more advanced students didn’t know. We decided that my Thunder Cakes don’t turn out just right because I have always been missing the secret ingredient – thunder!
* County rescue helicopter searched the green belt behind us for well over an hour. At one point, they were right over our back yard and knocked loose this limb. I heard a hiker was lost and rescued. It was dark by the time we couldn’t hear them any more.

Tuesday 4/14/2020

* Washed fabric for masks and made five with a different pattern than last time. Used fabric that a friend gave me from her mom’s quilting scraps.
* Dr. T’s nurse called to say that my CT scan looked good. No visible signs of cancer!
* My husband got a pneumonia shot yesterday and it is making him feel under the weather.
* Dr. G came by and gave me a B12 shot since I can’t get it at the oncology office right now  with CDC guidelines in effect.
* A friend came and cut some milkweed from behind our house in an attempt to save the monarch caterpillars that have eaten most of the one plant she has.
* ZOOM book discussion with church group. We are reading The Water Dancer.

Wednesday 4/15/2020

Seems like I was busy all day. It started feeling stressful.
* Made 11 more masks in two sizes. Two went to my daughter and her husband. Ten went to Texas Oncology for patients. We are now under an order to wear masks when out and about.
* Gave some of our CSA veggies to my daughter along with the masks.
* Set up upcoming ZOOM meetings and took care of ESL tasks.

Thursday 4/16/2020

* ESL Class via ZOOM – about 30 students.
* Bible Study via ZOOM.
* Roasted assorted roots from veggie box.
* Nice walk in the neighborhood. I’m still the only one in a mask, but there weren’t many people out walking.
* Puzzle delivery yesterday, so started puzzle #3. I needed the mindless relaxation. It’s a pretty easy one.

Friday 4/17/2020

* Laundry day
* Cleaning up craft/sewing space a little.
* I’m going to do some yarn bombing at my house to cheer up the neighborhood. Put an eye in an upstairs window, but haven’t gotten a picture of it yet. I’m going to start with some things I already have made. Wonder what my husband will think of this??
* Pretty flowers. I had been wondering if any of the “black” irises would bloom this year.
* Nespoli, or loquat, tress have lots of fruit. When they are ripe, the squirrels will probably get them before we do. They are almost ready.

Saturday, 4/18/2020

* Wrote and posted a Pandemic Pantry Potluck entry.
* Worked on puzzle.
* Watched the “One World: At Home Together” concert, organized by Lady Gaga. I enjoyed it.
* Here’s the picture of my window that I didn’t get for yesterday’s entry.

Safety first! Enjoy your day!