Sunday Happenings

Saturday I spent almost the entire day canning sweet potatoes and boiled peanuts. My plan for today was to stick a slab of ribs in the smoker, make a potato salad, open a jar of home canned baked beans and the rest of the time I’d be stitching.

This morning Chad called and they were coming to Joplin. That changed all my plans for the day. It had been over two months since I had seen him. That’s not right! He left here to go to Florida ahead of Hurricane Ian; came home from there and left almost immediately for another extended assignment and just got back yesterday for Thanksgiving. They’ll be here again for Thanksgiving so I’ll get to see him again before he leaves again.

I asked them if they wanted burgers here. They did so I grabbed three pounds of ground beef out of the freezer, stuck it in cold water to defrost and made sure we had enough buns, chips, dip, etc. for burgers.

I knew Chad would appreciate a loaf of homemade bread so I stirred up a batch of Japanese Milk Bread. I do not use the dough enhancer unless I’m using home milled flour.

This bread is so easy and so forgiving. I thought the dough looked a little dry so I added a bit more milk, then decided the dough was too wet and added a bit more flour. I was afraid I’d messed up all the percentages but I think it turned out to be the best loaves yet.

While the bread was rising, I started a pot of potato soup. They came by, visited a while, went back to town, then they came back for burgers.

It was a fun day! Tomorrow we’ll have smoked ribs, potato salad and baked beans! I can deviate from my plans any day if it means getting to spend time with Chad, Nicole and Addie.