Wiped out

Tired from all the traveling and having to work today.  Didn't do much of anything when I got home from work except cook dinner.

Measured a top I have to be quilted.  Going to get the batting for it this week so I can pin it and quilt it soon.

Back home again

We all went up north to visit my mom and family yesterday.  Came home today.  It was a good visit, but I'm wiped out now from the driving.  Took a hot bath and I'm relaxing.  This is a short week for me at work, with the holiday coming up.  Tomorrow I want to get a few more things taken care of on the present front.  Still have a few little things to get.  And I want to get some wrapping done.

Party day

Today was our Christmas party at work.  I brought sloppy joe.  We had so much food, I brought a lot of it home!  Everyone always goes a little overboard for this party.  A couple of people who used to work in this office came for the party.  It was nice to see old friends again and catch up.

It's a wrap

Tonight I wrapped most of the presents that will be going to my mom's side of the family and Ev's side.  I'm just not that into wrapping anymore.

Today was a lucky day for me.  I won a prize!  It sure felt good to win something.  Our family is really blessed. 

Hoscah Recipe

Here is the recipe for hoscah, or hoska - however it is spelled.  When I was little my great grandmother would make it all the time.  We also called it sweet bread, but I came to find out later in life that term also refers to some disgusting part of an animal that people eat, so now pretty much just refer to it as hoscah.

Mammy did not really measure much when she made hoscah.  She had made it so many times, she probably could do it in her sleep.  Grandpa would say "Who needs cake when we have hoscah!".  Some times she would just put raisins in it and some times, especially during the holidays, she would put the candied cherries in it.  I do think I remember it having nuts in it once or twice.

I tried to write the recipe down many years ago by watching Mammy make it and take notes, but I really couldn't get it just right.  Later on, while surfing the internte, I came across a recipe for Czechoslovakian Egg Braid on recipezaar.  It fit the bill perfectly for hoscah.  All I had to do was add the raisins and candied cherries.

This recipe make two very large loaves.  It is best eaten immediately because it gets stale quickly since it has no preservatives in it.  I usually cut a loaf in half and freeze the rest.  It freezes very well.  It's good plain, with butter, or even toasted.

So without further babble from me, here is the recipe for Czechoslovakian Egg Braid by Charmie777 on Recipiezaar with my additions.  I'm calling it the hoscah recipe!

1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
7 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
3 eggs
1 cup raisins
1 cup candied fruit, chopped (red or green cherries)
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons water

In a medium saucepan, heat milk, 1/2 cup water, margarine, sugar and salt to 120 (or very warm) stirring frequently.  Allow to cool enough so that to barely warm so that it does not kill the yeast.  In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups flour and yeast.  Add milk mixture to flour mixture.  Beat for several minutes, then beat in the whole eggs.  Add enough flour to make a dough that cleans the sides of the bowl.  Add raisins and candied fruit.  Turn out onto lightly floured surface.  Knead until smooth, 5 to 10 minutes.

Grease a large bowl and place dough in it.  Turn to grease top, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until double, about 45 minutes.  Punch dough down.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.  Divide dough in half.  Divide 1 piece of dough into three equal parts and roll each into a rope about 12 inches long.  ON a greased 15x10 inch baking sheet, braid the three parts, loosely fastening the ends.  Repeat with remaining dough.  Cover and let rise until light (braids will not double).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Make and egg wash with the egg yolk and 2 tablespoons water.  Brush braids with the egg wash just before putting in the oven.  Bake until bread is a deep golden brown and loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom, 30 to 40 minutes. 

Tonight was another marathon cooking/baking session

Cooking and baking update - I'm pooped!  Got home from work and hit the ground running.  Browned four pounds of ground beef for sloppy joe.  That will be Ev's dinner for tonight and the rest is going to my Christmas party at work Friday.  I added celery, onion, and green pepper to it, and then the sauce.

Ev texted me and asked if I could bring him a couple grilled cheese sandwiches to work because he was hungry and had eaten his lunch early.  Did that.

Put together a new recipe for potato soup in the crock pot.  That has to cook for 8 hours, so going to have Ev turn it off when he comes to bed tonight.

And I finally got the hoscah put together.  It's on the second rise and will be going into the oven soon.  I will post that recipe before the week is over, promise!  It's really good stuff.

Now, I'm going to sit down and watch Criminal Minds.

And tonight was a pumpkin apple bread kind of night

The last time I made pumpkin apple raisin bread I wasn't pleased with it.  I used storebought applesauce and it just didn't have the depth of flavor the batch did when I used the homemade applesauce.  Tonight I used chopped fresh apples instead of homemade applesauce and it was very good.  That bread in a jar recipe is so versatile.  I just love it!

Put up the rest of my village tonight.  I did not put all my houses and figures out this year.  I just didn't feel like it, so I didn't do it.  I picked my favorite ones and put them out.  I really hope Ivy leaves things alone.

No sewing tonight.  Don't know if I will get any done this week or not.  Tomorrow night I plan on wrapping some presents for family we are going to see this weekend.

It's a banana bread kind of night

Made some banana nut bread in jars tonight.  The house smells good! 

I had to stop at the store on my way home and get a couple things.  Nick used to work there and he drops in on the gals to chat now and then.  When I was in there one of the gals asked if I was baking any more breads.  I laughed and said yes I was baking tonight.  Then I asked how she knew about them.  Turns out Nick has been talking them up to people.  She told me his favorite was the apple pumpkin!  Cracked me up but really made me feel good.

It's that time of year again!

It's time to make goodie bags for Christmas!  Just made two this year.  One for Johanna and one for Nicholas.  Johanna doesn't have a steady boyfriend right now and Nicholas' girlfriend lives states away.  I don't have as much Christmas fabric as I thought I did and I was having a hard time picking out fabric.  I brought down several pieces and let Nick pick the material for his and for his sister's bag.  Nick's is the red one.  I like both fabrics and made a nice drawstring top this time, rather than just attaching a tie on one side.  That part changes from year to year, depending on my mood....

I started to put up my village today.  Didn't get too far, but that's okay.  I'll put it up through the week.  We have the tree done.  Didn't put too many ornaments or stuff on it this year, but we all like it and think it looks nice.

I am considering making us all new stockings this year.  Haven't hung the old ones up yet, either.

The church potluck was nice.  I got a kick out of seeing all the wrapped quilts sitting on with all the packages for the nursing home folks.  That was my little secret today and when one of the people went to pick up the stuff for their family member, it made me feel good.  Yeah, going to have to remember to start earlier next year on those so I can make them a little more special.

Done, done, and done!

A stack of a dozen lap quilts!  All done!  I did it! 

And they are all under wraps, now.  Tomorrow is the pot luck dinner at church and after which they will be distributed to their intended recipients at different nursing homes in our area. 

I've got a batch of pumpkin apple raisin bread in the oven.  Taking some of it to the pot luck tomorrow. 

So, this morning, when I was putting the binding on the last lap quilt, I only had two sides to go and I would be all finished, the Bernina decided to act up.  It started when a needle broke.  It ended up with me taking the needle plate off, then taking apart the bobbin area and cleaning out all the fuzz and lint and thread and wow, how did this tempermental machine ever function with all that stuff in there?  That Bernina is not my favorite machine to use, mainly because of it's lack of being a workhorse, but after pulling all that stuff out of there, I have a newfound respect for the machine!  I am certainly not one to allow my machines to get in that condition, but the Bernina has a drop in bobbin, and all my other machines are not.  I wasn't cleaning it out properly because I didn't know I was supposed to clean some of the areas. 

Anyway, I had to take a 45 minute detour to do all that, then finish the binding on the last lap quilt. The machine is in tip top shape now.  I have another project I want to get on right away before Christmas gets here.  I want to finish up the pine trees wall hanging.

Ev put the lights on the Christmas tree tonight.  I'm going to put the ornaments on it tomorrow and try and get the village up.  Started clearing the junk off the piano so I can set up some of it there.  Why do I accumulate so much junk?