Special! Special! Read all about it!

Uncooperative weather - what's so special about that? For many
of us it means a loss of something whether it be a day at the lake, time in the
garden, or a family outing. For me it also means a gain -a gain
of bread in the freezer, that is. I need your help managing the
growing stash in that handiest of all appliances. Next Tuesday I will be having a grand cleaning-out sale at Pelican Rapids. (Take note that this is not my usual week to be at the market.) Everything I bring will be straight from the freezer... and sold
at a reduced price. (75 cents off all bread; $5.00/group of 4 scones
and caramel rolls; $7.00/package of 6 caramel rolls;
$1.00/brownie)

Are you leery of frozen goodies? Let me put your mind at ease.
Instead of decreasing the quality of my baked goods, freezers actually "freeze"
them at peek freshness. So come one, come all to the SALE!!!!

Find my tables on North Broadway on the sidewalk in front of the Chamber of
Commerce/Tourist Information.

~Elsa

This is an email I sent out to my email list last Saturday after another one of those "uncooperative" days. True, it wasn't the down-pour of Tuesday when I seriously felt like I had jumped in a lake. Nor was it the first beautiful Saturday of the summer when all people were at the lakes rather than the market like the week before. Rather it was a day of wind and some sprinkles. (If you are wondering how wind could be a problem, you have never experienced a true Minnesotan wind.)

Today (the day of the freezer sale) was another one of those windy days, but sunshine made all the difference. Now our freezers boast of a total of three unsold loaves of bread! They are breathing a sigh of relief.

Politics and the Broken Bowl

The destruction of the "cap-and-trade" bill has already begun. Evidence: the above picture. While helping Dad finalize a note to our congressman this morning, I heard a rhythmic thumping noise in the kitchen. What could it be? No one is in there. The mixer is kneading dough. Oh, no! The mixer! My heart sunk. I had heard this noise before when the mixer had "walked" its way to the edge of the counter. -sprint- Crash!! Gasp! The mixer with my last batch of bread for the day lay on the floor. Like a mother scooping up her fallen child to see the damage, we hurriedly picked up the mess. While my sister checked out the mixer, I assessed the state of the bowl. Right away I saw the damage - a large and ugly crack. It was a goner. Needless to say, that batch of dough soon found its way into the compost.

Thankfully the bowl (and dough) were the only casualties in the accident. The mixer still runs as good as ever, and no great damage can be seen on the wood floor. Thank you, Lord!

The link between politics and my bowl's demise may not be very strong. Yet I gasp - where is my beautiful United States going?

Garlic, garlic, garlic, garlic, garlic...

My nostrils tingled and eyes watered. Windows were opened wide. Doors were shut to contain the smell. Fresh, clean clothes waiting near my ovens in the to-be-ironed pile were evacuated from site. Today was garlic roasting day.

Two hours preparing eight pounds of fresh garlic for the hot ovens with my sister. Peeling, cutting, drizzling with oil... Thirty to forty minutes of roasting/scenting the house. A couple hours of cooling and letting the breath taking aroma dissipate to a strong but tolerable level. A few more hours of removing cloves from their oily skins. It was a lesson in patience and perseverance.

Now the soft and roasted garlic is in the freezer. Three bags will be dug out tomorrow to find their home in Roasted Garlic Bread. The rest will remain until summoned for the same purpose.

A day full of garlic. Let's hope this stash lasts a good, long while!

Sufficient Grace

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

~II Corinthians 12: 9

This verse was taped to the cupboard door in front of me yesterday, as I worked in the kitchen over 12 hours. More than inspirational talk, it was hard core truth. I was challenged with two questions.

Question #1: Was I going to cave into my weakness and let the tense situations, the sore muscles, and the tired body running on less than 5 hours of sleep make me crumble?

Question #2 (actually the flip side of the first question): Would I admit my weakness to God and let His power work through me to give me a gracious spirit in all things?

As the day progressed the answers were given to these two questions. I did not live out the verse perfectly, but it did give me hope. No, more than hope. It gave me a heart to surrender to God and eyes to see Him working. His grace was sufficient.

Do you need power? Be weak. Do you need grace to handle life? Find it in Jesus. His grace is sufficient.

Special Notice!

"Twas the night before baking and all through the kitchen..." What comes next? "...the counters were scoured, and the mixer stood waiting." Wait, that doesn't rhyme. "...the bread pans stood stacked, and the ovens were empty." Nope, not that either. I'm not much of a poet, so I think I'll leave it there. :]

Yes, it is the night before baking - baking for the big (hopefully) first day at the Lakes Area Farmers' Market for the season. Saturday will see Mom and me headed out with a van load of toothsome goodies. Get ready, Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. Here I come!

Also in the works - preparations for kick off at the Pelican Rapids farmers' market. Baking on Monday, selling on Tuesday...