2021 October 12

It was sprinkling on the drive into the VA and a full on rain on the trip back to home. Once Ella was up and moving, she opened the patio door. For most of the last few weeks, we’ve had that door open all or most of the day. Today, even though it was in the low seventies, with the humidity at one hundred percent, it felt muggy. So I closed the door and reset the thermostat from eighty to seventy degrees.

I began my day with a trip to the VA lab(s). The mailing I had received, had the address of their old location. I thought it was odd. However, since Covid is spiking again, many things are odd. I arrived a few minutes early and I saw no lights in the building and no other vehicles in the parking area. So I turned around and went to the new location.
Even with the mix up I was only a few minutes late. However, since EVERYONE has the same appointment time, it just meant, instead of being in the front of the que, I was in the middle. We were shuffled through with amazing and unexpected efficiency for any government run facility.

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According to the apartment’s activities announcement, there was a bible discussion group scheduled for today. Ella and I went to the appointed place at the appointed time and were the only ones there. We went ahead with a study with just we two.

One of only a few stories in all four gospels involves the calling of the first disciples. Two are nearly identical and the other two vary greatly. That’s not unusual for different witnesses to have different points of view. But these accounts are not told to document from a historical point of view. Each author included it in their narrative for different reasons. All are valid, different but not contradictory.

I experimented with fry bread this afternoon. I mixed 1/2 Krusteaz complete pancake mix and 1/2 unbleached flour with just enough water to make a slightly sticky dough. I used a stand mixer with a dough hook to mix until everything was fully incorporated. The dough was refrigerated overnight to let it firm up.

These two fried breads started as tennis ball size lumps. They were patted out onto a floured surface, then flattened to 1/8 – 1/4″ using a floured rolling pin. I let them rest a few minutes while the oil heated.

I added a sprinkle of water to about one inch of cold oil in my cast iron skillet. When the heated oil had finished popping out the water, I new it was hot enough for the bread. A splatter screen topped with paper towels will make cleaning the stove top easier.

Before carefully (so as to not get splattered with hot oil) putting dough into skillet, it is necessary to tear a small hole in the dough to keep it from expanding like a balloon. It takes only a few minutes to puff up and brown on one side. Using kitchen tongs carefully turn it to brown on the other side. Drain on paper towels on a plate and allow to cool for a little bit. If you can wait.

I like to eat mine with just butter or a little raspberry jam. Ella likes her’s with honey or cinnamon and sugar. She declared it “good”. Which is high praise from someone who usually says, “It’s not bad.”

My pancake mix fry bread, I will call a success. Because of the sugar in the mix, it was sweeter than true made-from-scratch Indian fry bread. And strangely, it seemed more bread-like also. I’d half expected the taste and textured to be more like a fried pancake. Thankfully, it wasn’t. I think I will adjust the mix to 1/3 pancake mix and 2/3 flour. (1 cup mix to 2 cups flour.)+