Five Minute Friday: Rise

Note: This post is my weekly contribution to the Five Minute Friday community that is hosted by Kate Motaung on her blog Heading Home. Click here for more information about Five Minute Friday and how you can get involved! To link up with all the other entries for today's prompt word, click here.

 

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It is my first Christmas Eve in Pennsylvania and I am standing alongside my eventual mother in law Balinda as she makes her traditional Christmas buns. I can smell the warm yeasty dough as she pulls it from the oven in its bowl and feel a little frisson of happiness as I watch her punch it down and then pull it from the bowl to make the buns. That little action of punching down the dough and then watching it rise again is one of my favourite things about working with yeast.

A pan of Balinda's yummy buns all finished! Makes my mouth water just looking at them!

Yeast is a living organism that feeds on the sugar in the dough and gives off carbon dioxide which, of course, causes the dough to rise. The great thing about yeast is that they are insanely resilient little things. You can freeze or refrigerate them and they just go dormant until you add warm water and sugar to get them awake and ready to eat again. There is something so satisfying about watching them bloom and then the resulting rise you get once they're incorporated into the dough. And then you get to punch it down -- fwoosh! fwhiff! -- and watch it rise again, ever so slowly. I love to see the puffy rolls once they've been formed and risen a bit in the warmth of the kitchen.

I'd like to say that I have some amazing way to tie all of this into a faith related lesson, but I don't. I've had a lot of trouble this week rising high enough to function in my day to day life, but that is the nature of things for me right now in this season of my life. Some days and weeks are easier than others. So instead of a lesson, a little memory and a few thoughts on baking. Hope you enjoyed it.

Since I'm talking about baking...what is your favourite baked goodie?

Join in the Five Minute Friday fun and link up at Kate Motaung's blog!

A Further Update: Finally Home!

I've wanted in the last few days to write something terribly profound in my blog, but the last few days have prevented me from writing anything at all because I've only had my phone to use. I can blog from my phone (and my last post Update was written and posted from my phone, but it's much harder since I'm limited to my smartphone's keyboards which are not very conducive for speed of typing. As it is, I think faster than I can type, but it's nice to be able to at least keep up with my thoughts a bit better using the conventional keyboard on my laptop.

Day Thirty (part 2): Swingin' and Swayin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas

Note: This is a continuation of a 2 part entry. To read part one, please click here. To read the entire 31 Days series, just click on the tab above.

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Later that day, Balinda and I go fabric shopping at my favourite shop and a couple of others and by the time we are done, it is almost dark. We stop at a local grocery store and pick up provisions for making tacos for dinner, but for me, tacos will have to wait until much, much later. I have plans with Sarah and my other sister in law, Olivia (who is married to Gray's little brother Andrew) to make good on my desire from earlier this summer when I was at the beach. I am going to get a tattoo. I have been thinking about this ever since this summer and the idea just won't leave me alone. I've looked at designs and local shops back home, but haven't done it yet. I know what I want and even have a picture on my phone of it but that's as far as I've gotten until now. Tonight, we are all going to get inked. Both Sarah and Olivia already have tattoos but they are eager to get another one and to come with me for my first one.

Day Twenty-one: Owning My Anger

It is almost a month now since I have been home from Pine View and I just "graduated" from Green Tree's partial hospitalisation program about a week ago. Since I only got through two full days of the program when I began it before my stint at Pine View, they just restarted me from the beginning. To be honest, I wasn't sure I was going to be allowed to go back.

Day Eight: Of Water, Wine and Siren Songs (part 2)

******Note: This entry contains more intense mentions of suicide and mild alcohol abuse. Please read with caution if you are triggered by these things. 
 

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When we arrive home, there is barely a moment to spare as the older girls and I are due at the airport very shortly to pick up my mother-in-law, Balinda, and our niece, E-beth. The older girls have no idea where we are going or that their Nana and cousin are coming to visit. I just tell them that I have a surprise for them and that we have to leave soon to go pick up the surprise. They are delighted with this and after a quick trip to use the bathroom, we head out. Our ride is uneventful and they are over the moon when they catch sight of their Nana and cousin waiting by the baggage claim. 

I drop a kiss on E-beth's head and pull her into a hug before turning to embrace Balinda. It is always wonderful when she comes to visit and I count myself very blessed to have her as my mother-in-law. We have always had a close bond, so it is unsurprising that she sees through my smile and asks, "so how are things?" I know that she isn't just inquiring as to the general state of everything and everyone. I would like to be completely candid, but there are three little sets of ears nearby, so give her a half smile and say, quite honestly, that I am tired. We head to the car and after deciding we'll get some dinner to take home, I tell her in a roundabout way (because of the ears in the backseat) that things have gotten worse, but that I had some good moments at the beach. She is glad to hear this and tells me that we'll have some good moments this week that they are here too. I suddenly feel the urge to cry, but the tears are still absent. Instead, I take several quiet, but deep breaths as we ride along home.