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Tag Archives: community

It’s a BFN Day! Yay!

27 Monday Jul 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, baking, Baking for Neighbors, BFN, community, food

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baking, Baking for Neighbors, BFN, bread, community, food, Sourdough Grain Bread

You can read more about Baking for Neighbors Day on this post. Today was BFN for the 4th neighbor and I sure enjoyed it!

It has been a long time since I baked for neighbors. I got a bit derailed when we got an anonymous note in the mailbox over a year ago. An anonymous neighbor put a pretty blue envelope in our mailbox. Inside was a cute card with dogs on the front. And inside the card was written “Keep your #$%&* dog out of our yard. We’re tired of it dragging your recycled beer bottles into our yard too. You’ll be glad to know that we’re moving because of you. #*#%@ “… etc.

If that neighbor knew us, they would have known that we’ve never owned a dog. They would know that we don’t drink and we do our own recycling so there are no bins of bottles. If our neighbor knew us, they would have known that I broke my back and was doing a great job of recovering. And they would have known how much I love to bake.

So instead of being discouraged and scared of meeting that anonymous neighbor that hates us, I decided to keep going with Baking for Neighbors. Today I handed the fourth neighbor a loaf of steaming hot, fresh from the oven, Sourdough Grain Bread.

Sourdough Grain Bread

Sourdough Grain Bread

When I handed her the foil-wrapped bundle, she was surprised and delighted. That made me so happy! I guess she’s not the neighbor who put that note in our mailbox.

All wrapped in napkins and foil, tied with string - a big loaf of Sourdough Grain Bread fresh from the oven for neighbor 4.

All wrapped in napkins and foil, tied with string – a big loaf of Sourdough Grain Bread fresh from the oven for neighbor 4.

I’m all encouraged now to keep going with BFN Day! Four neighbors down, 67 to go. ::big smile::

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The first BFN Day… To the First Neighbor, I took Butterflake Herb Rolls

04 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in baking, Baking for Neighbors, BFN, community, food, Inspirational, recipe, Uncategorized

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baking, Baking for Neighbors, BFN, bread, community, food, neighborhood, neighbors, recipe

And also to the Second Neighbor!

It started several weeks ago. I don’t like admitting this, especially to myself, but my recovery seems sooooo s. l. o. w.! sigh. (I actually sighed after typing that sentence.) I broke my back on July 16th, 2012 and got scoliosis surgery in October. It’s been over a year. So come on, what’s with this tedious recovery? Alas, my research proves that I’m normal and doing well. But it still takes me days to recover from a simple outing because riding in a vehicle is just not friendly to my concrete spine. Not yet.

On the plus side, my stamina is better than it’s been in years. I’m tackling long overdue tasks, such as sorting through bins of old papers and organizing shelves. I’m rearranging rooms and overseeing remodeling. And I’m back in the kitchen cooking and baking. But I want to do more. I want to be involved in Community.

Since I can’t get out easy, I’ve decided to serve my own neighborhood. I call the service …

BFN – Baking for Neighbors.

Instead of bye for now, my BFN is Baking for Neighbors. I think there are 71 houses in my neighborhood. I barely know four of them so just one or two at a time, I’m going to bake something for all my neighbors. Baking for Neighbors will give me an excuse to bake, encouragement to walk outside (which is still slow and painful), and I’ll get to meet new people. It’s a win-win situation!

Several days ago I declared my first BFN Day. I took Butterflake Herb Rolls. This recipe has been in my family for decades. It was from an old Pillsbury Bake-Off cookbook my mom had. I wrote up the recipe on a blank card, which is now all stained from use.

Butterflake Herb Loaf recipe

Butterflake Herb Loaf recipe

Herb Butter Recipe

Herb Butter Recipe

I rarely make these rolls so I’m not sure why I started with them. It just seemed like the right recipe and I was at peace. And they are delicious! With each recipe I pick, I’m going to pray that it will be ok with the neighbor and perhaps even be just what they need.

Butterflake Herb Rolls

Most yeasts no longer needs proofed but I did it anyway. 4 1/2 tsp (two packets) of yeast are softened in 1/4 cup warm water.

Dry yeast is sprinkled on warm water.

Dry yeast is sprinkled on warm water.

In a large mixing bowl, place 1/3 cup shortening, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tbsp salt and 1 cup hot scalded milk. Cool to lukewarm.
BFN 1 Butterflake Herb Rolls-2

Blend in 2 eggs and the softened yeast. I also mix in two cups of the flour at this point and beat till the batter is smooth. Gradually add 2 1/2 to 3 more cups of flour.

BFN 1 Butterflake Herb Rolls-3

The first two cups of flour are beaten in, making a nice smooth batter.

On a floured surface…. And here I pause. I wonder if all bakers enjoy sprinkling a surface with flour. There’s just something magical about scattering that soft powder over the counter and then spreading and smoothing it out with your bare hands. I love the dusty flour on my hands.
BFN 1 Butterflake Herb Rolls-4
Knead the dough on a floured surface till smooth and satiny. This was the first time in over two years that I kneaded dough so I ran out of steam fast. I wasn’t able to get it to “smooth and satiny” but it still turned out.
BFN 1 Butterflake Herb Rolls-5
I put the dough in a greased bowl and place it in the cold oven. Then I turn on the oven light. The light from the lightbulb is enough heat for the dough to rise. While the dough is raising, I make the herb butter. I usually leave out the onion and just used fresh or dried garlic. Sometimes I add a little more of everything if I want a stronger herb roll.

BFN 1 Butterflake Herb Rolls-6

We were out of Cayenne Pepper so I scraped the last little bit of Chipotle Pepper from the jar. There was about 1/8 tsp. We were out of fresh garlic too so I ground up dried garlic with a mortar and pestle.

I used to use a saucer and cut around the rolled-out dough with a sharp knife to make nice tidy circles. But it’s a lot faster to just use a bench knife to divide the dough up into little pieces. I cut the dough in half, then half again, etc until the lumps of dough are about the size of a small egg, about 32 rolls.
BFN 1 Butterflake Herb Rolls-7
Each piece of dough is rolled out flat. It doesn’t matter if the piece is perfectly round or not. Herb butter is spread on half the dough piece and then it is folded in half.
BFN 1 Butterflake Herb Rolls-8
Herb butter is again spread on the top each folded roll and then they are slightly overlapped on a parchment covered baking sheet.
BFN 1 Butterflake Herb Rolls-9
The loaf is left to raise. Again, I put them back in the oven and let it stay warm with just the oven light on.
BFN 1 Butterflake Herb Rolls-10
After they raised about double in size, the loaves are taken out of the warm oven and the oven is preheated to 350F. Then they are baked for 20 to 25 minutes.
BFN 1 Butterflake Herb Rolls-11
For giving, I placed a hot loaf, fresh from the oven, on a paper napkin on a sturdy paper plate and wrapped it in foil. And then I carried it next door. :)

I asked the first neighbor if I could take a picture of her holding the plate and she didn’t mind. The reason the foil is left on is because the rolls are keeping warm. But most important of all, it’s NOT about the rolls, it’s about the neighbor. The hands in this photo are more important than what’s on the plate. I want to keep it that way.
BFN 1 Butterflake Herb Rolls-12
Blessings to you, Neighbor 1!
And here is the second neighbor. Blessing to you too, Neighbor 2!
BFN 1 Butterflake Herb Rolls-13

I don’t know if they’ll ever see this blog. But I was so happy to finally be able to do something for my neighbors.

I shall be posting all my BFN days. 2 down, 69 to go.

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“You’re reaching the wrong way”

21 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in community, crafts, God, Inspirational, Scoliosis, sewing, Uncategorized

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community, crafts, God, hands, helping, inspiration, Scoliosis, sewing

“What?” I asked.

I was standing in the middle of the room with my arm up in the air but those words abruptly stopped me.

“You’re reaching the wrong way.”

It had been a rough week. Someone had said cruel things. A big and unexpected bill arrived. And there was never enough light in the room, never enough light. Everything came crashing down at once so I got mad. I was angry at others. I was mad at the never ending bills. I was mad that my back wasn’t strong enough for me to get a job and how stupid was that! I was mad that I was mad. Life wasn’t fair.

So I stood in the middle of the room and puzzled all of this. There seemed to be no solution. Slowly, the anger drained out. Anger takes a ton of energy and I didn’t even have enough energy to sustain anger so I had to let it go. I forgave the cruel words. I decided to trust God that the finances would somehow work out, and maybe there could even be a solution for the poor lighting. God helped calm me down and I was aware of Him. But he was invisible and I wanted desperately to see him. Friends hug friends, don’t they? And when Jesus walked on the earth, just a touch of his garment healed disease. So I stood there and reached my hand toward the ceiling and waited to touch the hand of God.

Nothing.

How soon we forget sometimes. It was just a couple minutes before that I decided to let go of anger and now it started to bubble up again. Only this time, it was against God.

I stood on my tiptoes and said “Do I have to be higher to touch your hand?” I kept my arm up, rigid. I looked across the room and eyed the chair. “Do I have to stand on a chair?” I stretched on tiptoes as high as I could and felt the old adrenaline surging again, for all the wrong reasons. “Do I have to stand on my bed? Huh??? How high do I have to go to touch your hand, God???”

I started toward the bed, my hand still held high, but God interrupted my thoughts.

“You’re reaching the wrong way.”

His voice wasn’t angry, it wasn’t impatient or disgusted. It was calm and honest.

I let my arm drop and stared at my hand. What on earth did that mean “You’re reaching the wrong way?” If holding my hand up was the wrong way, then I had to lower it. I slowly lowered my hand, lower, lower, until it was held out down by my side, palm up. Then I looked at my hand and waited and wondered. And God answered.

God said “What you do to the least of these, you do to me. So if you want to touch my hand, you have to reach down to someone else.”

My eyes brimmed over. Yes.

This week, my hands sewed.
1 sewing tote bags
A group of helping hands gathered together to sew tote bags to tie on walkers for patients at a rehab center.
2 sewing tote bags
I volunteered to take some unfinished bags to sew at home. The smooth fabric moved through my fingers as it fed through the machine.
3 sewing tote bags
Despite the pain in my back, it felt good to be using my hands for someone else. Why should my hands be limited just because my back complains?
4 sewing tote bags
It was just a couple months ago that I still needed a walker. Back then, it took great effort just to cut socks into strips to wrap the bars. It was such an effort that I could only wrap one. One of my sons finished the other. I know what it’s like to take fifteen minutes just to walk across a room. The fabric tote bags to tie on walkers are such a small contribution. But it’s the little things that make a big difference.
5 my walker
I won’t be there to see the bags tied to the walkers. I won’t see the struggling hands tuck tissues or a pen or prescription into the bag pockets. But that’s ok. I don’t need to stand on tiptoes and reach up. God said I only had to reach down to someone else.
6 sewing tote bags

“The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 25:40
What you do to others, you do unto Me.
If you want to touch the hand of God, reach down to someone else.

It’s not so hard.

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