Hi,
Since Covid numbers are going down drastically, and zero people are being treated at the intensive care unit for Covid in our town (at the moment,) I am inviting you to have coffee in my home! To be on the safe side, let’s keep a distance, but it is SO great to see you here! What can I get you? Can I get you a coffee? Or some tea? I have some delicious green matcha tea, some homemade herbal tea (mix of my own herbs,) and regular black tea (Lipton I believe.) The coffee is dark, rich, and organic, made in the french press. I have to admit the coffee is rather strong, even when I try to make it not as strong as I like it for guests, It always ends up being rather strong. It is good though, that is a promise! Quality coffee is a priority in this home.
I could honestly say that quality over quantity is true for most things in my life. I try my best to avoid the consumerist lifestyle, only pursue things that adds value to my life, and my children’s life. That filter keeps me content and happy. Speaking of adding value, I’ve arranged a little surprise adventure for my daughter for her winter break. My son usually visits his dad on his breaks, and he is also older, pretty much independent. My daughter on the other hand spend a lot of her free time with me. During Covid I’ve restricted our life to keep us safe, here in Sweden we’ve had recommendations to follow, no lockdowns. I’ve followed the recommendation to the best of my understanding of them, leading to a lot of restrictions for my daughter, like it has for many people around the world. We are still careful, but can allow ourselves a little more freedom now. Because of that I’ve been able to arrange a little surprise, that I believe will lift her spirits. Since it’s a surprise I won’t spoil it by telling you, but I promise that I will write about it in the last coffee share of the year. I’m going to have three weeks off for Christmas/New Year. It’s something to look forward to as the days get shorter. Do you have any plans for Christmas yet? Or is it too early to start thinking about?
If we were having coffee I would tell you that I baked bread with almond milk, and oats yesterday. It turned out to be delicious. The loaves had a soft, soft inside, and a slightly harder crust (not too hard.) My daughter claimed that this bread is now her favourite. I put some in the freezer. I usually cook and bake a lot in the weekends, and less during the work/school week. I try to make everything we eat from scratch. At least the kids always have the option to eat homemade meals, sometimes they choose other food, but I try my best to give them healthy options. I aim for us to eat by the season, and purchase local ingredients, or grow myself, when possible. Right now we have garlic greens, and an abundance of salad growing at our balcony. There’s some parsnip and other root vegetables on their way (still tiny, I tried some yesterday.) The nights are freezing now, but it is still warm(ish) at my screened in balcony/sunroom. What is the weather like in your area?
The rest of this weekend will be relaxing. I am planning on going for a bike ride later today, I have a little bit of school work to do, I am going to read with my daughter, bake some more bread, and make a nice Sunday dinner for the kids. There is absolutely no stress what so ever. All the important have to’s are already taken cared of. Can I give you a refill on your beverage? What are you up to this weekend? Thank you Natalie for hosting the Weekend Coffee Share.
Love,
Maria
GreenDreams 
Bread sounds amazing, and I love it when it’s a family hit. So pleased to hear a positive COVID situation. Thanks for coffee.
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Wonderful, and yes, it feels extra satisfying when the family likes what you make. Thank you for your company!
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I’ll try a coffee! I’d love to try your bread too, Maria. It’s wonderful that the covid number has dropped so much, great news! Vegas will have sunshine and 79F today, another beautiful day! Have a great week!
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Coffee and a sandwich made with the fresh bread is coming right up John 🙂 79F sounds lovely! It’s about 28F here at the moment, and hopefully some snow tonight 🙂
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Hi Maria, I’ll take a cup of coffee and your bread looks so delicious. I’m thinking of making some bread as you are so inspiring! It’s wonderful you are still able to grow some things on your balcony, and your town is so beautiful. I can’t wait to hear about the surprise for you and your daughters winter break. How FUN! It sounds like you are having a wonderful weekend. You know what I’ll be doing, heading to the stables soon. ❤️🐴🤠
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I’d love to have a fika with you, coffee and a sandwich with local cheese maybe? I hope you had a great time at the stable. As always I enjoy those goofy photos of Murphy. What a character he is! Cheers to a great new week 🙂
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Hi Maria, Quality coffee and home baked bread are irresistible. Your weekend plan sounds great. Thank you for your #weekendcoffeeshare.
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I’d love to have a coffee with you 🙂 Thank you for hosting the weekend coffee share.
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A terrific update! We have topped 80% fully vaccinated in the state of California, but masks and social distancing in public remain in place so we can stomp this out for good! Happy to hear you are going in that direction as well! These are such small sacrifices now for the greater good of all – and 5+ year old children can now finally be protected as well!
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Yes, hopefully it’s completely over soon. 🙂
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I love the smell of bread hot from the oven, but as we don’t eat much bread, I only make it occasionally. So if we were having coffee, I’d take a slice along with a cup of tea. 🙂
The temps have stayed in the 40s/20s all week, perfect for cleaning up the frosted annuals (rather sad to bid them adieu), plant spring bulbs and transplant a few perennials that I wanted to move around. There is a lot to do in the fall to get ready for winter… the hoses must be drained and brought in. The water fountain cleaned and covered, and wood brought up to the porch. We are tired at the end of the day!
Can’t wait to hear about your Christmas surprise!
Have a great week, Maria. ❤
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Wonderful, there is always tea, and most often there is homemade bread as well. I should eat less bread. I often eat soup for either lunch or dinner, and a slice of bread to go with it is just to good to resist. And then there’s the fact that my kids like to have a sandwich for breakfast. I’d rather bake myself than buying bread all the time. It would probably be very good for me to eat less bread though..
Getting the garden ready for winter always brings mixed feeling. I can imagine even more so for you, since you have such a big, beautiful place.I hope it’s a good kind of tired you feel by the end of the day. Have a great week Eliza ❤
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Thanks, at least I’ve been sleeping well! 😉
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That is a wonderful thing!
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Indeed, a blessing at my age! 😀
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I’ve never made bread with almond and oats before. Did you pulverize the oats to make the oat flour?
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It is really yummy. I usually make a big batch of porridge of the oats first. I mix the porridge with cold water to water it down to about 37F, then mix it with fresh yeast and add some salt and flour (any I have at home really,) until the dough feel smooth, and is easy to work.
I hope your new week got off to a great start Julie.
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It’s great that Covid is improving in your area and that bread looks and sounds amazing! 😍 Beautiful pictures and I hope you got plenty of rest. Have a lovely week. 🙂
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Thank you Angela! I hope you had a great weekend, and a fabulous start top your new week. We got a ton of snow yesterday! That is exciting! I’ve been making snowmen’s and snow angels left and right with the kids.
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Snow is the thing my Kids will miss most about Texas. Florida doesn’t see too much of it… 😅
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I can understand that.
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That bread looks amazing. I saw a meme and shared it on FB that said something like “There is no food…there’s only ingredients to make food”. That fits our house. haha.
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Thank you! That is a great meme!
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