Beginnings, endings & a recipe; always.

Someone once said to me, good endings make good beginnings. And I was thinking, I suppose that can apply to each day as well.

Today began slowly, with clouds in the sky hiding the sunshine – but I knew it was there – while the ground regained some moisture. It was one of those, put your head down and just get on with things that need to be done, kind of a day. A day to stay soft in your heart and let the morning drift into afternoon and then on into evening, until you find night has arrived, and you’ve achieved all sorts of things you may not have really wanted to do. But they are done now, in a good way that allows the evening to end well. And tomorrow; is a new day.

Marigolds lit up this smudge grey day with orange and yellow, and I watched them sway to the afternoon breeze as I ate lunch in my boat, and when I went out the rain came in small bursts through warm air. I didn’t mind it at all. But I’m hoping the sun shines tomorrow.

I have made my first homemade pitta breads, they were easy and the recipe is further down. There’s also a recipe for a vegan courgette and basil pesto.

Joy dots

New beginnings

A new day

Sun rising

Stars coming out

Freshly made food

Sounds of people chatting

Music

Children playing

Rain on roof tiles

Orange marigolds

Underwater day

Good nights sleep

Soft red peach

Little town at night

Chocolate

Image by Bela Balla – pixabay

Recipe

Pitta bread

These were so much easier to make than I thought. I’ve made lots of bread in my time, and the recipe was no different, you just need to make sure that you roll out thin, and they don’t tear in anyway when you pop them onto a very hot baking tray.

Ingredients

• 2 cups white flour

• 1 cup spelt flour (or any brown bread flour or just use all white)

• 2 teaspoons instant yeast

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• Enough warm water to create a dough (too cold and the yeast won’t get going, too hot and the yeast won’t work)

Method

Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix. Then make a well and add the olive oil. Next add the water and form a ball of dough. Knead this for about 10 minutes then leave to prove for about 1 hour. Make sure the oven is on high (you want the oven very hot before the next stage). Put a baking stone or baking tray in the oven to heat up (the pitas need very hot heat on both sides at the same time). Then knead the dough for a minute and divide into 6 pieces. Roll each piece out thinly (about 4mm), cover with a clean tea towel and prove for about 20 minutes, then pop them in batches onto your hot baking stone/tray in the oven for about 2 minutes, until they have puffed up. When you take them out wrap in a clean tea towel so they stay moist and don’t dry out.

I found that some of mine didn’t puff up properly. After googling I decided it was due to not making sure they were completely perfect after rolling – no cracks on surface.

Vegan courgette & basil pesto

This is a very easy pesto with no cheese used. It was tasty, I tried it out on the guy who lives downstairs who likes lots of taste in his food and it got the thumbs up.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup mix of sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds

• 2 medium courgettes

• Handful of fresh basil leaves

• 1 clove garlic

• Juice 1/2 lemon

• 1/3 cup olive oil

• Rock salt to season to your tastebuds

Method

Blitz the seeds roughly in a food processor, then add the other ingredients and blend until you have your pesto.

Seeing the beauty

I was thinking about all the human beings in the world, the civilisations that have existed over time, the stories playing out, and how through it all, nature has always been there.

I wondered what it was like in your little corner of the world. Whether you have grey skies today, or sunshine. Perhaps things are tough and you’re having to dig deep to see the beauty – so worthwhile – or perhaps happy times are furling themselves around you. You might tell me in the comments.

Here are some of the treasures I found today, some in the world about me, and some in photographs, which can transport you to happy times, literally!

Till Sunday, warmest wishes,

Lucy x

Images from pixabay by (in order) Walter Bichler, Glglio de Mare, Hans. The last patchwork of images are mine.