So it’s a spectacular day here in Southern Ontario and I set my alarm for bright and early.

You see

I needed to be up and preparing for my coffee guest. You know me! I like to have something fresh and even warm, to serve when someone arrives at my table.

I was pretty excited when I went to bed because I had come up with a fantastic Loaf idea. It’s Christmas season so obviously it needed to have some red in the ingredient list. I adore dates and find them to be a most excellent sweetness source, so clearly the recipe needed some dates. Walnuts are good for us and who doesn’t like a little crunch in their loaf?
A bit of citrus zest always adds some depth of flavour and since I had a couple of navel oranges and two lemons sitting on my fruit plate, I knew the recipe would include one or the other.

Now to digress for just a minute, I woke up this morning in a bit of a sweat as the result of a Terrible dream. A nightmare really.

You see

in my dream/nightmare, my daughter in law was not speaking to me and her mother was on side with her silence. Now, I have never had an altercation with my almost perfect daughter in law so you can maybe understand my angst. “Not Speaking to people” is not an activity we practice in the Staley family.  The crux of the issue was my
“grandma name”. Jenn had decided it should be
Nafasshhhaashshsshhhh (I may be spelling it wrong but you get the gist and I’m trying to forget)
The reason for this name was that I sometimes talk too much and Jenn thought it a good idea to have strategic
ssshhhhh’s in my grandma name. Well the trouble came about when I decided I really must speak up and I expressed my dislike of the name.
Since Jenn had taken it upon herself to have the name inscribed on slippers, name tags and hair clips (not sure why she felt I would be interested in hair clips) and had gone to a whole lot of work and expense
she was not Happy!

I woke up in a sweat, as I mentioned.

However, my relief was enormous when I realized this had actually been a (terrible) dream and not only that, but I had a special guest to look forward to this morning.
I jumped out of bed and came to the kitchen to begin preparing.
I decided my new creation would be called
Date, cranberry, orange breakfast Loaf and although it is a rather long name, each of the mentioned ingredients deserve recognition in the name.
I’m telling you, it is DELICIOUS.

Well back to my story!

I prepared the table and lit the candles and got out my best cake plate and arranged everything nicely.
I put my favourite spotify play list on.   It’s called Acoustic Christmas!
Then I realized it was 9:45 and she was coming at 10:30 so I raced upstairs and jumped into the shower. Wouldn’t you know it, today was hair wash day which was going to take longer. I hadn’t decided what to wear so I figured that out while applying shampoo.
Jumped out and got myself dried and coiffed.

Rob’s grandpa used to say to his beloved wife
“there’s no harm in trying, Izzy” (Her name was Isabel. My mom’s middle name was Isabel. I Love the name Isabel)

I arrived at the kitchen with 10 minutes to spare and got the coffee pot turned to ON.

And then

10:40 came and then 10:45 and I started to wonder,
if she had forgotten,
Dear Soul.
She likely wouldn’t want me to call her elderly, but 80 has come and gone on her calendar, so, well, a little extra grace is appropriate.
HOWEVER
You may or may not know that I have a tendency to get times and dates
WRONG!

I went to my phone and checked and rechecked the day and time of our get together and low and behold
it wasn’t my friend who was mistaken.

It was me. She is coming

Tomorrow!

Since Fresh and Warm is my favourite, I will decide whether or not I will make something else for our Coffee Table!

Nevertheless
I now have some beautiful Date, cranberry, orange breakfast Loaves to give away and that is a lovely thing.

I hope you have a joy filled Last Week of November and whatever may be frustrating you as the sun shines outside, remember that there is always Something to be thankful for and excited about, regardless of your inadequacies and concerns.

♥