We don’t have to like ‘it’, but we do need to navigate ‘it’. We might feel just a bit cooped and want to stomp to our room. The rebel in me feels like yelling, “ya, well I’m staying ‘home’ but on the inside I’m out there having coffee and scones with my friends.” Since I am much too responsible these days, to venture far, I thought, hey, why not have a get together with friends, through the blog. I hope you are all staying joyful and remembering to think about all that is wonderful about this time of solitude.

You know I like to cook ,whether there’s a pandemic wreaking havoc with the World, or I am just hanging out at home feeling like being creative. I’m thankful for the gift of enjoying the kitchen and its things. The past few weeks have been different, quite. Aside from the very odd (no kidding. Face masks, disposable gloves, disinfecting wipes, little eye contact between entering and exiting stores) trip to the grocery store and some long walks, cleaning my pantry, scouring the sinks, tubs, floors, countertops fairly regularly, laundry, cooking meals, I have spent uninterrupted time in the kitchen. Sometimes there’s been music playing and sometimes it has been quiet. I like both. Today I’m sharing with you a few of my favourite recipes, made with love and enjoyment during these days of confinement. Maybe you will try them. Maybe you will be inspired. Maybe you will share with someone else who will enjoy making them for you.

These aren’t my usual tea biscuits, but I wanted something different to serve with the soup I made a few weeks ago. https://www.food.com/recipe/rich-tea-biscuits-74691

I’ve made bagels a few times in the past, but recently I made one of Tieghan Gerard’s recipes. These ones from Sally’s Baking Addiction https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/?s=bagels&submit=

Tieghan Gerard is a cooking genius and her website is not only beautiful, but user friendly and the recipes delicious. I made these last week and they were good, people. https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/pretzel-bagels

I am on a constant quest for the BEST cookies. I like cookies, a lot! This quest of mine may just be an excuse to eat all the cookies, every sort and variety. I have bumped into Sarah Kieffer’s pan banging cookies often. She has been featured in The New York Times and is a cookbook author. I whipped up her recipe last week. https://www.thekitchn.com/pan-banging-chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe-268 . Sarah Kieffer makes good cookies. These end up being crispy, so if you prefer a soft cookies, they won’t be your first choice. I would however, if I was a pushy person, tell you to try them, just once and decide after you eat one (or four) if you will make them a second time. What’s the harm in trying?

And then of course, there are my old faithfuls. The Very Best Blueberry Muffins, Raisin Bran muffins and Dinner rolls, better known as Nano Buns!

My mom, Nano2, along with many women of her generation, would pick a day every few days or weeks, that would be ‘bun’ day. Why a whole day, you ask? Well, because.

When Mom made buns they didn’t have a name. They weren’t dinner rolls, or rolls, or brioche. Mom’s buns were just that, buns. She would rise in the morning and first thing, get her yeast going. The process began, the cups and cups of flour added, the big green plastic bun bowl prepared. When I came from school at lunch, maybe the dough was almost ready to be shaped into the little round morsels. When I came home after school at the end of the day, the smell wafted to the road and the buns were probably sitting in rows and rows of hot buttered goodness, taking up every inch of the almost too small counter. Those were good days. Happy! Later, much later, after my dad, Papa had gone to Heaven and Nano would come to visit us in Toronto, she would make buns. It was then, when Timothy was four and Stephen was two, that buns became Nano Buns. Now, in the past month, the fourth generation, our little Ashton, has added his own version of the name. Nano Buns have become Nano’s Buttons! I like it! In those days, when the third generation was young, I had not yet mastered the art of bun making and Nano would leave for her home in B.C. only after filling my little deep freeze with, buns. For most of his elementary school years, Stephen took a bun or two filled with peanut butter, for lunch. Yes! Every. Single. Day. That was of course back when peanut butter was not a banned substance. It is a very good thing that Stephen was young child in the 90’s and not the 21st century. Phew!! I tend to guess at my bun recipe and often eyeball the dough, adjusting ingredients until I get the consistency I’m looking for. That is not helpful to you, at all, so I am linking a recipe that is very similar to mine. Try it! https://www.momontimeout.com/the-best-dinner-rolls-recipe/

Right now, Stephen and I are at the cottage, alone. He has been distancing for weeks. I have been distancing for almost as long. When I walked through the door, the first question was, “have those bags been sanitized? Um, No! I just got here! So together, we began the process of sanitizing the bags, the food, the countertops, etc. The spray bottle sits at the ready and the hand washing is in full swing. I won’t even get into the types of food sitting on the counter when I arrived yesterday. It’s a good thing I arrived when I did. Who knows how many more days he could have survived on what he was consuming. Stephen is a banker and let me tell you, this is no holiday for bankers. He was on the phone when I got up this morning and since that call he has been on other calls, continuously and it’s been eight hours and counting. He’s set up at the kitchen table and surrounded by his things. You know, computer, phone, very tall water glass, large coffee cup. Every few hours I prepare something for him to eat and set it in front of him. He mouths a “thank you” and continues. I’m surprised he hasn’t lost his voice and that’s quite a statement from ME. He eats while he’s listening, rarely speaking with his mouth full. His lunch today contained no peanut butter. It did however consist of the most delicious potato leak soup and two sandwiches of meat and cheese (no butter, or any other substance. Just meat and cheese) on nothing other than a Nano Bun. Now that I have mastered the making of Nano’s buns and since she introduced me years and years ago, to instant yeast, there are days when I begin a batch of buns a couple of hours before dinner. There are rarely buns in my freezer. Since buns can now be made in a very short time, I prefer to make them in small batches. Easy and rewarding, Because there is nothing, really nothing at all like a fresh, warm, Nano bun with dinner.