Monday, August 3, 2026

Still Obsessed With Food. Obviously


Last night's supper. I think this is becoming a feature here at Bless Our Hearts. I see that my placement was poor when it came to the avocados and eggs. 
Presentation has never been my strong suit. 
But it sure was good. 
On the other hand...let us discuss the bread I tried to make. I mean, I did make it but there were problems. 
I've been getting a lot of recipes on social media for recipes with cottage cheese in them and the purpose of cottage cheese in food is to up the protein in them. You know how it is- every few years we're told there are certain nutrients that are truly the important ones and right now, the trendy winners are protein and fiber. 
Am I right? 
Well, I don't really worry about not getting enough protein but I thought I'd give the cottage cheese in a baked good a try and so I made up a bread dough with bread flour, yeast, ground flax seeds (fiber!), old-fashioned oatmeal, and cottage cheese. Oh, and honey. I made the dough in the food processor where I make a lot of my bread dough, especially things like pizza crusts and focaccia. 
I processed all of this until it was a good consistency and then I kneaded it by hand a few times and set it to rise. It was a lovely dough. Quite punchy and so forth. It rose nicely, I gave it a second rise. Again, good rising, and then I baked it in a Le Creuset pot which I'd sprayed with some avocado spray. I put it in a hot oven and it looked great. It rose a bit more in the heat of the oven and browned well. When it came time for me to check it for doneness, I tried to do what I always do which is to take the loaf from whatever I'm baking it in and tap the bottom. If it sounds hollow- it's done. If it doesn't, it ain't.
However. There was no easy removal of this loaf. It had stuck to the sides and bottom of this pan with a crust at least a third of an inch thick. It took a knife, a spatula, and a lot of work to get that thing out of there and I ended up putting it back in the oven on a piece of aluminum foil because it was obviously not going to do well if I put it back in the pan. 
Well, I didn't bake it long enough. That was one problem, the other problem being the extremely rough exteriors of the bread. 
However, the parts that did get baked were lovely and delicious and I am going to try this again but I will be using a different baking vessel. 

Oh well. La-di-dah. 

I ended up going to town today to meet up with Jessie and the boyos for lunch and a Costco shopping. We asked Lily if she could go on her break but that wasn't happening until 2:00 so she told us to go on without her. The boys chose Chow Time, of course, and as always, it was NOT BAD! At all. I had boiled shrimp, some hot and sour soup, a few green beans and some cabbage, a piece of baked salmon, a bite or two of chicken and the same of beef. With a little rice. 
It was perfect! 

And then on to Costco. Now y'all- I don't think I'd left Lloyd in at least three or four days so Costco was a bit of a neuro-blast for me. So much going on there. And, two very energetic boys who bounced about like Energizer Bunnies. At one point, they begged Jessie to let them sample the Liquid Death drink. Liquid Death is an energy drink and Jessie and I both said, "NO!" at the same time. They were cool with that. They were actually very good little guys and entertained me well. I tried to get them to pose in front of a Halloween decoration which was a dracula-looking guy who moved and made scary noises. 
Here's what happened. 



That just about says it all. And we need to get Levon on the stage. Immediately. He is such a natural born performer and entertainer. 
And check this out.


I don't even know what to say. He really is going to be taller than me before I know it. 

All right. Here's a picture of their Boppy when he was probably about the same age as August. I'd say ten or eleven. Or maybe even twelve. 


I believe we can safely surmise that Levon and August are direct descendants of Glen Moon. 

By the way, Glen hates that picture so don't tell him I posted it. I love it.

And so it goes and so it went today. 

Here's the last picture.


The Seminole Pumpkin vines that are taking over our universe here in Lloyd. See that tendril on the left side there? It's heading right towards a boat parked in the yard and obviously, by tomorrow the vines are going to be climbing Tom's Subaru and will also be on and in the boat. I have got to cut it back. Again. Despite its obvious inability to know when to stop growing, I am not finding many pumpkins. I think perhaps we're not getting the number of pollinators we usually do. I'm not seeing much action on the basils, either, but I keep telling myself that they're not really putting out that many blooms yet. 
The pumpkins, however, are. 
I hope I'm wrong. I really, really do. 

Meanwhile...

Love...Ms. Moon








45 comments:

  1. Love the energy of those boys. Where do they find it? I think the current fixation on protein and fibre is down to the use of the weightloss jabbies. I cannot abide cottage cheese in any form - hangover from all those awful Weight Watchers recipes from the 80s - but I'm impressed with your bread baking effort. I like cheese in bread recipes but will stick with the non-cottage varieties!
    Your pumpkin has inspired me to find a spot for a pumpkin this year. I fear it could take over the entire back yard but what the hell - I'll give it a go.

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    1. Well, it wasn't the cottage cheese that made the bread stick to the pan. I'm pretty sure about that! Yeah. One can tire of the stuff pretty quickly.
      A pumpkin isn't the worst thing that could take over your back yard.

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  2. Those three "boys" - all legs (and ham, in the case of Levon) - wonderful photos. Your Seminole Pumpkin seems to have inherited the Moon height gene, just horizontal instead of vertical.

    Chris from Boise

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  3. The Moon genes are showing in the next generation. Long legs guarantee tall handsome boys.
    You are lucky both boys are willing to go to Costco with you. My son refused telling me that's for mothers, not kids.
    Your pumpkin patch is impressive. Hopefully, you'll get a few good pumpkins. My squash plants are putting out lots of vines with flowers. Unfortunately, the wildlife is eating the leaves and flowers. I harvested 3 Acorn squash today.
    Cottage cheese in bread is new to me. In addition to adding protein does it make the bread moist?

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    1. August and Levon really didn't have a choice. Their mother was going and they had to as well. Dad was working.
      What kind of squash are you growing?
      As to what the cottage cheese does, I'm not quite sure about that. I'll know more when I make a decent loaf.

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  4. Thank you for the pic of Mr. Moon. It made my day. I'm a long time lurker of many years and never comment but I just had to tell you how much I needed that today. Bless you Mary Moon!!!

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    1. Aw. Thank you! I just never know what will be what someone needs.

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  5. I meant to add- from Sherry in Portland OR

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  6. Keto-based recipes use cottage cheese plus a lot of other cheeses ... shredded and creamed!

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    1. Yes. But I'm not doing keto because I like carbs too much. I simply could not live without them. I try to go lighter on them though.

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  7. You can help pumpkins along but taking the penis part out of the male flowers and shoving it into the vagina part of the female flowers. Works quite well:)
    I bought some cottage cheese the other day, thinking of making muffins. That's as far as I got, thinking about it.
    Today was a good day. I'm trying not to overdo things which is hard for me but I'm working on it.
    Hopefully the bread turns out better next time.

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    1. Oh my god, woman! I started reading your comment and was like, "Whoa! Who is this?" Then I saw it was you and I laughed.
      I think the squash blossoms might enjoy that technique.
      Let us know how the muffins are if you make them.
      I just about overdid myself today but I had a stern talking to that self and let a few things go. They'll be here tomorrow.
      I really want to do that bread again.

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  8. Oh my gosh. Glen's picture is a hoot.. I think August and Levon have the longest legs I have ever seen on a kid! I quit trying all those recipes. Too many failures. I decided to simply stick to what I know works.

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    1. I think the kids' legs look even longer because they're skinny legs! They'll all be more proportionate eventually.
      Good philosophy on the baking.

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  9. The shrimp salad dinner looks delicious. Sorry the bread misbehaved! Those boys are something else...healthy and tall and fun.

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    1. That shrimp salad is always a winner. I found the shrimp in the freezer- completely forgot I had it. It was good shrimp, too.

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  10. The salad looks good, well the shrimp part odes, I don't like avocado. I gave up making bread altogether, and now just make my own pizza dough which also becomes quite nice foccacia if I am in the mood, so that's a sort of bread at least.

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    1. Pizza dough and focaccia are indeed bread!
      I'm sorry you don't like avocado. I think it's a delicious part of life.

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  11. Loved the Childhood Pix of your Beloved too, I think those Boys are gonna be Tall like their Boppy. Your presentation looks Fine to me and it does look delicious. Those Pumpkin Vines are beautiful even tho' they're going a bit intrusive, hopeful you'll get a Harvest from them?

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    1. I hope to get some pumpkins for sure! But like I keep saying, I'm enjoying the vines so much that it wouldn't be a tragedy if I didn't.
      Vergil's side of the family is quite tall too. He has some amazingly tall aunts!

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  12. The photo of
    Glenn as a "child" made me laugh- Circus freak came to mind. The boys do make their relationship with Glenn obvious. May they grew in to fine men like their grand daddy.
    The bread recipe sounds worthy, I think that I would give it a go.

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    1. I think he was in some sort of play when that picture was taken. I love the joy on his face. When I met him, he smiled so much I thought there had to be something wrong with him. Turns out he was just a happy man. I had no idea there was such a thing. If all our grandchildren turned out to be a lot like their Boppy, I would be thrilled.
      The bread dough was so promising. You know when you've made a good one and can just tell?

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  13. I was thinking about that salad earlier today, haven't had it in a bit. After seeing yours I know I will be making it real soon. So yummy!

    I do struggle with getting in enough protein. These dang, wonder drugs just make me fill up so quickly it's hard to keep eating sometimes. Whoever thought those words would ever be coming out of my mouth? I recently added a protein shake with 30 grams of protein that I sorta sip on throughout the day...don't know how healthy they are but maybe it will help some.
    LOVE the photo of Glen! He looks at least 15 -16. Not sure about the pants... were they part of a costume? But he sure was adorable...a charmer from an early age. He just looks like a dude that knows how to have fun!
    Angie D

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    1. Do you eat meat? I don't eat that much of it but between that and fish and beans, I think I get enough protein. You do have to prioritize though, don't you? When I think about it, I make hardboiled eggs and keep those in the refrigerator for snacks.
      Glen may have been older. You're right. I think he was in some play, thus the pants. Not sure.
      Glen always has been a rather happy guy.

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    2. I do eat meat but like you say, not much of it, especially in the summertime it loses its appeal. Just so heavy. I would be happy eating a bacon and tomato sandwich every day but not too healthy for you and not much protein either. I was doing the boiled eggs and also cottage cheese with fruit but I seemed to have gotten burned out on both. It's been a few weeks so maybe I need to give them a try again. Also I may be misjudging how much protein I eat...take that shrimp salad for example, I would probably eat 4-5 shrimp and half of a boiled egg...would that be sufficient protein for a meal? Seems a bit lacking to me but that's all I would be able to eat. Breakfast is hard also, I tend to eat a small slice of sourdough bread with maybe a Tblspn of peanut butter or a slice of cheese, again that seems lacking in protein. Those are the only 2 meals I tend to eat with a couple of snacks which I aways try to make high protein. Ah well, not your problem but thank you for bouncing your ideas around for me. Just happy to be losing this weight but sure would like to keep my muscle mass as much as possible. Needed new jeans and today I bought the smallest size I've worn in over 30 years...I love Zepbound!
      Angie

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  14. While I love that Halloween man I absolutely hate that it's up in August!!! I know everywhere's the same but I hate the overkill!

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    1. Isn't it just completely absurd? The Christmas shit will be out soon.

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  15. I loved those photos of your grandsons. They look so happy and carefree! And the photo of Glen...he's all legs there!

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    1. His height comes from the length of his femur which is extraordinarily long. Sitting down he's not strikingly taller than a lot of men, but when he stands up...

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  16. A fun day out with the boys - I think you always have fun days when Jessie and the boys are around. I definitely can see where they get their long legs from! :)

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    1. Yep! Hanging out with kids and grandkids is just about the most fun I need to have these days.

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  17. Those pants! And the boys - funny guys.
    I make cottage cheese pancakes fairly often; easy, and good.

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    1. Funny guys for sure. August is more serious than Levon, generally, but he's got his own sense of humor.
      I think I burnt out on pancakes a long time ago. I've made millions of them, I do believe.

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  18. The legs on that boy! I was thinking they looked like that because of camera view/angle until I saw the picture of Mr Moon. Your pumpkin is taking over the way the volunteer butternut vines did the year they sprouted out of the compost pile and I had so many butternuts, we ate so many and I gave away a lot that I never wanted to see another butternut ever again.

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    1. I remember I had some sort of squash or pumpkin grow from my compost that did really well. So long ago I don't even remember what it was exactly.

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  19. I love August's indulgent smile at the antics of his brother. Reminds me so much of my grands!

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  20. Mr. Moon had some seriously long legs! Wow. August and Levon are going to be tall men too, obviously. And that salad looks to die for. Shrimp and avocado are my favorites.

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    1. The first time we went to Cozumel, we used to go to a restaurant that served an appetizer or salad or whatever they called it, which was just half an avocado with shrimp and a sort of dressing that was very, very much like the goop I make for our shrimp salads. I used to get it as my main course and never got tired of it.

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  21. Mr. Moon had some seriously long legs! Wow. August and Levon are going to be tall men too, obviously. And that salad looks to die for. Shrimp and avocado are my favorites.

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  22. These are seriously tall people! I think you'll be left behind in no time.
    A few years ago I had a brief period when I liked avocado and ate it a lot. Then I went off it and now can't face it. Who knows why this happens? Maybe I got tired of seeing it pushed everywhere.

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  23. Clearly, long, LONG legs run in Boppy's family!

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.