Hi, Everyone!
The leaves are still falling in Grandma and Grandpa’s yard. The town leaf vacuum has already come twice, and Grandma and Grandpa have another leaf pile ready for when they come again. Until they come, Grandma and Grandpa just keep adding leaves to the pile. Look how big it is now! And look how many more leaves fell since yesterday, when Grandma and Grandpa raked the back yard clean!Meanwhile, Grandma has been getting ready for the Election Day bake sale at church. Last Saturday, I helped her get out all the baking equipment she takes to church with her. There are lots of rolling pins and spoons and pans and coolers to pack! Then Nancy-san came over with her truck and I helped load the flour and sugar and other ingredients. I was really excited to see the chocolate chips, because I love chocolate bread!
On Monday, Grandma and I spent the whole day and evening at church baking. My best buddies Joe-san and Nancy-san came, too. There’s a lot of steps for making and baking cinnamon rolls, and I was a good helper for all of them. First, I helped Joe-san make the very first batch of sweet roll dough. Then, I made sure Nancy-san and Ellen-san were making it the same way. After the dough had risen and could be shaped, I helped my friend Ron-san weigh out the dough into portions the right size to make rolls and tea rings. Then I encouraged the bakers by giving hugs and watched to see when the shaped dough had risen enough to be baked. Then I helped Joe-san put the very first tea ring in the oven to bake and helped him and Nancy-san get it off the cookie sheet and onto a cooling rack when it was done. Baking is a very complicated process!
Lots of people came to help with the baking during the day, and in the evening my friends Kayla and Mina came to help. They measured out the scone dry ingredients so they would be ready to mix first thing on Tuesday morning. Then they made chocolate bread! Yum! I checked to see that the sales area was stocked with lots of cinnamon rolls, and then I helped dry some pans. I wondered if I could take a bath in the big dishwasher, but Grandma said that would not be a good idea. Monday was a very busy and long day! It was way after my bedtime before we were ready to go home, so I took a nap right in the kitchen.
On Tuesday — Election Day — Grandma got me up before it was light to go back to church. When we got there, some scones were already out of the oven! Don’t they look yummy? Grandma explained that scones are like biscuits, so they go stale quickly. That’s why we have to bake them right when people can buy them. It was good to see my friend Ann-san again! After we finished making scones from the kits Kayla and Mina made, we started making yeast breads again. This time, I helped Ann-san make orange rolls. The frosting we use to fill them is yummy! For the rest of the day, I helped by seeing which pans of rolls were ready for baking. Then, I helped Joe-san take the very last pan of cinnamon rolls out of the oven. My friend Katie came after school, and she and Grandma shaped the last dough into cinnamon rolls. Katie and Grandma have been baking together since Katie was Bill-kun’s age, and she and Grandma work really fast!
While Grandma and I were baking, lots was going on back at the house. Grandma and Grandpa have been working with a decorator to make changes in their house. We had to move both the pianos into the dining room so the installers could put a new carpet in the living room. At the decorator’s suggestion, Grandpa installed a molding on the ceiling of the living room, too. Grandpa used a laser to make sure it was in the right place. I helped hold it up while he fastened it. Then the painters came to change the wall and ceiling and trim colors. It was fun to watch them, but I needed to take a break from all the activity and spend some time with my favorite sunbeam. Some of the new colors are very close to the old colors, but not in the kitchen! The yellow vinyl wall covering is gone, and one wall is painted a lot like the new front door color. I like it! It really lets me show off the color of my fur!
Love,
Lion-san