Shortly after 7 A.M., I hung out my husband’s laundry. I spied a lone, young white rooster lingering at the door of the hen house that must have failed to come in the brooder house at dusk. He spent the night outside. I walked to the brooder house so I could assess the situation more closely. I decided to leave the rooster alone. But now that I was this far from the house I walked over to the garden. I found my first cucumbers. They measured 1-4 inches long, so I picked them. I also picked a small bouquet of dill for making pickles of my first-of-the-season cucumbers. I snipped some basil. Two nice zucchinis got my attention. I took them. My arms were filling up fast. A fresh, green head of lettuce lured me and I picked that.
In the kitchen, I scrubbed the cucumbers letting them soak in water for one hour in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, I found my “Best in the Word Dill Pickle” recipe and started to make the brine. I washed my jars, assembled my canning equipment and by 8:30 A.M. my daughter joined me. She shredded my zucchini and, as a duo, we prepared the batter for 2 loaves of zucchini bread.
By this time, my husband came in for breakfast. The timer buzzed; time to pack the pickles. I dutifully packed fresh, aromatic dill and the cucumbers in the jar. I poured hot brine on them and sealed the jar. We completed the the finishing touches on the bread. I buttered the loaf pans and my daughter poured in the batter. By 9 A.M., the loaves were baking in the oven. Ah, what a “feel-good moment”! We still had the morning ahead of us and two food service items were already accomplished.
While I am not always an early-bird riser, I so enjoy the satisfaction of getting extra things done before breakfast. The aroma of cinnamon wafts through the house as the bread bakes and the morning is still young…another “feel-good moment”.
Photo Credit: Bretta Grabau
Photo Credit: Wenda Grabau
