You can discover something new every day. At my age you think you know all the little tricks that make life easier, but sometimes you discover you really don't. I posted a photo a few days back on my Twitter account asking if anyone else had ever come across a bunch of bananas that were rock-hard and refused to ripen. And I received immediate answers. One from a friend who lives somewhere in the tropics who actually picks her bananas off banana trees. On one occasion, she said, she picked a bunch that failed to ripen and she ditched them.

Another two friends gave me an immediate solution, though I hardly guessed it would turn out to be that. Place them, each of these friends said, in a brown paper bag. I was skeptical. And where would I get a brown paper bag? Then I remembered that years ago I had put some aside in case I'd ever need them. I originally used them to store glass outdoor ornaments like hummingbird feeders over winter. The bags are so old the paper has become stiff and crackles and tears easily. But in went the bananas and this morning I selected two that had turned a mellow yellow.

 

Another thing; last week I thought I'd add a spoonful of honey to the yeast dough I was preparing for dinner rolls. The honey accented the dough beautifully, even though I had also grated cheddar cheese into the dough. The two made a luscious combination. And the buns, which I rolled into croissants, were really good. This week I repeated the combination but used unbleached flour which might have made a difference because finished bread products with unbleached flour turn out differently, not as light as ordinary bleached all-purpose flour. I had brushed them with egg and the result was beautiful in appearance and even better in taste.

 

 

They were meant to go along with a pea-bean and vegetable soup for dinner. The still-croissants and the hot soup perfectly complemented one another. I had made an egg salad for Irving to have with his rolls, but I had two bowls of soup and two croissants and that really did me in. Just enough room left for strawberries and yogurt.

Today's one of my busiest days; house-cleaning. So we were late getting out to the ravine for our afternoon hike with Jackie and Jillie. A perfectly gorgeous day, with the temperature nudging up to 6C, and brilliant sun. Despite all the snow I went out with J&J without a jacket to the backyard and it felt heavenly. When we did finally get out to the ravine, we could see that there were gaps in the snowpack on the forest hills where enough snow had melted due to rain events and melting snow to reveal the bare earth here and there. So we're on our way.

 

The creek is running full, and roaring over impediments on the way; fallen tree trunks and other detritus littering the runway. By the time we had gone out, the sun had gone in. But halfway through our hike out it came again, illuminating the landscape and we felt grateful it had seen fit to drop by again and greet us on this lovely day.

 

Just before we left the house I had put a pot roast on to simmer in our absence. I tried something different with it, too, as it happens. I still had most of a bulb of fennel and I thought why not cut it up and include it in with the roast, along with tiny potatoes and chopped tomatoes? When we returned the fragrance of our dinner welcomed us back home.