On the Porch
Onisha Ellis
I have found the use of masks in my Florida town to be interesting. For those who don’t live here, you may not know that Florida is a mask mandate free zone. You would think that would mean mask wearing would be slight, but from my observations, that is not the case. During our October road trip we traveled in many areas with the mandate. With the exception of the Memphis, Tennessee area, I didn’t observe extensive mask use.
As Omicron began to make its presence felt in our community in early January, mask use ballooned.
I found that to be curious as during the height of the dreaded Delta, masking while present was not prevalent.
Two weeks later on my weekly shopping trip to Publix supermarket, masking levels seemed back to normal. I pondered this. Then I pondered again mentally collecting data reports and personal stories of infection. But it wasn’t until I factored in the CDC suggestions of quarantining for 5 days then wearing a mask for another 5 days that I reached my conclusion.
Data and personal stories told me that our county had been hit hard with probably Omicron. I think our county for the week ending January 13 was 31% positive. The explosion of mask use in early January may have been due to people coming out of quarantine while following the CDC guidelines.
I’m hoping the numbers for last week will be lower. I think Omicron was active in Florida before it was officially recognized and I am hoping we have summited the curve and are on the way down. Maybe my weekly trip to Publix today will give me a hint.
For the record, I am thankful for my community. To mask or not mask is not an issue for harassment (well except on Facebook and I’m not sure who those people are.)
Now to the bread making. We follow a low carb life style and we have missed good bread. I have made various recipes and they are ok but they weren’t wow. Well, I have discovered wow bread!
I am a member of a paid subscription low carb cooking group. I joined as I want to change up my meals to a slightly higher protein and I need help navigating the change. A month ago the leader of the group posted a recipe for white bread followed by a recipe for cinnamon bread to rave reviews.
I decided to give the recipes a try. My first loaf of the white bread didn’t cook through in the middle even though it appeared done. The rest of the bread was delicious and the closest to conventional bread texture I had eaten. Eventually I figured out that the glass loaf pan I was using was smaller than the suggested metal pan, making the loaf thicker. So far all my loaves have come out perfect since. The cinnamon bread is absolutely delicious and would make a fantastic french toast breakfast casserole.
I have also baked the bread in a muffin top pan to make round sandwich rolls. I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed eating a burger patty on a bun. I need to make more sandwich buns for the weekend I can’t decide if I want to make a full recipe this week and divide it between rolls and mini loaves, or a half recipe of just rolls.
I almost forgot to share this discovery. Last Sunday I put butter and garlic on some bread slices and put them under the broiler to make garlic toast It was ok but not oh my gosh good. We had one piece left over that lingered in the fridge for several days. I found it when I was scrounging for something to tide me over until supper. I heated it in the microwave for about 15 seconds and took a bite, not expecting much flavor. Woohoo! It tasted like I was eating buttery, garlic Texas toast. So good! The time in the fridge marinated the garlic into the bread. I will be marinating some more bread for the weekend!
Disclaimer: Anything Covid related are just my observations and thoughts.
PS… The Space X launch on Tuesday night was beautiful. The moon was full, the sky almost cloudless and the rocket appeared to be heading directly to the moon. My daughter captured this photo with her cell phone which does not do it justice at all.
A local photographer, Richard Gallagher captured some fantastic photos. Wish I could share them but they are copyrighted. Here is a link to his site.
https://www.rpgphotography.art/new-for-2022ew-for-2022
After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience. Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites, Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix
In addition to blogging, I work as the publicist/marketer/ amateur editor and general “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books
My 2021 goal is continue to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media. You can visit Real Life Books and Media You Tube Channel if you would like to view some of the mini-videos I have created for our church, Gateway Community in Titusville, Fl.
Old Things R New 
Thank you for stopping by and reading our posts. Your comments are welcomed.