Freshness is Key
Know When to Empty Your Bushel Basket
Written by MaryEvelyn
I woke this morning and my mind slowly started going from one thought then another. After lying awake for about an half hour I realized that in my mind, I had gathered a hefty bushel basket size of thoughts. I started thinking about how I see a bushel basket. A bushel basket of beans, pears, apples etc. I laugh when I think of the words I seldom hear today, like a bushel , a peck. Today if I saw a bushel basket of vegetables or fruit in my kitchen my first thought would be to run. Back in the day our first thought would be to break, peel or husk so as to prepare whatever fruit or vegetable that was awaiting to become a staple of our meal that day.
I think of a bushel basket as holding an abundance of something the same way that I see my mind. They both, I feel are quite capable of holding whatever we put in them. But I find that the difference is when the basket becomes full we sit down and take one fruit or vegetable at a time and properly break or peel, core or shell while they are still fresh. Freshness is key.
As for our minds we just keep adding thoughts and more thoughts and more thoughts. We never see our mind becoming full and we seldom take the time to properly empty it.
If fruits and vegetables stay in the basket too long they become waste because they aren’t fresh. They may wilt at first or become spongy. Whatever the form they take on it is obvious to us that we have let them sit too many days and they are useless to us.
On the other hand we don’t physically see how many thoughts we have put in the bushel basket (our mind) or neither do we see them losing their freshness. So we keep adding more thoughts to the spoiled thoughts of yesterday because we didn’t take time to properly empty our mind. I feel that I need to properly empty my bushel basket (my mind) daily and let yesterday be yesterday and today be a fresh start. If I peeled and cored all of the apples yesterday the basket is empty, all is done. If I let the apples sit until they are soft and turning brown I need to let them go, all is done.
I don’t need to replay how I should have peeled, cored and prepared. The same applies to my thoughts, I need to let go of yesterday, if it doesn’t bring a smile to my face, or give me some peace or joy, it is done. Again, with fruits and vegetables we will throw them out when they physically change but with our thoughts we keep them for years not recognizing they are spoiled and useless to us.
Let’s make a practice of observing the freshness and usability of our thoughts. With that, let’s not be hesitant to discard the spoiled and useless.
I came upon a dinner roll recipe that my sister Betty had sent me a couple of years ago. We had been talking about our mother’s rolls and how good we remember them being. I decided it was time to give mom’s rolls another try. I say another try because several years earlier I was making mom’s rolls for holiday dinners from her own recipe that she had given me. Then one hurried Thanksgiving, my dough didn’t rise. I took my dough not rising a tad too personal when my rolls came out of the oven flat and heavy. While trying to remember what I had not done correctly in which to cause a change in mom’s rolls, I had eaten at least five of them. I realized that the taste was still as good as ever so I put them on the table as is.
We had a guest that year for Thanksgiving dinner that was from Jamaica. As he ate one of the rolls he commented that this bread was a staple in his area and even called it by name. I couldn’t help but smile and nod as if the rolls had turned out as planned.
Literally years have gone by since I last tried to make rolls. Every time I thought about making some I would remember my last ones. Yes, I kept that memory way too long and I did not use it to my benefit.
So, Saturday I made the rolls in a fit of determination and…they didn’t rise. But again the taste was good. So Sunday I decided it was time to empty my bushel basket (my mind) and this time only remembering how good they tasted and smelled when mom made them. I covered and put the dough in the microwave where it is usually warm instead of on top of the stove. The temperature was apparently perfect, the dough did rise to double the size. I also kneaded with my hands as mom would do instead of using the mixer.
I totally enjoyed making the rolls this time with no thoughts of anything going wrong. It felt good to let go and move on and just do what I wanted to do. My rolls aren’t perfected but they are perfect. Absolutely nothing is meant to be an ordeal that overwhelms us no matter how perspectively big or small. Everything that happens is meant to happen to show us how easy life is whether it’s making a simple roll or climbing a mountain. One is no bigger than the other, it’s all in the eye of the beholder.
As seen in the pictures, I served the rolls with an orange marmalade that I had canned a couple of years ago. All was delicious!
Dinner Rolls Recipe
1/2 cup sugar
2 packets active dry yeast
2 cups milk (scalded and cooled to 105 and 110 degrees F
1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter (I used salted)
2 large eggs
6 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp salt
In a pan I heated 2 cups of milk until I saw the scalded film.
I had put my butter in a bowl and set out to become room temperature (soft).
In a bowl I combined the 6 cups of flour and salt.
After the milk cooled to 105-110 degrees F, whisk the yeast and sugar in with the milk.
Allow to rest 5 minutes.
Beat the 2 eggs into the soft butter.
Then add the yeast, sugar and milk mixture to the flour and salt.
Knead until the dough begins to come together.
Now add the eggs and soft butter mixture.
Knead the dough for about 6 minutes and make the dough into a ball in the bowl.
Cover the bowl loosely with a towel.
Place the dough in a warm spot and allow to rise about 60 minutes or until dough is doubled in size.
(As I said earlier I sat my dough bowl in the microwave, and it worked perfectly)
Gently push down on dough to deflate and knead a few times.
You are now ready to make your rolls.
Put dough on clean baking mat (I used a clean towel) gently cup each roll in your hand to plump them up a bit in the center.
Place rolls in a well greased baking pan and put in a warm spot and cover loosely with a towel. Allow rolls to rise in baking pan for 60 minutes or more if needed.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 14-18 minutes. Watch closely in the last few minutes so tops the of the rolls don’t over brown.
I got 32 rolls from my dough but you may want to make them smaller.
Brush the tops of the rolls with soft butter when they come out of the oven.
As always, Enjoy!