A few freshly baked breads for our friends around town!
A small token of gratitude for all they do for our community - and us. :)
Learning about, and experiencing, our community is a big part of Earlybird's home education. And his favorite part of the week are the excursions we make here and there, meeting all kinds of folks on the way. Despite the fact he is autistic, he is an extraordinarily social child! (Autism affects each child so differently, and things like awareness and affection have never been an issue for EB. His challenges run more along sensitivity issues, impulsivity and developmental delays.)
What EB needs is guidance on how to conduct himself in public, and practice in speaking with those he meets. Consequently we spend a lot of time visiting the library, the grocery store, the post office, etc. EB is always full of questions and comments and has made some really nice connections with many of the people we see on a weekly basis.
Happily, it's been our experience that people are generally very kind and encouraging when it's clear our EB is a special needs child. They respond to his outgoing nature, and are patient with him as he asks questions or makes comments. His speech delay can make him difficult to understand, and it touches my heart when I observe someone giving him the time he needs to finish his thought. And it thrills us to watch him grow in confidence and skill as he learns to socialize with people outside his own circle.
So at Thanksgiving we wanted to take a moment to think about the people we see regularly through the year and say thanks for being so friendly and helpful. To that end, I baked some quick breads this morning and we delivered them this afternoon when we ran out to do a few errands.
I used the "mix-and-match quick bread" recipe in Frozen Assets (my good old standby) but I tinkered with the recipe a bit. I used less sugar, and added some white-wheat flour. I also used nutmeg and ginger as well as cinnamon. I used sweet potato and pumpkin puree for a nice autumn blend - so we call these "Thanksgiving Breads!"
(What I really love about this recipe is how flexible it is and that it makes two loaves in one try. Very convenient when you're baking with the seasons and making food gifts!)
When the breads were cool I wrapped them in parchment paper, and lengths of green-and-white baker's twine. I gave EB manilla leaf tags to color ... but truth be told, Crackerjack pitched in because EB told me he'd "done enough coloring this morning," lol. Good ole CJ, he may be a tween now, but he still loves to do crafts when I've got them set out. Of course, it may have something to do with the fact he can step away from his math for a while. ;)
So, on the tags we wrote why were thankful ...
For the farmstand because they grow good things for us to eat.
For the library because we LOVE to read!
For the post office because mail is such a fun part of our day!
I tucked the tags beneath the twine, and our "loaves of Thanksgiving" were ready to go! It was a quick and fun morning activity - plus, it felt really nice to make people smile. :)
And if I could, I'd bake a loaf for all my readers and the tag would say:
For the kind people who visit my blog and make me smile every day!
*❤*
Now, here we are ONE day before the BIG day, and there's so much to do on my list I can hardly think! Lol. It will all get done though - it always does! Unfortunately it is raining HARD here this morning, so that won't make food shopping so fun. (At least the forecast for tomorrow is bright sun so I really can't complain.)
Before I sign off, I'd like to thank you all for the wonderful response to our cranberry poll! I love reading your votes and particularly the reasons behind them. Please keep them coming - we'll be working on our chart later this week. And the poll will be open until I go to bed tonight - I will draw a winner in the morning!
Have a wonderful Wednesday, my friends ... I will see you all again very soon!
:)
