Even though tomorrow is my last day on Orkney, today, Friday, turned out to be the best day to have the removal firm come. We arranged for a 9:30 a.m. pick-up, and then I have to clean the house, get my hair done (obvs), and pick up tonight’s dinner.
With three exceptions, everything that has to go was packed last night. As most of my stuff is in storage with this firm already, it was only a couple of pieces of furniture and about dozen boxes of books, linens, cookware, and food. Oh, and two massive suitcases of clothes. I’ve held back a few fridge items to go in a cooler bag on the drive south, along with two small suitcases of clothes for the next four days.
The three items that were still unpacked this morning were a mixing bowl and two loaf tins. I wanted to do something nice for my hair stylist, who has just been delightful the past 18 months and has looked after me well. I decided to bake her a loaf of my Cheddar Beer Bread. (We’d been discussing it last time I was there; it’s not like I suddenly got it into my head, “Gluten. That’s what Shannon needs, gluten.”) So I got up at 6:00 this morning to make and bake the bread, giving me time to wash and pack the bowl & loaf tins before the movers arrived.
This isn’t the first time I’ve made this bread here – I made some for my walking group, and everyone liked it so much that they asked for the recipe. There were one or two hiccups along the way that first time. It’s a Best of Bridge recipe (remember them?) from the 1980’s and is all in volume, so I’m having to convert the ingredients to weights (I halved the sugar, as our tastes have changed). I had already mixed all the other ingredients when I discovered that UK beer bottles are smaller than back home, so I didn’t have quite enough beer. And, the temperature dial has been wiped clean on my oven, so baking temps are a guess at best. But they seemed to like it.
Given that I was packing everything to go to the movers, I decided last evening to weigh out all the ingredients except the beer (bought a bigger bottle this time), and put them in a bowl in the fridge. Then I packed the cupboards. So this morning at 6 a.m. I turned on the oven (a 15 minute wait to heat up), retrieved the bowl of raw ingredients, mixed in the beer, baked it, cooled it, washed the bowl & tins and packed them, then sat down to wait for the movers.
As they were coming in and out of the house, one man mentioned he could smell baking, so I sliced up the second loaf and gave them some. Well. That guy liked it so much I got a fist bump, then as they were leaving he turned, walked back, and shook my hand about the bread. Another one of the movers also works as a chef at a local restaurant, so I’m sending him the recipe today, as he wants to try it out.
Honest to God, I’m less than 36 hours away from leaving this island I love, but instead of being sad, I’m absolutely over the moon that three total strangers loved my cooking. (Sad will come later.)
(Oh, and they did a great job with the move, too.)
As I’m reading your blog, and typing this note, I realize you are already gone. What a perfect farewell that the movers not only loved your bread you shared, but that it will probably end up in the restaurant. You have truly made an impact and friends for life. How wonderful