Fast and Easy Two-Ingredient Bread Recipe

I was looking at my Facebook memories and found a video I had shared to my wall about a recipe for bread rolls using only two ingredients, self-rising flour and Greek yogurt. The man who made the video had seen a video posted by someone else and wanted to test it for himself. Looks like the bread came out great! I said I wanted to try it, and then I totally forgot! But now I've written down the recipe so I will remember, and I'll share it with you:

2 cups of self-rising flour (if you don't have self-rising flour, you can add 1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt for each cup of flour) 1 3/4 cups of Greek yogurt (I guess plain, but maybe flavors would be good to try) Mix it into a dough, then separate into sections and roll each section into a ball. Place on baking sheet and bake at 350 F for 25 minutes. They should be golden brown and have a soft, dense consistency like scones. Have you ever made bread like this? I love simple recipes.

Photo by Gu Ko: https://www.pexels.com/photo/freshly-baked-biscuits-on-wooden-plate-36903813/

Improve Your Vocabulary in Three Easy Steps: Step Three

 

The Shortcut to Improving Your Speech and Writing

Click here to read first step

Click here to read second step

Last time, we discussed Step Two, which was: Reference, like dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc. But to spare you from having to run for a dictionary every time a new word pops up, you can save a lot of time by getting a handle on Step Three:

3. Roots. The cool thing about roots, which are word parts, is that they are like master keys. I’ll explain: When you come across a word you don’t know, you’re running into a locked door, in a way, right? And when you look up the definition for that word, you are finding the key that unlocks that door, and as long as you know that word, the door stays unlocked. Good, but I’m sure you see this problem coming a couple of blocks away: there are a lot of doors. All those hundreds of thousands of words that people use—there are going to be quite a few we don’t know. Do we memorize tons of definitions? Well, the good news is that we can—we certainly have already. Heck, we’ve memorized an astonishing amount by the time we’re toddlers, haven’t we, and can babble on about an impressive array of topics and even make up stories.

But the better news is this: Instead of adding keys to our already huge, clanking janitor’s key ring, we can borrow the super’s key ring, with the master keys. The master keys are the roots, together with other word parts. Here is a basic definition of word parts:

Root: Basic meaning. Sometimes a word consists of just the root, such as flex or script, but more often you will see the root appearing with additions, of:

Prefix: Word part placed in front of the root, for example:

    (dis)trust, (re)work, (mis)spell

    More than one prefix may appear:

    (dis)(en)chant, (in)(con)gruent

Suffix: Word part placed after the root, for example:

    mut(able), tenta(tive), funda(ment)

    More than one suffix may be used:

    beauti(ful)(ly), vent(ure)(some)

Of course, both prefixes and suffixes may be used:

(ir)(re)place(able), (in)nate(ly)

Words that are formed by adding various prefixes and suffixes are called derivatives. Here are the many derivatives of the root JECT, “to throw”:

project             eject             interjection

projected         ejected         conjecture

projecting        ejecting        conjectural

projection        ejection        reject

projectionist    ejector          rejection

projector          interject        rejected

projectile         interjected

Words can also be formed by putting two roots together. For example:

thermo (heat) + meter (measure) = that which measures heat

demo (people) + cracy (rule) = rule by the people

In my next series of articles, I will introduce you to a variety of prefixes, suffixes and roots from Greek and Latin, two of the most influential languages on English. Here are some Greek prefixes to get you started:

a, an – without  - amoral, atheism, anaerobic

anti, ant – against  - antibiotic, antisocial, antagonist

cata – down  - catalyst, catapult

dia – across, through, thoroughly  - diagonal, diaphanous, diaspora

epi – on, upon  - epidermis, epitaph, epitomize

ec – out, outside - eccentric, ecstasy, ectomorph

eu – good, pleasant  - eugenics, euphony, euthanasia

hyper – over, excessive  - hyperbole, hyperactive, hypertrophy

hypo – under, less than  - hypodermic, hypothesis, hypoglycemia

para, par – alongside  - parallel, paraphrase, paranormal

peri – around, near  - perigee, periphery, periscope

syn, sym, syl, sys- together, with  - syllable, symposium, syntax, system

If you are unfamiliar with any of the demonstration words given, you know what to do: Look ‘em up and write ‘em down!

Image credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/brass-colored-keys-333838/

Improve Your Vocabulary in Three Easy Steps: Step Two

The Shortcut to Improving Your Speech and Writing

In my prior article, we learned the first step to improving one’s vocabulary: Reading. This time, we will discuss what you should do when context isn’t enough to help you suss out a word’s meaning, or when you want to know a little more about the word and how to use it. Step Two is:

2. Reference. You know what reference is—it’s those books you can’t check out of the library, right? The encyclopedia, the dictionary, the World Book (do they still make those? I'm old). Well, you can’t run to the library every time you read something new, but you could get a good dictionary for your home. Some dictionaries are definitely much better than others. I’d skip anything that said “quick reference”, for example. Dictionaries that refer to themselves as “college dictionaries” are a pretty good bet. The best dictionaries, like the legendary Oxford English Dictionary, even have an etymology for each word- where it originally comes from, the form it originally took, if it has had a different meaning at some point, et cetera. (Like “et cetera”, for example, which is Latin for “and things”. But more on that later.) And of course, you can always look up words on your phone -- be careful of trusting the AI summaries, though - they aren't that good, yet. Better to click the link and get it straight from Merriam Webster's mouth. 

Whether you are reading at home or are out and about, carry a notepad with you and make a note of any words you run across to look up later. If you hear someone use a word you don’t understand, you can ask the person what it means. If you’re embarrassed about that, you can write it down in your pad to look up later. Even if they’ve told you what it means, you should look it up later, anyway, just to be sure they were right in the first place. You might also learn more about it, like alternate meanings, spellings, and more. I do want to emphasize one thing about using reference to learn vocabulary words: one of your most powerful tools for learning is that little pad or notebook. When you look up a word and its definition, no matter whether you are using printed reference or the internet, write them down.

Again, let me stress this: write them down, the word and its definition. It has been shown that the physical act of writing something down stimulates the formation of a memory of that information. Just think of all the times you have written something important down, like a phone number, and then found sometimes you could remember it without even looking. But if you didn’t write it down? That phone number is gone, honey! And you can listen closely in class, but if you have notes, it’s a lot easier to study for that test, right? You can fill a textbook with yellow highlighter, but it still won’t be as strong as writing it out. Typing out the word to google it or saving the definition to the Notes function on your phone is not the same and doesn't make that strong pathway like actually writing the words. 

Okay, now remember when I mentioned that some dictionaries tell you what form the word may have originally taken? And do you also remember when I mentioned that when you are learning a foreign language, you may note similarities in word formations? That brings us to the third step…which we will discuss next time! 

Step 3: https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2026/03/improve-your-vocabulary-in-three-easy_28.html

 Image credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/dictionary-text-in-bokeh-effect-267669/

Improve Your Vocabulary in Three Easy Steps: Step One

 

The Shortcut to Improving Your Speech and Writing

Would you like to express yourself more clearly, more elegantly, more creatively, or more professionally? We could all use a boost by expanding the number of words in our repertoire (ooh, there's a good one!). There are really just three steps or habits to cultivate in order to increase your vocabulary, speak more precisely, and write better emails, papers, letters, or even books. There's no limit when you can express yourself well! 

Improving your vocabulary is not necessarily a function of learning larger words—it’s more about learning to express yourself more accurately. If you have more words at your disposal, it’s easier to pick the right one that will convey the precise shade of meaning you intend. 

For example, one day I was listening to a conversation between two coworkers when one of them said, “…and then I had an epiphany”. A fourth coworker, who was also nearby, said, “What’s an epiphany?” The speaker explained, “It’s like a religious experience.” “Then why didn’t you just say ‘a religious experience’,” she asked, dismissively. Annoyed by this willful ignorance, I chimed in, “Because he knew about ‘epiphany’.”

The larger story here is not really about butting in to other people’s conversations, or about being snotty when people use words you don’t know. The point is that ‘epiphany’, which actually has a more precise definition than ‘a religious experience’—it’s more like ‘a sudden realization that hits you as though it were a religious experience’—is a good word to know, considering how specific (and wordy!) its definition is, and how commonly we are struck by such a feeling. 

Unlike the kibitzing coworker, some people appreciate learning new words. Since you're reading this, no doubt you are one of those people, so I will present you with three easy steps to achieving a larger vocabulary, and we'll start here, with Step One:

1. Reading. The best way to learn new vocabulary words is the most enjoyable! Read like crazy. Both fiction and nonfiction can reveal new words to you, although nonfiction, especially if it’s about a subject with which you are unfamiliar, can really be a treasure trove. I’d caution you about diving into something that you know is going to be hard to get through, though—there’s no point in suffering! It might make the words harder to learn if you have to fight off boredom and frustration to get to them. Reading is a natural way to learn new vocabulary.

As those of you who have studied a foreign language will know, it’s easy for spoken words to just “bounce off” without leaving much of an impression. But when you see the words written out, you can associate the sounds with the spelling, you can spot similarities with other words, and you have a chance to go over it until you just plain puzzle it out. You can figure out lots of stuff through context, which is to say how the one word you don’t know is used in a sentence with words you do know – for example, what if you didn’t know the word ‘mandible’, but saw this sentence:

Dave’s mandible, broken in the car accident, was wired in place to heal, so Dave had to sip liquids through a straw for several weeks.

I’m pretty confident that you could work out that a mandible was a jawbone. But what if Dave broke his ‘sternum’ and had to be in a body cast? A body cast covers lots of stuff. You might not be able to figure out that a sternum is a breastbone just from context. How to address this problem? Find out next time in Step Two!

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2026/03/improve-your-vocabulary-in-three-easy_20.html

Image credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/letter-blocks-247819/

The Books List, Part 12

 20 Books I Would Recommend Reading, 5 Books I Wouldn't, and 50 from my Reading List

The days are starting to get longer, and there's nothing like sitting in a sunny window to read. Time for another Books List post!

My likes/loves: These are books that entertained me, moved me, taught me things, made me think, inspired me, and that I would heartily recommend. They are not ranked – they are merely in the order in which I read them.

1. Brother Odd – Dean Koontz

2. The Yo-Yo Diet Syndrome – Doreen Virtue

3. Speed – Mark Harris

4. MAD about the Sixties – MAD Magazine

5. Eclipse – Stephenie Meyer

6. FU, Penguin – Matthew Gasteier

7. Breaking Dawn – Stephenie Meyer

8. Wonder Woman: Love and Murder – Jodi Picoult

9. Wonder Woman: Who Is Wonder Woman? - Allan Heinberg/Terry and Rachel Dodson

10. Justice Society, vol. 2 - asstd

11. Woman Rebel: The Margaret Sanger Story – Peter Bagge

12. Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits – Laila Lalami

13. Eva Luna – Isabel Allende

14. Waking Up White and Finding Myself in the Story of Race – Debby Irving

15. Hunger – Roxane Gay

16. DC Comics Backstories: Wonder Woman, Amazon Warrior – Steve Korté

17. Locke and Key, vol. 6: Alpha & Omega – Joe Hill/Gabriel Rodriguez

18. The Pushcart Prize, IX: Best of the Small Presses – ed. By Bill Henderson

19. The Innocent Man – John Grisham

20. The Numbers Game – Michael Blastland and Andrew Dilnot

My meh/yuck list: Did not find these appealing for any number of reasons – some were boring; some had an interesting subject but did not do it justice; some were flat-out terrible. All simply left me cold in some way. Although I am likely to read multiple books by authors I like (you will see a lot of Dean Koontz, Jonathan Kellerman, Margaret Atwood, Charles deLint and Toni Morrison), I do not excuse those authors when they write a book I didn't like, so they might just show up here, as well.

1. Boston Darkens – Michael Kravitz – I reviewed it https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-review-of-boston-darkens-by-michael.html

2. The Nose – Nikolai Gogol

3. They Who Do Not Grieve – Sia Figiel

4. Tales from a Traveling Couch – Robert Akeret

5. The Dord, the Diglot, and an Avocado or Two: The Hidden Lives and Strange Origins of Common and Not-So-Common Words – Anu Garg

My Reading List: these are books I haven't read yet, so I don't have a reaction for you. However, I could semi-recommend them, based on the reasons they made it onto my list:

1. They were on one of those “100 Greatest Books” lists;

2. They are other books written by authors I really enjoy; or

3. I read a review, and it sounded like something I'd like.

#1 can be a bit hit-or-miss; #2 is almost (but not always) foolproof for me (but maybe not for you), and #3 usually works out pretty well, as it's a combination of the first two. As always, your results may vary, but consider them suggestions. These may tend to come in chunks of stuff by author (apologies).

1. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Phillip K. Dick

2. Doctor Faustus – Thomas Mann

3. Doctor Zhivago – Boris Pasternak

4. Dog Soldiers – Robert Stone

5. Don't Move – Margaret Mazzantini

6. Downriver – Iain Sinclair

7. Dracula – Bram Stoker

8. Drop City – T. Coraghessan Boyle

9. Drunkard – Émile Zola

10. Dusklands – J. M. Coetzee

11. Effi Briest – Theodor Fontane

12. Elective Affinities – Johann von Göethe

13. Elementary Particles – Michel Houellebecq

14. Elizabeth Costello – J. M. Coetzee

15. Embers – Sandor Marai

16. Émile, or On Education – Jean-Jacques Rousseau

17. Empire of the Sun – J. G. Ballard

18. Enduring Love – Ian McEwan

19. England Made Me – Graham Greene

20. Enigma of Arrival – V. S. Naipal

21. Erewhon – Samuel Butler

22. Ethan Frome – Edith Wharton

23. Eugénie Grandet – Honoré de Balzac

24. Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit – John Lyly

25. Eva Trout – Elizabeth Bowen

26. Evelina – Fanny Burney

27. Everything is Illuminated – Jonathan Foer

28. Everything You Need – A. L. Kennedy

29. Exercises in Style – Raymond Queneau

30. Extinction – Thomas Bernhard

31. Eyeless in Gaza – Aldous Huxley

32. Faces in the Water – Janet Frame

33. Falconer – John Cheever

34. Family Matters – Rohinton Mistry

35. Fanny Hill – John Cleland

36. Fantômas – Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre

37. Far from the Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy

38. Farewell My Lovely – Raymond Chandler

39. Fat: The Anthropology of an Obsession – Kulick, Meneley

40. Fateless – Imre Kertesz

41. Fathers and Sons – Ivan Turgenev

42. Fear – L. Ron Hubbard

43. Fear and Trembling – Amelie Nothomb

44. Fear of Flying – Erica Jong

45. Felicia's Journey – William Trevor

46. Ficciones – Jose Luis Borges

47. Fingersmith – Sarah Waters

48. Flaubert's Parrot – Julian Barnes

49. Florence Broadhurst: Her Secret & Extraordinary Lives – Helen O'Neill

50. Foe – J. M. Coetzee

That's all for now; hope you find these lists useful as you think about things you might like to read. If you want more, more, more, you can find the previous lists at these links:

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-books-list-part-one.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-books-list-part-two.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-books-list-part-three.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-books-list-part-four.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-books-list-part-five.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-books-list-part-six.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-books-list-part-seven.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2021/12/the-books-list-part-eight.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-books-list-part-nine.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-books-list-part-10.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-books-list-part-11-20-books-i-would.html

Image credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-woman-reading-a-book-on-a-couch-5490056/

The Books List, Part 11: 20 Books I Would Recommend Reading, 5 Books I Wouldn't, and 50 from my Reading List

 

Time for another Books List post! Curl up by the fire (or the fan, depending on the season) and enjoy (or avoid) these titles:

My likes/loves: These are books that entertained me, moved me, taught me things, made me think, inspired me, and that I would heartily recommend. They are not ranked – they are merely in the order in which I read them.

1. Song of Solomon – Toni Morrison

2. The Engish Patient – Michael Ondaatje

3. Making Money – Terry Pratchett

4. The Secrets of Harry Bright – Joseph Wambaugh

5. Bloody Mary – J.A. Konrath – read my review! https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2025/12/book-review-ja-konraths-murder-mystery.html

6. Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat? - Peter Walsh

7. Whiskey Sour – J.A. Konrath

8. Not Buying It – Judith Levine

9. It's All Too Much – Peter Walsh

10. Pigs in Heaven – Barbara Kingsolver

11. A Son of the Circus – John Irving

12. Nightmares and Dreamscapes – Stephen King

13. Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas – Tom Robbins – I wrote about how good the writing is, here https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2023/05/the-best-in-writing-half-asleep-in-frog.html

14. The Hour I First Believed – Wally Lamb

15. Obsession – Jonathan Kellerman

16. Post Mortem – Patricia Cornwell

17. The Target – Catherine Coulter

18. True Detectives – Jonathan Kellerman

19. Hemlock Bay – Catherine Coulter

20. Forever Odd – Dean Koontz

My meh/yuck list: Did not find these appealing for any number of reasons – some were boring; some had an interesting subject but did not do it justice; some were flat-out terrible. All simply left me cold in some way. Although I am likely to read multiple books by authors I like (you will see a lot of Dean Koontz, Jonathan Kellerman, Margaret Atwood, Charles deLint and Toni Morrison), I do not excuse those authors when they write a book I didn't like, so they might just show up here, as well.

1. New Moon – Stephenie Meyer

2. Life After Death – Elizabeth Hanley

3. The Almost Moon – Alice Sebold

4. The Great and Secret Show – Clive Barker

5. American Psycho – Bret Easton Ellis

My Reading List: these are books I haven't read yet, so I don't have a reaction for you. However, I could semi-recommend them, based on the reasons they made it onto my list:

1. They were on one of those “100 Greatest Books” lists;

2. They are other books written by authors I really enjoy; or

3. I read a review, and it sounded like something I'd like.

#1 can be a bit hit-or-miss; #2 is almost (but not always) foolproof for me (but maybe not for you), and #3 usually works out pretty well, as it's a combination of the first two. As always, your results may vary, but consider them suggestions. These may tend to come in chunks of stuff by author (apologies).

1. Cider with Rosie – Laurie Lee

2. Cigarettes – Harry Mathews

3. City of God – E.L. Doctorow

4. City Primeval – Elmore Leonard

5. City Sister Silver – Jachym Topol

6. Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell

7. Cloudsplitter – Russell Banks

8. Cocaine Nights – J.G. Ballard

9. Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons

10. Come Back, Dr. Caligari – Donald Barthelme

11. Coming Up for Air – George Orwell

12. Complicity – Iain Banks

13. Concrete – Thomas Bernhard

14. Concrete Island – J.G. Ballard

15. Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole

16. Confessions – Jean-Jaques Rousseau

17. Contact – Carl Sagan

18. Correction – Thomas Bernhard

19. Cranford – Elizabeth Gaskell

20. Crash – J.G. Ballard

21. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky

22. Critique of Pure Reason – Immanuel Kant

23. Crome Yellow – Aldous Huxley

24. Cry, the Beloved Country – Alan Paton

25. Cryptonomicon – Neal Stephenson

26. Cutter and Bone – Newton Thornburg

27. DSM-IV Made Easy – James Morrison

28. Dangerous Liaisons – Pierre de Laclos

29. Dangling Man – Saul Bellow

30. Daniel Deronda – George Eliot

31. Dark as the Grave wherein My Friend Is Laid – Malcolm Lowry

32. Darkness at Noon – Arthur Koestler

33. Das Kapital – Karl Marx

34. David Copperfield – Charles Dickens

35. Day of the Triffids – John Wyndham

36. Dead Air – Iain Banks

37. Dead Babies – Martin Amis

38. Death in Venice – Thomas Mann

39. Death Sentence – Maurice Blanchot

40. Decline and Fall – Evelyn Waugh

41. Deliverance – James Dickey

42. Delta of Venus – Anais Nin

43. Diary of a Nobody – George and Weedon Grossmith

44. Dictionary of the Khazars – Milorad Pavic

45. Dining on Stones – Iain Sinclair

46. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency – Douglas Adams

47. Disappearance – David Dabydeen

48. Disgrace – J.M. Coetzee

49. Disobedience – Alberto Moravia

50. Dispatches – Michael Herr

That's all for now; hope you find these lists useful as you think about things you might like to read. If you want more, more, more, you can find the previous lists at these links: 

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-books-list-part-one.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-books-list-part-two.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-books-list-part-three.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-books-list-part-four.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-books-list-part-five.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-books-list-part-six.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-books-list-part-seven.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2021/12/the-books-list-part-eight.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-books-list-part-nine.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-books-list-part-10.html

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/a-book-book-gift-heart-gift-read-1760998/

January 7 is Eastern Orthodox Christmas

 

Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7th. This might seem odd to us, but it is very close to Epiphany (January 6th), otherwise known as "the twelfth day of Christmas ", when the three kings reached Bethlehem and presented their gifts to Jesus. However, the actual reason for the discrepancy is that Eastern Orthodox Christian holidays follow the Julian calendar, rather than the Gregorian calendar now widely used. For this reason, Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate New Year's Day on January 14th.

Like the Catholic custom of Lent, there is fasting up until the holiday, and during this fast period, adherents must eat no animal products except for fish. I have shared some dinners over the fasting period, and we've been doing a lot of pasta and veggies and rice with fish, fish, fish. Fortunately, I like fish, so no problem. Also during the fasting period, it s forbidden to drink alcohol and to have intimate relations. And this goes on for weeks! It can be pretty tough, I'm sure.

My Serbian friends will be very busy in preparation for the religious holiday. They will roast a whole pig on a spit the night before, but it will not be consumed until dawn, or shortly before. I'll bet they can hardly wait to have meat again! There will also be a church service on their Christmas Eve, January 6, as well as on the holiday itself. If you have any friends who are Eastern Orthodox Christian, wish them a Merry Christmas next week! 

Image of Serbian E.O.C. church from Pixabay  https://pixabay.com/en/st-sava-serbian-church-349912/