Happy Halloweeen!

Free downloads of the pug stencil and other breeds at BetterHomes&Gardens. Stencil designs by Diane Starkey.

Banana Bread

I promised Daniel we'll do some cooking/baking this weekend. Banana bread sounds good right this minute... I like this recipe from Betty Crocker - last time, we used star shaped pans for an extra special look.

Banana Bread

Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time: 3 hours 25 min
Makes: 2 loaves

1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (3 to 4 medium)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped nuts, if desired

1. Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottoms only of 2 loaf pans, 8 1/2x4 1/2x2 1/2 inches, or 1 loaf pan, 9x5x3 inches.
2. Mix sugar and butter in large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Add bananas, buttermilk and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt just until moistened. Stir in nuts. Pour into pans.
3. Bake 8-inch loaves about 1 hour, 9-inch loaf about 1 1/4 hours, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans and place top side up on wire rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.

Substitution
If using self-rising flour, there is no need to add baking soda and salt.
No buttermilk on hand? Mix 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice or white vinegar and enough milk to make 1/2 cup. Or substitute 1/2 cup plain yogurt.

Mirror, mirror...

Alice laughed. "There's no use trying", she said; "one can't believe impossible things."

"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. There goes the shawl again!"

Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

e-book

Chaco

Chaco Culture National Historic Park in northwest New Mexico is well worth the visit. I was there for the first time close to 8 years ago - would love to go back and see it again.

"Chaco Canyon was a major center of Puebloan culture between AD 850 and 1250.
It was a hub of ceremony, trade, and administration for the prehistoric Four Corners area.

Chaco is remarkable for its multi-storied public buildings, ceremonial buildings, and distinctive architecture. Its structural elements combine pre-planned architectural designs, astronomical alignments, geometry, landscaping, and engineering to create an ancient urban center of spectacular public architecture--one that still awes and inspires us a thousand years later.

The Chacoan sites are part of the homeland of Pueblo Indian peoples of New Mexico, the Hopi Indians of Arizona, and the Navajo Indians of the Southwest."

O Poema

My favorite poem from Brazilian poet Mario Quintana published in his book Poesias.

Uma formiguinha atravessa, em diagonal, a página ainda em branco. Mas ele, aquela noite, não escreveu nada. Para quê? Se por ali já havia passado o frêmito e o mistério da vida...

A loose translation

A little ant crosses, in diagonal, the page still blank. But he, that night, didn't write anything. What for? If by there had already passed the essence and mystery of life...

Family "Fortune"

Dinner at Mai's has become a family favorite. Their Pho' Tai is the best.To wrap things up we always get a fortune cookie each. Sunday's messages were just right:
Daddy - "Be yourself and you will always be in fashion."
Kaila - "You have an active mind and a keen imagination."
Daniel - "You will always be surrounded by true friends."
Me - "A small act of charity will go a long way."

Athletic Conditioning

I started an athletic conditioning class at the gym on Wednesdays. The instructor keeps the class fast paced and challenging. We usually end up with 100 push-ups in 10 to 20 increments, work with free weights, medicine balls, figure 8 elastic bands for squat-jacks, and bosu balls. On Thursday my legs were tired and a bit sore (in a good way). I guess the class is working as intended - it complements my running really well.

String?

Nothing like jumping on the bed listening to good music. Yes, a favorite of my kids. Last week I bought them a new tape with children's songs and they were having a blast. The tape ended and there was quiet for a little while.

"Bath time...", I call. As Kaila comes to meet me she asks, "Mommy, what's all that string for?"
"String? What string, Kaila?"
"Come see...", she says.

I get to her room and Daniel is happily pulling the ribbon off the cassette. The 'string' is pooled by his side! Luckily the tape was not torn and after a few minutes of manually rewinding the 'string' back into the cassette, we had music again.

One of the reasons I purchased the old-tech cassette tape was to show the kids how the tape deck in their little boom box worked. I guess they got that and a little more. It's fun to see Kaila FF and wait for the tape to get to the next song - rather than just pushing one button in the CD player for the immediate gratification of her next favorite song.

Atchung!

Today Daniel sneezed and before we could say anything he went "Bless you, Daniel!". It was too funny and sweet.