TORNADO POOP

If  my brain is traumatized by viewing the miles of devastation left behind by the tornadoes, those who are in the midst of it must be reeling! Imagining what it will take to clean up that tornado destroyed scene, leaves me dumbfounded by the enormity of the task. 

Praying for for those recovering from this disaster and the families and friends who have lost their loved ones. Possessions can be replaced, people cannot.  All that debris represents peoples lives. Their belongings have been chopped, shredded, mixed with dirt and spit out as a miles of #tornadopoop.

And this is just the beginning of tornado season!

BANANA BREAD

Banana Bread

This smell fills the house and makes my mouth water! Don't you just love to smell fresh-baked anything? Guess who woke up and said, "Something smells good!" And the commercial says the best part of waking up is coffee. Really?

This is my tried and true, handed-down-from-my-mom recipe for banana bread. 

As you can see I've made a few notes over the years to make sure I get consistent results. 

The baking times vary depending on the size of loaf pans I use. 

I use the single loaf size if we aren't planning to share a loaf.

You may notice this inverted loaf is gently coated in sugar. Instead of greasing and flouring a loaf pan, try grease and then lightly sugar it instead. I do this when I bake cakes too. You'll note this came out of the pan smoothly.

These two are a nice size to use when I want to make one and then take a fresh-baked loaf to a neighbor (sorry I didn't do that this morning Dayna)!

These Pampered Chef loaf pans are what I use when making mini loaves for bake sales or special little gifts for the holidays.

Here's the easy part:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Measure carefully and stir together the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.

In the blender put the eggs, ripe bananas, sugar, and lastly the butter.  

(I cut the butter into 4 chunks.  It seems to blend easier that way.)

Pour the banana mixture over the dry and mix them together.

Pour into the prepared pan or pans and bake!

My large loaf took 50 minutes today because the bananas were a bit large.  So always test your loaf with a toothpick to make sure it's thoroughly baked. The toothpick should come out clean when inserted in the middle.

Invert the loaf pan onto a cooling rack and let that melted sugar soak into the bread for about 5 minutes.

Slice and enjoy! 

I make this bread often and keep it on hand for JoPapa's breakfasts.  I haven't tried shipping this, but if you ask me nicely, I might be convinced to send or bring one to you...for the right price of course.

:-)

Or, you might try baking it yourself so your house will smell as yummy as mine!  Your family will love it too!

FRUITY MUFFINS

These have to be healthy! They are filled with so much yummy goodness! Even though the original recipe says not to freeze them, I always do.  They are delicious once they are re-warmed.

The original recipe also calls for margarine, but I've switched to using butter. Have you noticed how weird margarine is these days? Recipes don't turn out the way I expect when I cook using margarine for some reason. Can you say "hydrogenated"? If you have read any of my posts you know I ALWAYS follow recipes exactly. Not! Tweaking a recipe is a sign of my creativity!

Let me know what you think of these sweet, healthy muffins when you make them! Or...for the right price, I can bake a dozen and send (or deliver) them to you! Enjoy!

MEAT-FREE FRIDAY

How surprising to discover that tofu is just as delicious as any meat I've prepared. It doesn't feel like much of a sacrifice to eat tofu instead of meat.

First find tofu. You may have to ask your grocer because it was well hidden at our local store. But we found it in the produce section.  I cubed it, soaked it in a brine of hot water and salt, then drained and pressed it gently between paper towels.

Toss the dried cubes in a mixture of:

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2  teaspoon onion powder

1/2  teaspoon garlic powder

1/4  teaspoon ginger

1/4  teaspoon powdered mustard

Heat oven to 400 degrees and preheat a 9x13 oven safe pan with approximately 2 tablespoons of oil distributed over the bottom of the pan. Carefully place tofu cubes in the preheated pan.  Bake for 15 minutes, turn the tofu cubes over and bake 15 more minutes or until golden brown. 

The cubes were tasty and crunchy. I served them with a pan of fresh stir fried vegetables over rice with a dressing of Kikoman sweet and sour sauce. 

Thanks to the tutelage of my son Joel jr., I feel confident to prepare tofu. If I can do it, so can you!

It was a very tasty, meat free dinner!

SOFT AND PRETTY KNIT PULLOVER

Cozy textured pullover

Lion Brand Homespun Thick & Quick

This yarn is so soft and pretty! 

Pattern #L32012

Stitch by stitch and row by row the yarn becomes a thing! It amazes me even as my needles click and my projects grow right before my eyes. A bonus with this pattern, and Dayna's confidence in me, I learned how to cable!

Knitting provides an opportunity for contemplation and meditation or gives me an excuse to listen to an audio book or watch TV. Making something I can give away allows me to share a bit of my heart with the receiver. If the recipient wants to pass along my creation, that just spreads the joy into wider circles!

The thing I find so frustrating in anything I make (baking or knitting or canning, etc.)  is to have spent hours in the creation only to have the project turn out less than perfect.  The part I dread, but what I know has to happen in knitting, is rip it out and fix it! That should be OK, since I'm knitting for fun and not to be paid for the completed project. 

I've found several tweaks I want to make in this beautiful-to-look-at sweater. I bound it off too tightly, slightly inhibiting the stretch that should be present in the sleeves. The arms are a bit snug... But the body is nice and long since I followed one reviewer's suggestion so that part turned out just the way I'd hoped. Another reviewer of this pattern suggested a larger ribbing pattern which I also incorporated in this version.

  

Maybe I'll just hang it up and admire it instead of wearing it? Or maybe a miracle will occur and it will fit after all? Crossing my fingers...and it fit!

Any knitters who would like to offer suggestions, I'll gladly accept. Also, if you are interested in any of my creations, let me know!

By the way, I bake on request too!

KEEPING WARM?

How are you keeping warm this winter? A cozy fire in the fireplace is always a lovely option. But how to get that fire started? You knew I would give you a helpful tip for that! Make your own fire starters using dryer lint. I clean out the dryer filter and stash it in a cardboard egg carton until it's full.

Next, I carefully melt some old candles.

I use an old soup can inside a pan of water to slowly melt old pieces of candles. Hot pads or even pliers to handle that hot can of melted wax are essential! You'll want to cover your workspace with newspaper in case you drip wax.  Drizzle plenty of melted wax over each lint egg and let it cool. 

Then all you do is peel off a section, place one under your stack of wood, and light the corner. This little lint candle will burn and start the logs every time!

Of course, you'll want to have the makings for s'mores on hand so you can toast yourself and a marshmallow at the same time!

Now don't you feel warmer?

Applying Less Is More To My Life

My friend Jennifer shared this New Year's Resolution with me and it got me to thinking...

JoPapa and I decided to downsize and purge our possessions. Getting rid of a lot of our things was a painful process.  There were a lot of sentimental attachments to things we had accumulated.  The smaller house is good, there's less to clean! So I learned if I have less stuff it equals more freedom.

Here in no particular order, are some other things I'm going to try to apply the "less = more" philosophy to in 2014:

Complain less  = more gratitude 

Waste time less = more accomplished 

Worry less = more peaceful attitude  

Wish less = more doing 

Reminisce  less = more memories made

Take less = more giving

Critique less = more praise

Desire less = more generosity

Worry less = more positive attitude

Faith-falter less =  more Bible study

Wish less = more doing

Take things for granted less = more appreciation 

Waste less = more conserving

Talk less = more listening 

This list is one place where MORE might be a good thing. I'm open to your suggestions for applying less = more! What are your thoughts?