banana bread

I posted this picture on Instagram and my Aunt asked me if I had the recipe.  My favorite banana bread recipe is from Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book.  I have been using it for over 30 years.  

I am going to write it down here for family but I do not modify it at all.  The modifications are when I wish to make a quick loaf with other fruits or vegetables.  This is my blueprint.  It is vegan if I wish.  It has minimal sugar.  It worked when I modified it for gluten free flours.  It is just one of those recipes.

I did not jump on the banana bread wagon during the stay at home orders.  Why?  Smoothies were what we wanted then.  Peanut butter and chocolate.  But for some reason autumn is one of those times that I do more quick breads.  

banana bread

Note:  So yes, this is my blueprint but I still change it to a different sugar, all whole wheat and a different leavening agent.  My Beloved would say I just cannot follow a recipe. I always have to change it.

3 tablespoons oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups super ripe bananas  (I usually use six.  Or two cups of other fruit combinations)

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup  of additions (if you like addtions to banana bread like nuts, fruits, or choclate chips, not me)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.  Grease a large loaf pan

In a medium size bowl, mush the bananas.  Mix in the sugar, oil, vanilla and salt.  Mix in the flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda.  If you like additions, now mix them in.

Bake for about one hour.  I start checking at 45 minutes.  A knife should come out clean when it is poked into the bread.  This can be a dark bread if the bananas have a high sugar content.  The bread usually also recedes from the edge of the pan.

This bread is so good.  It is wonderful fresh but alos lovely toasted with butter.  I have pumpkin and applesauce in the refrigerator and thinking about making loaf.

Yes, I am putting this next update at the very end of my entry.  Not hiding that I am healing but definitly do not feel the broadcast.  I was working in the shop yesterday and an ax head flew at my face.  The video was watched to see what happened and the conclusion was that it was a perfect storm moment.  

I was very impressed with the public health hospital.  Ben Taub is the best trauma center in the city and I would have to agree.  Yes, there ER was very busy and there was a lot of waiting once they knew I was pretty okay.  But I felt well cared for, treated respectfully, and noticed that was how they treated every patient around me.  It was a much different experience then I have had at other hospitals.

After a CAT scan and stitches, I was able to come home.  It did take most of the day but they were also keeping me under observation in case of concussion.  There was a big sigh of relief when my skull was not fractured.  Yes, I laid in a hall for awhile but I never felt like I was unseen and I was checked on consistently.  

Stitches come out in about a week.  I will be wearing bandages for six weeks to protect the scar from the light to minimize it.  I will look strange until almost Thanksgiving.  I know this bandage is large but I am unwilling to buy extra until I am out.  There is no energy but also little pain currently.  I am told this is fairly normal for deep lacerations.  The itching is what might get me so keeping the wound moist and covered will help me not itch it.

It will heal.  I will heal.  I just have to take it slow.

camping with small people

Late August, I went camping with all the boys.  We decided to rent one of the smallest RVs on the market to see if that was something we wanted.  We have been thinking van and after a week, we agree a van is best.  The layout of most RVs do not work very well.  The best was in the 1963 trailer we had.  Too bad it went kaput.  But we do not wish to tow. 

A van is what we will work best.  A place to get out of the rain and wind.  A mininmal amount of cooking.  We can park it places.  Now finding one and slowly converting it to what we want.  I have ideas for the end layout but that can be something the takes awhile.

The smallest boys loved the camping.  There was working with axes, playing with fire, and protecting the trees.  The adventure bus was a true hit so it will be interesting to see how they like the van.  Part of it was Blue could see out better.

We had the plan of doing a hike with the short people but then realized it was really too far for Blue.  Koda Bear would have made it but not Blue.  Maybe next year.  We went on a much shorter hike and he still had to be carried most of the way.

Since there was so much less hiking, I actually finished this sweater while we were camping.  The inspiration was knitted sweater.  It looks nothing like it but that is okay.  I made up the pattern as I went and it fits well.  I use a lot of sweaters traveling but I also do not wish my backpack to damage it the first time I wear it.  Which has happened.  Especially since it is heavy because it is the only bag I carry.  I am just waiting for it to cool off enough so I can wear it.  Maybe at my Dad's.

My Dad is doing better.  Healing slowly.  But the Tall Short person caught COVID.  I have Bear and Blue during the day.  My Beloved helps morning and night.  She is vaccinated and healing slowly.  It hit her very hard but not so badly she needed to be hospitalized.  I had a nurse friend who gave breathing exercised that I think are helping.  She also tries to move a little bit every day.  I will be glad when she is better.  It has been a very slow heal and she wants to be back with her boys.  It is going to be more days.

watermelon salad

Busy summer.  And my Dad ended up in the hospital again.  I have to admit writing is not a priority.  I find I would rather stitch or crochet then write if there is quiet. 

I volunteer with Koda Bear at a farm a couple time a month.  More in the winter then the summer.  It is hot in the Texas.  One of their early summer lunches had a watermelon salad served.  One of those that made me go hmmm.....

So I made it.  It has been a go to recipe for the hot months this year.  If I do not write it down, I will forget what is in it.  Here we go.

watermelon salad

1 small watermelon, peeled and chopped into bite size pieces.

2 avocados, skinned, pit removed, and diced

2 cups white beans

1 or 2 cucumbers, peeled and diced

salt and pepper to taste

1 to 2 teaspoons oregano

Balsamic vinaigrette or olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

In a large bowl, put the watermelon, cucumber, avocado, and beans.  Mix together.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and oregano to taste.  Splash with olive oil and balsamic vinegar or a balsamic vinaigrette.  Stir.  Serve.

If it is really hot out, refrigerate before serving and it gets even better!  My body seems to crave this salad when it is very hot, more so then greens.  Watermelon has been a hit this summer.

chocolate mousse

On our trip, we stopped at a wonderful restaurant in Santa Fe, Apothecary Restaurant.  There were lots of plant based options which I am finding are really helping with the inflammation I have due to arthritis. I can see the swelling leaving my hands.

We ordered an avocado based chocolate mousse for the drive.  Having a plant based snack was huge.  We had eaten so much hummus on this trip!  The mousse was so good.  And it did not melt in the car.  I decided to figure it out when I got back.  

I have made this three times since the trip.  Each time I have tweaked it a bit and I think the last time was the best.  The tool that helps the most is a high powered food processor.  One of those kitchen gadgets that I bought years back and have started to use a lot recently.  

I like having a container of this in the refrigerator.  Eating plant based has cut my sugar intake a lot but that does not mean I do not enjoy a sweet.  Also, the Feral Boy Blue will eat this.  It is a lot about calories because Blue does not really eat.

chocolate mousse

Note:  I started with Gluten Free Alchemist's recipe.  Mine is similar but I have tweaked it for our taste.

10 ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life because allergen free, there is a gluten free eater again in the house as well as the plant based aspect)

150 ml of chocolate almond milk (I started with vanilla oat milk but the boyos drink chocolate almond milk as a pick me up.  I find I like the depth it adds)

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 medium ripe but not overripe avocados (I find that is the size that works best.  But medium are hard to find.  I am going to weigh the avocado next time and start recording what is the best amount.  The extras will be eaten in this house).

Melt the chocolate chips over a very low eat or in a double boiler.  (I do not have a microwave.)  In the food processor, put the avocado flesh (no skin or pit).  Start the processing to be smooth.  Add the salt.  Continue to process.  Add the chocolate almond milk.  Process until very smooth.

Once the chocolate is completely melted, add to the avocado mixture.  Blend until smooth and light.  

I sometimes find I have help with the buttons from the Feral Boy Blue.  If you can have a continues processing for about five minutes or even ten if the avocados were on the under ripe side, that is what you are looking for.

This is so good.  Two spoonfuls make a lovely dessert or snack for me.  The Feral Boy Blue likes to take my spoons!

Wheeler Peak

Before my last trip to my Dad's (he is healing very slowly, but healing), I got told my Beloved was asked to take a break from the shop.  He actually was not asked that nicely but I do not have the exact wording.  I call it being kicked out.  He needed a break.  

I have missed road trips and I knew I did not wish to stay in Texas.  My thought was the Georgia O'Keefe museum in Santa Fe, NM.  I found us a beautiful campsite with space and we went.  

Honestly, the first day we mostly we vegetables.  The second day we went into Santa Fe and walked past some galleries and went so some museums.  Mostly were vegetables.  The third day we went for a saunter.

The original hike was to Williams Lake in the Taos Ski Basin.  We had plenty of water and had gone back to the are for snacks and a shirt for me to use as a sun protector.  Easy hike.  "Lots" of people.  On the way to the hike I noticed that there was also a hike to Wheeler peak.  While we were enjoying the view and lake, we talked about going up the Wheeler Peak trail.

We started up that trail.  It was steeper and quieter.  About a quarter or a third of the way up my Beloved was ready to turn back.  Until I found out that Wheeler Peak was the highest point in NM (there was signal).  Then we had to get to the top.

On the way up there were big horn sheep and marmots.  Steep.  I was doing a lot of resting at each switch back change.  Also, take ten steps and rest.  The wind was blowing so hard that I could not get enough air.  I know part of it was the elevation because we did not wait long enough to acclimate before we decided to do the hike.  100 ft to 13189 in four days time.

But we made it.

It was probably the hardest thing I have ever done in one day.  I was actually thinking I was out of shape until my Beloved said it was hard.  He never says that.  I also talked to another friend who had done it.  She said it was very hard too and she is in really good shape. 

It was beautiful.  

I could have taken more pictures I guess but I did not.  The walk down was much easier.  I slipped a bit though.  My Beloved ordered me walking sticks when we got back because I am unsteady when my knees and hips get tired.  I still have a good bruise.

The next day I found a place that had mineral baths to soak in.  Ojo Spa was a lovely experience and I think it helped me walk better the next day.  Especially since we were driving home the next day.  

Our last partial day in New Mexico, we wandered around part of downtown.  We ate well at the Apothecary Resturant.  It was one of the best meals I had on the trip.  The other really good meal was in Amarillo during the drive home.  We ate dinner at Yellow City Street Food.  Those two meals are probably the best meals I have had out in a long time.  Unless it is a chef I know who is cooking.  Because of knives, we get spoiled.

We are going back to New Mexico with Koda Bear and Blue at the end of August and do the Williams Lake walk with them. We are going to rent a camper van to see if it we like it.  We are testing camping options so we can camp more through the year.  We no longer wish to tow and we have ideas on what we would like.  I suggested we rent so we can try different options before we buy.  Yes, it can be a pricey option but it is cheaper then realizing you do not wish something. 

I miss road trips.  I have been flying a lot for my Dad but I really like driving better.  I like seeing what I am traveling past and it slows life down.  Slowing down is a good thing.