Banana Bread, Take 2

As I've mentioned many times over, most of my baking inevitably involves mushy bananas---not because I especially love them, but because they are always sitting on my kitchen counter.  I feel some sort of Depression-era guilt for throwing away produce that can be re-purposed.  I simply can't bid adieu to ye ole' bananas.

Last night, with four overly ripe nanners awaiting my experimentation, I set out to make yet another boring banana bread.  On this particular evening, however, I wanted evolved banana bread, banana bread with an attitude.

Tasty Trends: Whoopie Pies

Whoopie pies are the fad-du-jour in the baking world according to Saveur magazine.  They are the nouveau cupcake, if you will. 

For those of you who haven't been inculcated into the cult of Whoopie (poor you), my prediction is that you will soon be seeing these cakey confections in bakery windows from Brooklyn to Boulder. 

Whoopie pies, according to food anthropologists, were invented by the Pennsylvania Amish and later made wildly popular throughout New England.  When the Amish ladies would bake these treats and include them in their husband's lunchboxes, the hungry hubbies would remark,"whoopie!" at the joyous sight of the black and white cakes in their lunch pails.

Dinner Time: Mediterranean Grilled Feast

To see the Summer Sky

Is Poetry, though never in a Book it lie -

True Poems flee.

~Emily Dickinson

 

It was a warm, clear, quintessentially summer evening here in SoCal.  We decided to spend as much time outside as possible today.  

At the Movies: Inception

Any attempt to summarize the plot of Chris Nolan's new film Inception ends up sounding like an unconvincing lecture on Jungian principles of psychotherapy or quantum physics. The plot dives in and out of France and Japan, past and present, the conscious mind and the dreaming mind.  Viewing this film requires complete attention: this is not the film for bathroom breaks or popcorn runs or glowing Blackberries.  

Soundtrack de ma vie

Sometimes I think about the movie of my life.  Who would play me?  What moments would feature prominently in the plot? Which tunes would play in the background as my story unfolds on screen?

On occasion, I hear a song and am immediately transported, like Marty McFly in his DeLorean, back to the past. Yesterday afternoon, casually working to the sound of Pandora radio, Dave Matthew's Band song "Crash" streamed across the internet.  In an instant, it was 1998---I was back in high school: acne, awkwardness and all.

Kitchen Reverie

In a recent e-mail blast from the ever-lovely blog ApartmentTherapy, Sara Moulton, t.v. chef and cookbook author, took us on a tour of her recently renovated and teensy Manhattan kitchen.  

As I imagined chopping carrots alongside Sara, I started to think about my own dream kitchen.  What practical and pretty dreams to I have for my one-day kitchen?

And I ran

I have never been an especially athletic person.   I tried volleyball.  Rather than passing and hitting the ball, Gabby Reece-style, I preferred the duck and cover method.  I was far too worried about the ball smacking me in the face to succeed as a blocker.  

Time and Punishment

Why are we so hard on ourselves when we do something that is perceived as wasted time?  Reading this blog, flipping through a design magazine, spending extra time perusing junky jewelry at Target or painting your toes purple---these are all activities we women often view as time wasted.  

Dinner for a Summer Night

In the middle of a hot summer evening, the last thing I want to do is fire up my oven or hover over my stove.  Often when the temperatures soar, I opt for a dinner of chilled salads and other nibbly bites.

Pink and Green All Over

I am feeling super preppy McPrepster these days.

I'm talking collar-popping, Lilly Pulitzer-lovin, Polo-wearing preppy.  

Words to Live by

I have enjoyed two fun weeks with my four nieces and nephew who came out from Texas for a little SoCal vacation.  As you may have noticed by my absence in blogland, instead of blogging, I've been roasting marshmallows by the beach and splashing in the pool and reading lots and lots of kiddo books.  

Suffice it to say, I have Seuss on the brain.   

Take a Little Trip: Baja

This weekend, rather than lounging by the pool or celebrating the fourth with fireworks, we spent the holiday in Mexico.  Yes, this was not exactly a patriotic spot, but our visit proved to be a fun-filled getaway nonetheless. 

Destinations like Cozumel or Mexico City or Oaxaca probably top the list of Mexico's tourist sites.  So, when I discovered that our weekend cruise stopped in Ensenada, I wasn't expecting a transformative travel experience---I was wrong. 

America the Beautiful

Hope y'all (my American readers anyway) have a lovely holiday weekend full of bbq and fireworks!  

Cocktail du jour

The Pink Lemon Drop

How to Survive a Case of the Mondays

Mondays. Bleck. Few words in the English language elicit as much disdain as "Monday." 

So, when you have a big-time case of Office Space-style Mondays, here are some of my go-to survival tips:

Fix your hair.  Mondays + bad hair day = inevitable crankiness.  Take a little extra time to blow-dry and curl and fluff your locks.  I assure you, if your hair looks like a Pantene ad, you'll feel much more eager to greet the day. 

Words to Live by

These words by Omar Khayyam, the twelfth-century Persian mathematician and philosopher, always resonate with me.  Each time I read them or hear their poetry, I am inspired anew.

Taste Testing: Giada's Sauce

I'm sure you've been seeing Giada's smiling face all over Target commercials lately.  Honestly, when I noticed her new line of products on store shelves, I thought she was a bit of a sell-out.  How many celebrity chefs do we really need to pimp their own products?  How good can this stuff really be?

Love and Marriage...

...sometimes it doesn't go together like a horse and carriage.

Most mornings at approximately 10am, my neighbors wage a war of words against one another. Lovely--this is NOT a petit plaisir. They scream and yell at such a volume that I can hear them across the parking lot, as I sit in my office.

Round and round we go

Lately I feel like I'm spinning.  Forgive me if my posts are infrequent over the next few weeks-- I am taking on some extra work this summer.

In the meantime, let's all just dream of sweet treats and chocolate-covered goodness:

The Taste of Summer

I wouldn't consider myself a big fan of summer. Fall is my season.  From an early age, my mother inculcated in me an obsession with pumpkins and changing leaves and Halloween, for candy corns and cinnamon scents and cool crisp evenings in turtlenecks.  When September rolls around, you will likely need to remind me to contain my autumnal exuberance. 

But, aside from time at the beach and the smell of Hawaiian Tropic, there is one thing that LOVE about this time of year and that is the taste of summer.

Feeling Blue?

Homemade blueberry muffins are a true taste of summer.  Who needs a boxed mix when recipes are this simple?  

Pour mon père

Happy day to my dad! 

Daddio, you've given me a strong moral code like Atticus Finch: 

A Summery Weekend Wish

Cocktail du jour

After a fabulous idea from one of my readers, I would like to debut... my very own cocktail:

The Pink Frenchie!

A Tribute to the Tall Girls

For those of you who know me only through that little bitty profile photo, I am in fact not lilliputian.   Quite the contrary, I consider myself a tall girl.  Technically, I measure in at 5'11 and 1/2 inches.  I embrace that last half inch away from six feet, as I have since I was about age thirteen which I reached that height. 

So, what's the big deal?  I am not WNBA tall or circus tall or Guinness Book of World Records tall.  I am just a bit above average.  But, for my entire adolescent and adult life, on an almost daily basis, someone feels compelled to remark about my verticality.  That tends to seep into a girl's psyche after a while.