Beatnik Banana Bread

Since Jason and I are working full-time with many extra-curricular activities not normally revolving around kitchen domestic duties, it seems more often than not the bananas we buy gradually turn brown and mushy and the milk we buy eventually goes sour. Normally this would pose a major problem since I grew up in a family that does not waste an ounce of food. However my Beatnik Banana Bread recipe is the answer. I have made it several times for Jason, the ultimate taste-tester and he has given it raved reviews every time.

Beatnik Banana Bread
Ingredients
1 Cup White Flour

3/4 Cup Wheat Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
Dash of salt
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Cup Brown Mushy Mashed Bananas
1/2 Cup Sour Milk
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 Cup Chopped Walnuts

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Mix dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, beat sugar and eggs together, add bananas, milk, vanilla, slowly combine dry ingredients a little at a time. (Batter should be more stiff then soupy.) Add batter to a greased bread loaf tin. Bake for 1 hour. Check the insides of the bread with a knife. (Knife should come out clean.) Cool and remove from tin. Slice and enjoy!

Me & My new knitting buddy

Spent Saturday night teaching my niece Abby how to knit. She is a pro! I am working on a pair of pink baby booties as a gift for a friend. Abby finished a gorgeous dolly blanket.

It is official ...

Jason and I have our next destination planned. Maximing the least amount of frequent flyer miles used versus the most miles traveled while incorporating the convenience of flight times and connections, we have selected Maui. We have tickets booked in late August over labor day weekend, using 35K miles each with a connection through DFW. I am excited. Both Jason and I have never been. We have reservations on hold at a hotel/condo that has complementary high speed internet in the rooms. (Jason will most likely need to bring his laptop since his classes will have started for the Fall term.) So, hopefully, I will be able to continue my travel blog from Maui.

Marathon Monday

Today is the Boston Marathon and my unofficial start of summer. Jason, his mom and step dad, Jon and I drove to Wellesley, which is approximately the half way point of the race to watch Karen, Jason's step sister, run the Boston Marathon in its entirety. She ended with an amazing time of 4:38:26. Go Karen! Her time really should be 4:37:56 because she ran across from the opposite side of the street to give us all hugs.

Spring on the T

Today was the first morning this year I left the condo without wearing my brown puffy insulated winter jacket. I opted instead for my sporty jean jacket, but not forgetting my scarf and gloves. (Spring is here but not early in the morning). On my ride home after a long intense work day, without notice, the red line T halted to a stop on the Longfellow bridge over the Charles River. Normally I would be frustrated with this occurrence, however being stuck in the T on a gorgeous sunny day overlooking a sparkling spacious river dotted with sailboats is a view worth millions especially when you have a seat. (Picture is courtesy of http://www.rch-phd.com)

Turkey day

This past Sunday morning Jason and I saw a gobbling turkey in the Brighton condo parking lot. (See picture.) Jason claims the turkey is from Brookline, the next town over. (I am not sure where he got that information.) Jason wanted to invite the turkey inside, but I advised against that. By the way, Rainbow is a-okay and has visited us often for love and attention.

I love TurboTax & Jason

This year Jason and I are filling our taxes together for the first time. I expected combining our tax documents to be an incredibility painful and stressful experience, thus why I created a "Tax Day Countdown" on this blog. I envisioned we would be one of the couples you see at the Starbucks closest to the post office at closing time on April 15th with endless stacks of papers and tired frustrated eyes. But not so, because we have the love of my life, Turbotax…..I mean Jason! Jason planted himself down in front of his little laptop yesterday morning and away he went: typing in info, entering $ figures and answering weirdly worded legal questions. By noon, he announced he was done. Astoundingly Turbotax conducted the appropriate calculations and created the tax form pdf effortlessly. Now if only Turbotax could vacuum the condo, cook dinner and do the mounds of laundry we have been putting off, we would be golden.

Where is Rainbow?

So Jason and I are home and have settled nicely back into our regular routine of work, rest and play. Amazingly Jason was up at 6 AM this past week doing work, a jet lag side effect. Since our return, we have become a bit worried about Rainbow. Rainbow is the every friendly, always purring neighborhood cat we invite into the condo for snacks and fun. We have only seen him once briefly in the parking lot when we were leaving for work. Hopefully he is okay and has not forgotten about us.