Perfectly Poetic Tuesday

Nana
Pride abounding
Smiles inside out
Heart reshaped by love
Blessings

Now for you non-poets out there, this is a cinquain, a prescribed 5 line poetry form. To see the inspiration see this blog.

I love baking in the Fall.

Caramelized Banana Loaf Cake:
4 large bananas
3/4 C sugar, divided
2 T unsalted butter, in one piece
1 large egg plus 1 large egg white
1 tsp. vanilla
1 C flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C vegetable oil

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325. Grease a 5-by-9 loaf pan. Invert the loaf pan and use the bottom as a guide to trim 3 bananas to fit. Lay the bananas across the bottom of the pan and slice off both ends at the edge of the upturned pan. You want the fat center of the bananas to be used for this part. Reserve the end pieces. Halve the long banana pieces lengthwise; peel and transfer to a plate.
2. In a large, heavy skillet, bring 1/4 c of the sugar and 2 T water to a boil, without stirring. Cook until water has evaporated and the mixture starts turning amber. Remove from the heat and swirl in the butter with a fork. Add the long banana pieces cut side down and cook over low heat for 1 minute. Transfer to the prepared pan, arranging them crosswise, cut side down. Drizzle the remaining caramel on top.
3. In medium bowl, mash the banana ends to equal 1 C (add the extra banana if necessary.) Mash in the remaining 1/2 c sugar. Beat in the egg plus the white, and vanilla.
4. In large bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the banana mixture and oil; whisk until blended. Scrape the batter over the bananas in the pan and bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, 50-60 minute. Let cool on a rack for 10 minutes; invert the cake onto a platter and let cool.

Note to those using Breville convection oven: I set it to 325 and baked for 45 minutes. It came out beautiful.

Exciting Trip to NYC

I know it's been said before, but NYC is an amazing city. It's clear that I wouldn't want to live there but I'm grateful my daughter does so that I can go for short visits. There is so much to see and do and the pace is incredibly fast. All the senses are engaged constantly: Beautiful fall colors, cold rain and wet jeans, bright, garish, and neon lights, architectural wonders and historical edifices, pungent, sweet and savory smells, bumping, shoving, pushing,and moving, honking, sirens, subway rumbles.

Most awesome having Stephanie as well as Charles and Quynh join me in my big city adventure. Some of the highlights of my 6 days in the Big Apple in no particular order other than my how they bubble up in my poor memory:
1. Thin crust pizza
2. Fast and efficient subways and cabs.
3. Umbrellas sold cheap on the street
4. Walking opportunities galore
5. Queens, the borough
6. Steinway factory tour in Queens
7. Carnegie Hall tour
8. 5th Avenue window shopping
9. Rockefeller square
10. Central Park
11. Patsy's Pizza
12. Standing on the pedestrian bridge and gazing down at the mamas rowing their little one on The Lake in Central Park (the one day it didn't rain!)
13. The atrium at Metropolitan Museum
14. Steinway showroom in Manhattan
15. Trader Joe's Manhattan (crazy!)
16. NYU
17. Ellis Island visit with bonus audio tour
18. Statue of Liberty
19. Times Square
20. Broadway
21. Scrumptious deli sandwich at Dean and Deluca's
22. Playing Rummy with my kids
23. Subway rides
24. Cab rides
25. Fabulous dinner and dessert at 24 Prince
26. Awesome dinner at Batali's Otto
27. Sweet pumpkin gelato and apple crisp at Otto. Olive oil gelato - not so much.
28. Meeting Steph's roommate, Holly
29. Enjoying this city with some of my favorite people
30. Sharing a dorm room with my daughter
31. Having to buy some sensible shoes after the first day of a ridiculous amount of walking
32. Ground Zero
33. Battery Park
34. Union Square
35. Extraordinarily good Greek chicken and lemon potatoes in Queens.
36. Displays of pumpkins on a corner of 5th Ave. Unexpected juxtaposition of the earth's fruits and the concrete jungle.
37. Pumpkin spice tea latte and a sweet respite from the rain with Charles at a local and quaint coffee shop
38. Dark chocolate covered bacon from Dean and Deluca's
39. NYU Law Library
40. People watching
41. Wall Street
42. Street musicians and entertainers
43. Ornate cathedrals wedged between towering condos and offices

Nancy's Excellent Vacation in Jamaica

Vacation in Jamaica. Nothing could be finer. I took a 6 am flight to Dallas on Wednesday June 24, 2009. From there I flew to Montego Bay, Jamaica. It was quite confusing at that airport as I tried to find my bags, find the hotel reps, keep track of my bags amongst all the porters, find the right bus going to the right place. I did end up sitting on a tour bus that was just about ready to pull out when I thought to ask, "Where is this bus going?" The driver said he was going to Ocho Rios. BEEP! Not where I needed to go. So I scurried out of that bus and scrambled around in the hot humid sun trying to find the right bus, out of 15 or so buses, that was going to Negril. Thankfully my bags had been tagged and were already on that bus and it hadn't left yet. Sigh....

Our bus driver gave us some running commentaries about the scenery as we drove the 90 minutes to Negril. We stopped at a little roadside shack where we were encouraged to buy a beer and some jerked chicken from the outdoor grill. Then onwards to Negril.
Finally at about 5 pm I arrived at the Grand Lido Hotel where I was ushered to one of the bars and offered some kind of rum drink. I had to wait a while before I was taken to my room. It was a lovely second floor room with patio doors opening out to the ocean. I washed up for dinner and the amenities of the resort were underway.

A list of firsts and otherwise notable happenings:
1. It dawned at about 5:30 am in Negril. Made for long days and short nights.
2. I took cooking classes and demonstrations.
3. I enjoyed a chocolate martini as the preface to a fabulous chocolate class taught by Jean Francois and his wife.
4. Bertrand taught a fabulous class where he demonstrated an elaborate carrot soup with poached shrimp.
5. I enjoyed the red snapper cook-off.
6. I ate an entire meal with chopsticks - A little incongruous to be at a Japanese Teppanyaki grill in Negril.
7. I ate very fresh Caribbean lobster on a small island. Our chef had a rudimentary stone grill set up on the beach and he used yesterday's Styrofoam plates to start the fire...
8. I certainly enjoyed my 3 trips out snorkeling in the deep reefs. Most excellent. Sting rays 5 feet across, starfish, incandescent fish of every color, eels, and big jellyfish which I learned to carefully push aside.
9. I enjoyed a couple fabulous massages on the beach.
10. I did the Fire Dance as an unsuspecting "volunteer". Crazy man with coat hangers bent into straight rods covered in rags, soaked in kerosene. Actually gave me the flaming hangers and I danced!
11. I enjoyed a fun Pirates on the Beach dinner show. The table was in the sand next to the surf. They had a most extensive buffet set out and lots of fun entertainment.
12. I ate fresh marlin. Yum.
13. I ate fresh swordfish. Yum.
14. I ate fresh snapper. Yum.
15. I ate fresh tuna. Yum
16. I ate the Jamaican national dish, Akee. Not so yum.
17. I had a most deliciously succulent suckling pig on a stick.
18. I had a most yucky yogurt one morning. I learned quickly not to eat any dairy products on an island with no cows.
19. I took a daily 3 mile stroll up and down the beach.
20. I got to experience a Jamaican resort doctor visit. I was very ill with fever and cough. He shot me up with 2 big injections of who knows what but I was better in 24 hours.
21. I enjoyed meeting and talking and sailing and snorkeling with Brad and Conrad, Water Sports employees extraordinaire.
22. I really enjoyed just floating on the warm and salty Caribbean.
23. I saw absolute poverty and joy in the midst of it all.
24. I saw lots of large homes that were half built and seemingly now abandoned.
25. I survived our trips to and fro the airport despite our driver's dodging of oncoming cars.
26. I certainly would like to go back again.

Half Marathon has been completed

And it was very, very fun. 25000 runners and walkers completing both a full and a half marathon. And I did it!

Thankful Thursday

Wow, it's been many months since I've touched this blog. I copied an idea for a weekly blog from one of my favorite bloggers, Jen, at her ConversionDiary. Right now I feel called to be thankful:

1. For my beautiful family of sons and daughters and daughters-in-law and grand children and nieces and brothers and sisters-in-law and uncles and aunts.

2. For the gloriously gorgeous weather we have in Albuquerque most every day of the year but especially now in late spring.

3. For being healed of cancer. I did a shift at Ronald McDonald House yesterday and spent a couple hours chatting with Kayla, an 8 year old who's been battling Ewings Sarcoma for the past 5 months.

4. For God's constant, always faithful provision in my life.

5. For ministry opportunities that satisfy my passions just perfectly.

6. For Trader Joe's Crunchy Valencia Peanut Butter with Roasted Flax Seed.

7. For new mercies each morning.

Butternut and Cashew Stir-Fry

It may seem as if we haven't been eating for awhile if one were to guess from the lack up blogging. Actually, it is more true that I haven't cooked anything new or note worthy. This recipe is definitely a keeper. The sweet creaminess of the butternut squash with the bite of scallions and shallots and the crunch of fried cashews was amazing.

I used a large skillet rather than a wok. Heat a Tbs. oil very hot and stir fry cashews, drain them on paper towel, stir fry the scallions and a shallot diced. Remove those. Quickly stir fry 2 tsp. each mustard seed, garlic, coriander. Add the diced butternut or pumpkin and stir fry that until browned. Add a cup orange juice with a tbsp. brown sugar and stir till thickened. add back the cashews, onions and shallots.