Best Compliment Ever

I just had a patient tell me that because of me she is happy all the time. She had no idea what to eat to help her with her diabetes but now, after seeing me she knows.

I guess that makes it all worth it.

Things I Did This Past Weekend

By popular demand:

1. Taught my last 7331 class for the summer. They start again Saturdays this fall
2. Slept in
3. Bought new shampoo and conditioner, body wash and body pouffe
4. Watched Will Smith movies, Hitch and Pursuit of Happyness to be specific
5. Scanned embarrassing photos of my brother for his wedding slide show
6. Messed around on my new favorite website ScrapBlog (look up and you'll see my new header)

Things I Meant to do This Weekend

1. Go for a walk
2. Change my windshield wipers
3. Buy toilet paper
4. Read: The Life of Pi
5. Go grocery shopping
6. Use my exercise DVD
7. Recycle the burnt out halogen light bulb

Happy 3rd Birthday!

Today my blog turns 3 and to celebrate here's a cake from the digital cake store:


I have to say overall it's been a pretty successful year. There were a couple of months last fall that I didn't post anything and then I almost made it through National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo). We'll keep chugging along this year and maybe, just maybe we'll continue to cook more and take better photos. Happy Birthday!

Happy 3rd Birthday!

Today my blog turns 3. Hard to believe it was 3 years ago that I headed off to Mexico to learn Spanish cause it feels like I have been speaking it forever. It's fun to look back through the years and see what I've been up to and I have a feeling there will be a lot to post about this upcoming year. Stay tuned to find out!

Grandma's Slow Cook Banana Bread

This recipe was passed on to me by my best friend K. It came from her grandmother and is a delicious banana bread. It cooks longer then a regular banana bread at a lower temperature but the result is moist, banana goodness. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 overripe bananas, mashed
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 250F. Butter and flour loaf pan plus one mini loaf pan.

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy (KitchenAid speed: 4). Add eggs, mix to combine. Stir in mashed bananas. Add flour, baking soda, and salt, mix to combine (KitchenAid speed: stir). Stir in chopped nuts if desired.

Pour batter into loaf pans and bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The mini-loaf will take shorter time then the large loaf, approximately 1 hour. Loaf is ready when tester inserted in center comes out clean.

Fire and Flood

Last night was quite an exciting night in my little apartment. Outside you could hear the crack of the lightning and the sound of the rain as it poured down. It literally went from nice and clear to monsoon-like in seconds. So to keep myself busy I decided it was finally time to try out the Irish soda bread recipe from my mixer bible. All was going well until I went to take it out of the oven.

I folded the dish towel in half, opened the oven, reach in, grabbed the baking sheet and removed the bread from the oven carefully placing it on top of the stove. Little did I know that as I had reached into the oven, a string on the dish towel had touched the heating coil on the bottom of the oven and now my dish towel was on fire. It was over in seconds because the moment I saw it I shook it out. Nothing else caught on fire, I didn't get burned, but the dish towel, let's just say it's seen it's last day.

**A little side note. This is not the first time I have caught something on fire in my oven. Last time it was the sleeve of the bathrobe I was wearing at the time. Luckily it was only the sleeve and it wasn't my arm, but seriously I am beginning to think I should wear a fire proof suit when I bake. **

After the baking incident I was ready to relax for the evening. One of my closest friends just got back from her two year stint in the Peace Corps in Africa. As she and I were talking I decided to climb on to my bed so I could fully relax. And then I heard it . . . drip, drip, drip. Yup, not only was it pouring outside my apartment, but it had also started to rain inside my bedroom. Once again, not the first time this has happened so I searched the kitchen for a couple of buckets and called maintenance. Fortunately the rain quickly passed and I wasn't subjected to drip, drip, drop all night long.

Weekend Wrap-Up

By the time the end of last week rolled around I realized that I had a very full weekend ahead of me. That being said, M and I decided to use Friday as our relax day which meant fish tacos at home and rounds of Tiger Woods golf on the Wii.

Saturday morning I had my last class for the nutrition program that I teach. We teach every Saturday for six weeks at a time and then have the summer off. We had a really good group this time around and, just like other groups have told us, they all wished the program went on longer. We'll see them again in three months for a follow-up but from here on out they are pretty much on their own.

Saturday afternoon Dad arrived in town. He has an ASTD conference here this week and decided to come a little early to visit me. We spent some time catching up and making cookies. Then in the evening we went out to dinner at Founding Farmers. So delicious! Afterwards we went to Timberlake's, one of my favorite bars in Dupont Circle, that unfortunately is changing ownership over the next month. The fun part about going out with my dad is that he fits right in with my friends and it's me telling him when it's time to go home. Saturday night we went home at 2am. (!!!)

Sunday we slept in and then had homemade blueberry pancakes for breakfast. We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go for a walk around Roosevelt Island. Then stopped for gelato on the Georgetown waterfront before dropping him off at his hotel. I think he fully enjoyed his little mini-vacation and is ready to network and be professional at his conference.

Sunday afternoon I attended a going away BBQ for one of my close friends from work. Since I have started a lot of people have come and gone from the clinic but what I love is that I know I will remain in contact with them despite no longer working together.

Now if only the Penguins had played better against the Red Wings, the weekend would have ended on a high note!