Hometown Tourism

Well, now that the Olympics are over, it's time for spring! It is a little warmer here these days. So, the snow is melting off the roofs into charming little ice hills that are sure to stick around to June. I'm really starting to think about fun little adventures that will happen when the weather is warmer. I can't wait to find more hidden gems like Minneopa Falls.

 

I love to travel, I love to see new things, and I love to get lost. Unfortunately, I can't travel every weekend of my life like I would want to. Instead, when I was in high school, I developed something I like to call hometown tourism. I used to do it mostly by myself on that odd quiet Sunday. I still do, but it's also nice to have someone to accompany me on these adventures, and I'm pretty sure he enjoys it as much as I do. 

This shot is from last fall when we ventured out of Mankato (where I briefly lived for 3 months), to the lovely town of New Ulm, Minnesota. As you might be able to tell by the name, the town is traditionally German. It is also the home of Schell's Brewery, and awesome old school German restaurants. This one was a good adventure, I hope to head back there this summer and check out more of the town. 

 

This last shot is of one of my favorite hometown destinations, Minnehaha Falls. This beautiful park is a quite nature oasis right in the middle of the city. It's often packed with day trippers, but if you descend toward the falls, a labyrinth of lightly traveled trails await the curious. 

One of the first Rochester adventures Joe and I went on was up the hill to see the Assisi Heights Convent of the Sisters of St. Francis. This place was such a welcome surprise in Rochester. It sits atop a large hill, and is modeled after the Church of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy. Its surrounded by lovely walking parks and grass perfect for staring up at the sky on a warm Saturday afternoon.  It reminds me of my time in Italy on study abroad, and the small adventures we had everyday.

 

Well, in these last days of winter, when the Olympics are sadly over and the cabin fever is at its pitch, I'm prepping for my hometown adventures. I'm hoping some of these adventures will give me inspiration for the blog, along with some great photo ops. In the mean time, we're heading to Miami next weekend for some out of town adventures!

 

The Unblog blog

This is not so much a blog post, and it is an apology for not posting. I just can't really think of anything to write about right now. This is getting me kinda down. I feel like I should blame this all on winter. Oh, and nursing school. I promised myself that I would not write about school on this blog, as it is here to remind me of how well rounded my life is. But, right now I don't feel very well rounded. All I have on the brain is diabetes and tardive dyskinesia.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, because I am very inspired by nursing right now. Since starting my clinicals on a med/surg floor at Abbott, I really feel good about this career choice. I've realized that I can do anything.

Remember that song from high school that was all about lessons you need to know before you leave high school? Something about a letter to the class of 1999 - that I think they redo each year for that class. One of the things he says in it is to do one thing everyday that scares you. I've really been following that advice recently. I've done some scary shit the last few weeks. Things that I will do all the time as a nurse, but there is something about the first time that is terrifying.

Despite the terror, each time I do one of these things I get a little bit stronger, and a little bit more excited about nursing. So, bring on the wound vacs and NG tubes, I can handle it.

 Also, can I get some suggestions about other stuff to blog about? Just throw some topics at me, and I promise I will be inspired!

I'm Not Going to Cook it, but I'll Order it from ZANZIBAR!

Right now I really need some of this....

By "this," I mean really warm weather. This is the part of the Minnesota Winter that I find totally unbearable. The anticipation of a white Christmas is long since past, and the glories of Spring are devastatingly far away. Seriously far away, like still 2 or 3 months away. Oh well, I will always have Zanzibar.

Zanzibar is one of those places that I spent most of my life believing was fictional, much like Katmandu, Bohemia, and Transylvania. These places surfaced in the stories of my childhood, and like Tikitikitembo and Babar, they remained there. Unlike Tiki and Babar, these places were desinted to emerge as real at some party in college when I tripped over my over-confident, tipsy words and pronounced, "whatever, Bohemia is for hippies and it is totally imaginary!" We have all had those moments.

Well I confirmed Zanzibar's reality last Winter, when I traveled there during my trip to Africa. I have to say, as far as imaginary places go, Z-bar really lives up. This magical little island off the coast of Tanzania is nothing like I have ever seen. The city of Stone Town is a twisted, salt scarred, fully inhabited relic of colonized Africa. The door are still pegged with brass barbs meant to injure charging elephants.

The beaches are beautiful, and the shopping is one of a kind. The food is interesting, and cheap. We follow the Anthony Bourdain philosophy of eating while abroad - the street food is the best food. Never mind the reheated, indecipherable fish, or the crab meat stuffed into the same "display" shell over and over again (probably for years), you can't beat this experience. We did end up getting sick, but the causal dinner was more likely the fancy, touristy Italian place we ate a few nights later.

Z-bar is a special place, only grazed by the hand of time. It's a place where the bottle water brand is "drop," and their plastic bottles inexplicably break if you lose hold and they drop to the ground. It is a place where the daily Muslim call to prayer echoes loudly off the tightly packed buildings and sounds like it's being broadcast from a children's tape recorder in 1985. It's the place where my feet touched the Indian Ocean for the very first time. Finally, it's a place where Obama was president long before election day.

If you ever find yourself there, be sure to ask for the Zanzibar Pizza.

Great Grandma's Banana Bread

So, I actually made this bread last week, it took me this long to get this post up. Needless to say, since school started again I have less time to blog. If I could somehow blog safely from the car, I'd write much more. In fact, it would be blog city considering how much time I spend in the car. The Southern Minnesota Triangle is well traveled these days.

 Though I am only a novice baker, and my cooking skills really work better on improvisation, I chose this family recipe for my first cooking blog. Its really easy and fast. It is also a great solution for those brown bananas you don't get around to eating during the 20 minutes when they aren't too green and not yet mushy. When I see a brown banana in the fruit basket I toss it in the freezer and it is good until the day I get around to baking.

This family recipe is from my Great Grandmother Julia via my Mom. It's a classic, and hands down the best banana bread out there.

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2-3 mashed brown bananas
2 well beaten eggs
1/2 cup skim milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup nuts
1/2 - 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

The original recipe calls for shortening instead of butter. Since vegetable shortening is nearly 100% hydrogenated oils (trans fat), I will not touch the stuff. In fact, it should be illegal. Butter, though it is saturated fat, is much healthier than trans fat. It also tastes better.

In a large mixing bowl cream together the sugar and room temperature butter as much as possible. Add your bananas and mash them into the mixture. Use 2-3 depending on their size. There is no need to get it exactly right, Martha. Next, make a well in the mixture and crack your eggs into it. This way you can beat the eggs before you add them totally to the mixture without having to use another bowl. Add the vanilla and milk to the eggs, and incorporate everything together well.

In a separate bowl combine your dry ingredients (flour, salt, soda, nuts). Mix well to spread the salt and soda evenly throughout the flour.

 

Now, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently mix them together just until all the flour is incorporated. Don't over mix, or your bread will be tough. Now comes my second change to the recipe. The chocolate chips! Everything is better with chocolate chips right? Just mix them around evenly in the dough. 

  

For the baking, I'm going to give really vague instructions and trust you to figure it out. Sorry, this is why I am not an awesome baker. Set the oven to 350 degrees. This is when I will go all Martha, and urge you to make sure you have an oven thermometer. It is amazing how far off oven temps can be. It can make a big difference in the consistency of your bread, cookies or whatever if the temp it off. You can either make one large loaf, or two smaller loafs from the dough. I usually make two, it seems to last longer that way. Make sure to grease the pans with butter or non-stick spray. The baking time will be anywhere from 20-40 minutes depending on the size of your loaf pans and how much dough is in them. Just keep and eye on it. When the top of the loaf is golden and starting to crack a little, it is probably done. Stick a tooth pick in the center If it comes out clean, the bread is done. Remember, the bread will continue to cook a little even after it comes out of the oven, especially if you leave it in the pan. 

Once you have had your fill of the warm, crunchy and gooey bread, refrigerate the remaining. I'll often freeze a loaf in hopes of giving it away, or saving it for a rainy day. It's usually gone in a matter of days. 

Enjoy!