Natasha was here this morning for her English lesson. Natasha is my cousin’s daughter-in-law, a lovely young Russian woman. She is a delight to work with, but I wish I were a bit more experienced with teaching ESL. As it is; I am winging it, working on pronunciation and vocabulary. Consonant clusters, silent letters and the hated ‘th‘–voiced and unvoiced- are problems she has to deal with. There is no easy way. She just has to plow through, and do her best. With time and practice she will do very well. It is too bad that she is a bit shy about using her English around new people, which is why I wish she could get a job. If she were in the work place everyday, she would have to use her English constantly and that would improve her speaking ability very quickly. Also she needs to be around other young women to socialize. She is an outgoing and happy person who should have a group of other women to laugh and do things with. Humm…. this is something to think about.
Lizzie- my poodle- went to the groomer today. She no longer looks like Mrs. Fuzzie Wuzzie. It had been over ten weeks so she no longer resembled a poodle- more like the hairy beast with curls. Her topknot parted and drooped over her eyes, and she had to peer through the ragged bangs to see. She now looks like a respectable poodle again. Although she has decided that clean, non-hairy paws and snow don’t mix. She went outside and very quickly was at the back door dancing in distress. “My paws are freezing!” She may not like clean, non-hairy paws, but I do. Snow sticks to poodle fur like glue, wiping hairy paws is a major chore, non- hairy paws is breeze. I suppose if I were a really good owner I would get her some snow booties, but the thought of searching a yard covered with a foot of snow for a dog’s snow booties isn’t on the agenda. Loosing a bootie or two in the yard is exactly what she would do. I wonder if they have the doggie equivalent of ‘idiot mittens’. You know, the ones with strings attached so that a kid doesn’t lose his mittens. Perhaps four strings attached to the collar? Knowing Lizzie, she would wind up tangled up in the underbrush of the evergreens.
No recipe tonight, tomorrow I may make some banana bread. Two of my bananas are a bit over-ripe.
Lizzie- my poodle- went to the groomer today. She no longer looks like Mrs. Fuzzie Wuzzie. It had been over ten weeks so she no longer resembled a poodle- more like the hairy beast with curls. Her topknot parted and drooped over her eyes, and she had to peer through the ragged bangs to see. She now looks like a respectable poodle again. Although she has decided that clean, non-hairy paws and snow don’t mix. She went outside and very quickly was at the back door dancing in distress. “My paws are freezing!” She may not like clean, non-hairy paws, but I do. Snow sticks to poodle fur like glue, wiping hairy paws is a major chore, non- hairy paws is breeze. I suppose if I were a really good owner I would get her some snow booties, but the thought of searching a yard covered with a foot of snow for a dog’s snow booties isn’t on the agenda. Loosing a bootie or two in the yard is exactly what she would do. I wonder if they have the doggie equivalent of ‘idiot mittens’. You know, the ones with strings attached so that a kid doesn’t lose his mittens. Perhaps four strings attached to the collar? Knowing Lizzie, she would wind up tangled up in the underbrush of the evergreens.
No recipe tonight, tomorrow I may make some banana bread. Two of my bananas are a bit over-ripe.
Banana Bread
Dee Robertson is the source for this recipe. The first banana bread that actually tastes the way I always imagined banana bread ought to taste. Her daughter, Holly, very nicely shared the recipe with me. I think it is a winner.
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
Mix together and then add:
3 tablespoons buttermilk*
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
Sift together in another bowl:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
Stir flour mixture into banana mixture, pour into a greased and floured bread pan and let stand for 20 minutes before baking.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes.
*If you don’t have buttermilk, make sour milk:
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Allow to sit for several minutes then measure out 3 tablespoons for the recipe.
No comments:
Post a Comment