Linklove and the end of Quasimodo

I find lovely things on the web and via twitter every single day that I find I need to “keep” somewhere, so I’ll tag them as “linklove” from now on.  This way I get to “keep” those lovely links and still get to share them.  That’s a big win in my book!

My Reader is also jampacked with awesome blogs, ranging from food to design to parenting to personal blogs and I find it easier to manage my on-line reading that way.  It’s like opening the fridge to see if there’s anything to eat in there and there’s ALWAYS something to nibble on, any time, day or night.

First up is an article Tanya posted on her blog today about manners.  I’ve actually been thinking about this a lot recently as Daniel has suddenly gone into Brat Mode.  He has become all punchy and rough and downright disrespectful.  We have zero tolerance for this kind of behavior, but you also don’t want to spend your waking hours fighting with your child, especially when he doesn’t have any front teeth*.

Staying on the topic of real-life stuff and manners, Emily posted this great list of books to read on her blog and I’m definitely going to work my way through them, especially Bringing up Bebe.

Then, an article I found via @glutenfreegirl on twitter about how amazing Julia Child’s (from Julie and Julia fame) marriage was.  I hope to think that our marriage will be like that when we grow up old.  I also have a sudden desire to own one of her cookbooks.  If my trusty and crusty 1973 Kook en Geniet still works so well, just imagine what I could do with her books!

On the topic of cooking/baking, Etienne made a banana loaf last night out of the abovementioned Kook en Geniet, something I’m famous for screwing up.  He added some choc chips we had left over in the fridge from the girls’ birthday earlier in the year and it was delicious!

Know what made me want to stomp my feet? I pass him pouring flour halfway into a cup measure and dumping it in a bowl so I ask if those are cups of flour he is measuring.  Yes, he says looking at me like I’m mad.  He’s been pouring flour like this forever and I, that follow that bloody recipe to the last bloody letter, can’t get it right. I do maintain that it’s because the bananas he uses are completely overripe, that’s why his “recipe” works.  If you want to try this recipe, go right ahead, don’t say I didn’t warn you, but even my MIL swears by it.

Banana Loaf (translated from The Afrikaans and adapted for lazy cooks like me)

• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 4-6 very ripe bananas
• 1 tsp vanill essence
• ½ tsp salt

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and add vanilla.
3. Add eggs, one by one, mixing well after every egg.
4. Mix all dry ingredients in a separate bowl, stir with a whisk and add.
5. Press bananas into mush with a fork and add, mixing well.
6. Pour mixture into a loaftin and bake in over for about 1 hour, until knife comes out clean.

(Apparently the flavor improves if you let it stand for a couple of days, but it generally doesn’t last more than a couple of hours in our house)

*Daniel finally managed to rid us of the dreaded Quasimodo Tooth last night and conveniently so right at bedtime.  He gleefully told me in intricate detail how he managed to get the tooth out.  His sisters found it hilarious. Needless to say, bedtime was extremely delayed.