No Sunny Days

The world feels upside down at the moment.  Just a comment, not a political post.  We have law enforcement officers in our family, so it all just feels personal.

Tropical Storm Cristobal is causing rainy conditions that started yesterday and will continue through the weekend, as the outer bands reach Florida.  Sometimes in Florida it’s hard to lend credence to the turmoil happening in the world when the sun shines most days, the water is blue and the flowers bloom year around. Perhaps, these rainy days are appropriate.

In a way it feels like whiplash.  On top of losing both my parents within a few months, first Covid and now this. Is the lockdown over?  I will use these rainy days to hit the pause button.  The sun will shine again soon.

Weekend Snapshots

We started off the holiday weekend by indulging in one of our favorite things to do here on the gulf coast. There are tiki bars all long the Intercoastal Waterway and we hired a boat with a captain (we used her before for my husband’s surprise birthday weekend)  to cruise and bar hop for three hours, from Venice north to Sarasota.  The weather was hot and sunny, we enjoyed  introducing the fun to another couple and felt confident the gulf breezes and the heat would kill any nasty germs.  A few rum runners were enjoyed by all.

Otherwise, the holiday weekend was quiet.  We started our rainy season right on cue, with lots of rain and thunderstorms.  It was feeling very tropical with high heat and high humidity, which will be the norm the rest of the summer.  Here’s hoping the big hurricanes stay away.

Of course, we flew the flag all weekend, remembering those that sacrificed to make us free.  And somehow, the word freedom seems to mean a lot more right now.

Happy Tuesday!

Banana Bread in a Mug

There are many variations of this and other “in a mug” recipes that are cooked in your microwave.  I have tried brownies, chocolate cake and omelettes, to name a few.  This one looked good too, so since I had all the ingredients on hand, decided to give it a try on one of our rare rainy mornings.

It’s pretty much pantry staples, a quick stir and 3 minutes in the microwave, so what’s not to like.  I keep cut up ripe bananas in my freezer to use for smoothies, so that was easy too. This was a combination of a few recipes  and tweaked to how I prefer.  You can make changes easily, depending on what you like.  I don’t care for chocolate in the morning, so I didn’t use chocolate chips, but used sliced almonds instead.  Chopped pecans would be delicious too.  The banana provides sweetness, but if you want more, add about 1 or 2 teaspoons of brown sugar.

Banana Bread in a Mug

Mash 1 ripe banana with a fork in a large microwave safe mug.  Add 1 egg and mix well. Add 1 T milk, 1 tsp oil, 1 tsp cinnamon and 3 T flour.

At this point you customize with chocolate chips, nuts or chopped fruit.  I used sliced almonds and sprinkled them on top, but you could also mix your additions into other ingredients.

Cook in microwave for 3 minutes.

Enjoy!