Banana Bread

I've been organizing a benefit concert and was working on getting the web page up one morning while Ethan was at school. The breakfast dishes were still on the table. Along came Scott, still 2. He found 2 soft, brown bananas in the fruit bowl and immediately suggested, "Mom, let's make banana bread!"

"Ok, give me 5 more minutes on this, then I'll clear the table, and we'll make banana bread, " I answered.

Evidently, he did not want to wait because he began to clear the table. Like an ant, he went back and forth from the table to the sink, carefully moving all the dirty dishes. I was thrilled and so full of maternal pride, although I'm pretty sure I can't take any credit for teaching him to clear the dishes.

When all the dishes had been removed from the table, he began to stack up the placemats. I interrupted him, "Oh, Scottie, we need to wipe those off first. They are dirty."

"I need a rag," responded the amazing DO-er. Of course, it came out more like, "I need a wag." No matter. I got a rag from under the sink, got it wet, and then he wiped off the table. I did a follow-up wipe and then we got under way.

Behold, the finished coconut banana bread with lime glaze (recipe courtesy of Cooking Light). Oh, I left out the rum. Looks like Scott didn't mind.

Politics at the grocery store

This morning in the grocery store, I was contemplating potatoes. Thinking out loud, I said to Scott, "We can have potatoes from Idaho or Washington."

"But, Mom!" he protested. "Mitt Romney says Washington is broken!"

I would have laughed if I didn't feel such a sense of loss now that Mitt has suspended his campaign. I cried watching his speech to CPAC, and I cried again reading it last night. Now comes the difficulty of finding a candidate to support. No one really appeals to me. How many others feel like this out there?

Violin Dreams

I just finished a wonderful book called Violin Dreams, by Arnold Steinhardt, first violinist of the Guarneri String Quartet. The book is a fascinating journey through Steinhardt's life.

Here is link to a brief article on NPR, with excerpts from the book, as well as recordings of Steinhardt playing Bach's Chaconne from the Violin Partita 2 in D Minor, the masterpiece which he returns to over and over.