banana lemon mini loafs

This is a variation of my usual banana bread recipe.  In addition to adding lemon, I switched to natural sweeteners.  This would work fine with 1 cup regular sugar instead of the brown rice & agave syrups.  Below is the recipe with today's modifications.


On a side note, I have some family obligations over the next few days and probably won't post again until Tuesday or Wednesday.




banana lemon mini loafs

2 cups while whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 brown rice syrup
1/4 cup agave syrup
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 ripe bananas)
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1/4 tsp cardamom
cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. Combine all dry ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well.  In a separate medium bowl blend all wet ingredients.  In a large bowl add dry ingredients alternately with liquids, beginning and ending with a dry (this helps to make the bread less “heavy”).  Spray mini 12-loaf pan with cooking spray and spoon batter into pans with an ice cream scoop.  Bake 17 minutes or until golden brown and pick inserted in center of loaves comes out clean. Do not over bake! Alternately use one 9” x 5” loaf pan and bake 50-60 min.

watercolor sketch

 I had planned on doing a larger painting today but.... it was just too darn hot.   At least I did manage to complete a little watercolor sketch.

origami butterflies

Some new origami butterflies.  These were folded following the diagrams in  "Origami Craft Pad".  The instructions were fairly simple and easy to follow.  I like the clean simplicity of the resulting butterfly.

watercolor/gouache sketch

A little watercolor & gouache sketch of a butterfly

more knitting

Finished up my cranked socks today.  They were just too close to being done, I had to finish them up before starting something new.

knitting socks

Almost finished my cranked socks.  Love how they fit but I am very disappointed in the colors.  I picked this skein of yarn because I liked the bright pink/ yellow stripe.  So far there is only a small bit of that color on one of the heels :(

acrylic bird collage painting

the finished painting

Today I painted this little (12" x 12") acrylic collage painting.  I started with a canvas that I had previously painted a few layers on but then abandoned.

the original canvas

with mulberry glued on

after adding a light layer of green/blue paint

another piece of mulberry paper glued on

with a piece of metallic paper & birds cut from sheet music

finished it by adding some ink drawn tree branches

Sharpie Tie Dye

Dyed a shirt using the "sharpie tie dye" method.  I first saw the idea for this pinned on Pinterest (original source is here).  Basically all you do is draw on the fabric with a sharpie and then, with a dropper, drop rubbing alcohol onto the marks.

This technique works pretty well, I did find that the marker didn't bleed very consistently.  I didn't use brand new markers which may have affected my results.  Also, it is a good idea to place something underneath the fabric - the marker will bleed through. 

Aesthetically, I didn't care for how it looked with just a single dot of color by itself (the band of dots to the right on the shirt are individually placed).  Grouping 6 or so dots together I think works better (the pinwheel looking dots are grouped).


6/24/2012 ETA:   washed the shirt today - the marker  washed out  somewhat.  If I try this again I'll heat set the marker with an iron before washing it.

watercolor painting

Another watercolor painting inspired by the dunes along Lake Michigan.

sock knitting

cranked socks

 Did some sock knitting today.  My lace & cable socks are now ready for their heels and my cranked socks are almost ready.  After knitting wool socks in close to 100 degree heat I am seriously contemplating getting central air. Or at least finding out just how expensive it would be.  I'm thinking putting central air in a 1920's house probably will be a bit pricey.

lace & cable socks

acrylic gouache tree

 Today I got out my acrylic gouache paints.  Not  my favorite medium, I have yet to paint anything that I like with these paints.  This latest effort is no exception.  I'll wait a day or two, when I can look at it with fresh eyes, before deciding if it goes into the trash.

inspiration/idea book

 Today I worked on my latest inspiration/idea book. These are kind of like an "old school" Pinterest.  In these books I paste various images that caught my interest.  I might pick something because of the image's content, pattern, or even just for the color of it.  I like to use 6" square books for these.  The small size of the book makes me edit and pare down the images, keeping only the most relevant or interesting elements.

slow cooker corn bread

Made some bread in my slow cooker, well I use the term bread because that is what the recipe called it.  I would say it was more like a very moist, almost pudding even, cake.  I let it cook for over 3 hours before the cake tester came out clean, the recipe put the cooking time at 2 1/4 hours.  It tasted okay but I doubt if I'll be making it again.

Classic World War II Watch Cap

Ended up sending pretty much the whole day knitting.  Worked on my socks a bit and  knit a "Classic World War II Watch Cap" from a pattern posted at Cocoa Beach Yarn .   Not my best hat ever but it did use up 3 partial skeins of yarn which were in my stash way too long.

stamped t-shirt

 Today I played around with some stamps to add a little color to some old t-shirts.
Supplies: clean t-shirt, fabric paint, stamp (a clear is easier to position), a sponge and cardboard or something similar (I used plastic corrugated sign board).
To Make:  slide the cardboard inside the shirt and smooth out the fabric.  Ink the stamp by daubing paint on with the sponge.  Stamp fabric carefully (there is no "undoing" ).  Set the paint according to the directions on the bottle (generally the paint is set by ironing,with thin fabric or wax paper placed over the design).

Heart w/ wings ornament

 Inspired by the heart house ornament on the website "michele made me" I made a heart w/ wings ornament.  I bought the heart w/wings sizzix die awhile ago and thought it would be perfect for this project.  It almost was.  The die looks like it is symmetrical but it is off by a smidgen.  It took a little trimming but I think it worked out okay.  For the paper I used cardstock and glued it together with Scotch tacky glue.

watercolor painting

1st wash of color

Today I worked on a little watercolor painting inspired by a recent trip over to the Saugatuck Dunes State Park, located on the shore of Lake Michigan.  This is just inspired by being there - this scene only exists here.

Paints used: iridescent russet (daniel smith), quinacridone sienna  (daniel smith), transparent gold ochre  (daniel smith), rich green gold  (daniel smith), cerulean blue (winsor & newton), olive green  (winsor & newton), and french ultramarine -red shade (da vinci paints).

2nd wash

some details added

and finished (I think)

drop earrings

hematite, crystal & fresh water pearl earrings

 Today I made some simple drop earrings.   To make these I threaded 3 beads onto a headpin then bent the wire around to form a loop. The hardest part is deciding on what beads to use. I spent far longer picking out the beads then actually making the earrings.

Saar star origami

 A simple little origami star designed by Endia Saar.  To fold this I followed the diagrams in Ornagami by Gay Merrill Gross ( published by Barnes & Noble in 2007).  The diagrams/instructions were very clear and easy to follow (some of the clearest diagrams I've seen actually).