None by None: Word Counters

 

Counting my words again.

Today my fellow Word Counters and I are sharing our monthly group post. Each month, one group member picks a number between 12 and 50. All participating bloggers are then challenged to write something (or a few somethings, as the case may be) using that exact number of words. Today we share what we all came up with.

 This month's number is 27. 
It was chosen by Me.

As I've been doing in these Word Counters posts, I've chosen a theme and am using my word count multiple times in keeping with the theme. This month I've chosen the theme None by None.

~ Do you remember ant farms? Ever have one? Not me. Ever want one? Still not me. Especially not now, anyway, and definitely not on my upstairs landing.

~ It started with siding. When we had some replaced on the west side of the house, the worker accidentally broke our window. And replaced it, of course.

~ We had no problems. Actually, I was pretty happy, the original window didn't open, was just glass, but the new one opens for a nice cross breeze.

~ Fast forward about three years, when we noticed one day, a big blank ant was crawling down the wall under that window. Then later, another. Oh, no.

~ The ants were marching. One by one. And two by two. And lots by lots. According to google, looking for something sweet. That could be a problem.

Strawberry Banana Bread

~ Recon mission: identify ingress point. We knew it had to be around that window, but never saw exactly where. Choosing between kill and deter, we chose deter.

~ They don't like cinnamon (those insect heathens). So I although I rubbed the window ledge with it, I certainly wasn't sprinkling it on my wall and carpeting.

~ Don't know if that deterred some, but certainly not all. Plan B time. Hubs found a gentle, indoor safe insecticide. And they stopped. For a few hours . . .

~ Sorry, I'm not sharing my baked goods, wall, stairway, and even (how far do ants go?) my bed {{shudder}}. No more Mrs. Nice Girl, this is war.

~ Plan C: divide and conquer. Vinegar's another deterrent. I sprayed the window, wall, carpet. Hubs sprayed a stronger insecticide outside, in the rocks and up the house.

~ The ants aren't marching. Or they've changed course (hopefully not to my neighbor's house). All's quiet on the western front, but us? We stand at the ready. 

Here are links to the other Word Counters posts:

On the Border 

Messymimi’s Meanderings 

 Strawberry Banana Bread         

                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 overripe banana

1 ripe banana

1/4 cup oil

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2/3 cup strawberry yogurt

1 1/4 cups flour

3/4 tsp cinnamon, divided

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp sugar

3 TBSP strawberry preserves

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a loaf pan.

*Set aside 4 slices from the center of the ripe banana and set aside. Hull and slice one of the strawberries and set aside.

*Mash the remaining ripe banana, along with the overripe banana in a bowl with a fork. Whisk in the oil, brown sugar, egg, and yogurt.

*Mix in the flour, 1/2 tsp of the cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Hull and chop the remaining strawberries. Fold into the dough. 

*Pour the dough into the prepared loaf pan. Even out, then arrange the reserved sliced banana and strawberry onto the top.

*Mix together the remaining cinnamon and the tsp of sugar, sprinkle over the top.

*Bake for 55 - 60 minutes, until the center of the top springs back to the touch. 

*Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edges and removing from the pan. Whisk the strawberry preserves to loosen. Paint onto the top of the bread using a pastry brush. Cool completely before slicing.

Upside Down with Purpose

 

Upside Down. 

 

Sometimes, upside down is OK. 

 

Not, of course, if you're stuck at the top of a Ferris Wheel, but maybe just in the course of day to day life.

 

Because sometimes you do just feel upside down. Not really wrong exactly, but not quite right.

 

It happens to me a lot in the fall. I love the hot summer days of flip flops and short sleeved shirts, longer brighter days of not always being chilled to the bone.

 

I hadn't seen my younger son in almost a year, it was getting darker earlier, I'd had a birthday and was getting . . . you know . . . older, prices were through the roof, our politics were in shambles, and the upcoming holiday season whirlwind has a tendency to be hectic.

So I was OK, just a little upside down. 

I walked out front one day a few weeks ago, and saw this little oak leaf on my walkway. We don't have oak or maple trees but, whatever, I'm sure the wind blew it here from somewhere.

As I walked past the leaf, I saw that it was upside down and, without really thinking about it, said under my breath "I know how you feel, buddy."

 

 

It was a dreary, cloudy day, in keeping with my mood, I guess. And it doesn't help that there's so little color mother nature shares with us this time of year, in contrast to the bright hues of spring and summer. I suppose that might be why, coming back into the house, I turned the leaf over saying (well, I said it in my head, I don't want you to think I was standing outside my house talking out loud to a leaf) "don't hide, show those pretty yellows and browns and greens." 

Sometimes, we need a little encouragement to show our colors to the world.

 

 

The next day, I'd been working in the kitchen and, as you might imagine, wasn't giving any thought to the leaf on the walkway.

Banana Spice Cake

(an upside down dessert)

 

When I went out to get the mail, I noticed that leaf, still there, right in the middle of my walkway.

 

Upside down.

 

And a little worse for wear. Curled in at the edges. 

 

I left it like that. Because sometimes you just have to feel your upside down for a while, keep your colors to yourself, and block out the world.

 

I get it.

Now, I'm sure you're thinking that I'm reading a whole lot into a biodegrading leaf on the sidewalk, and you could very well be right.

But I happen to believe that you take your life lessons from wherever they're presented to you.

"Tomorrow," I thought, "if that leaf is still there, and still upside down, I'll turn it over again."

Because sometimes you're just not ready the first time. But maybe, just maybe, it'll be ready to shine.

Banana Spice Cake         

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
about 1 1/2 bananas

2 TBSP butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 tsp cinnamon, divided

1 box yellow cake mix

3/4 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup speculoos (cookie butter)

4 eggs

1 cup milk

1/4 cup sour cream

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan.

*Slice the bananas into approximately 1/4 - 1/3 inch rounds.

*Melt the butter, mix in the brown sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and spread into the bottom of the pan. Place the banana slices into the butter mixture, singly, in two rows along the bottom and barely up the side of the pan.

*Whisk together the cake mix, remaining cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg. Separately, whisk together the oil and speculoos. Add to the cake mix, along with the eggs, milk, and sour cream. Beat for 2 minutes.

*Slowly pour the batter into the pan with the bananas, trying to keep the bananas in place as much as possible.

*Bake for 40 - 45 minutes, until the center of the cake springs back to the touch. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge and inverting onto a serving plate.

Reboot: September Monthly Poetry Group

 

 

 

 

Last Friday of the month is for

Monthly Poetry Group to rhyme.

Diane, Mimi, and I take turns,

"Reboot" is the theme this time.

 

As usual, today I'll try,

a poem to write . . . or fudge.

Whether I'm successful or not,

you get to be the judge.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reboot

The elderly man was worried,

forgetting things all the time.

Keeping track of belongings,

was a daily mountain to climb.

 

The more he thought about it,

felt his brain needed a reboot.

He'd always had a great memory,

now he felt like an old coot.

 

He'd play his daily word games,

Phrazle, Wordle, more than one.

Keeping his brain exercised,

could actually be quite fun.

 

And since his wife had passed away,

there was more for him to do.

But it kept his mind occupied,

there's value in that too.

On this particular morning,

memory really getting him down,

"I'll do errands, pick up muffins,

might be good to go into town."

 

Bananas Foster Muffins

 

 

 

Went into a few different stores,

glad to put his troubles aside.

One last store he entered, 

the selection kept him occupied. 

When from behind he heard it,

"Reboot?" someone had asked.

His memory? How could they know?

Wanted to get out of there . . . and fast.

"Reboot?" This time he turned around,

the questioner's eyes to meet.

Realized the salesman was looking,

not at his head, but his feet.

 

Before you go, stop by these blogs for more Collections poetry:

 

On the Border

Messymimi's Meanderings

 

 

Bananas Foster Muffins        

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 TBSP butter

1 banana

1 TBSP cookie butter (speculoos)

1 TBSP spiced rum

6 TBSP oil

2 TBSP cookie butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup banana yogurt

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

 

3 TBSP caramel sauce

Directions:
*Grease the top of a 12 well muffin tin and either grease or add liners to the wells. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

*Slice the banana into about 1/2 inch slices. Cut each slice in quarters.

*Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the banana. Cook, stirring now and then, for 2 minutes. Mix in 1 TBSP cookie butter and the rum. Stir for one more minute, remove from heat, and set aside.

*Whisk together the oil, remaining cookie butter, and brown sugar. Once incorporated, whisk in the egg, buttermilk, and yogurt.

*Separately, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

*Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently whisk together. Fill the muffin cups with the batter.

*Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the muffin tin from the oven, but leave the oven on. Quickly spoon the banana mixture onto the tops of the muffins. Return to the oven and bake for another 8 minutes.

*Leave in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, remove, drizzle with the caramel sauce and allow to cool.

You Are What You Phrase

 

 Everything says something about you.

You know that old saying "you are what yo eat?" Well, you certainly are also what you say, and what you do. What you read says something about you, what you listen to, who you listen to, and what you write.

 

Here's a new thought, one that dawned on me while playing Phrazle a while ago. You are what you phrase.

 

Before I go on, let me just explain a few things. First, and I won't go into great detail since I wrote a whole blog post about this in March, called Wordle, Nerdle, Curdle, but I play and share a lot of word games, as well as posting one of my own daily (Monday through Friday), on my Baking In A Tornado FB page for others to play. If you haven't before, click on over via that link and read about it.

Second, is a brief rundown of how to play Phrazle, since that's what I'm sharing today. Phrazle, as opposed to a word guessing game, is a phrase guessing game. The puzzle shows you how many words are in the well known phrase, and how many letters are in each word. That's your blank slate. For each of your 6 guesses, you choose words for the phrase, press enter, and are rewarded with clues. Each letter of each word in the phrase will be a color:

grey: this letter is not in the phrase at all

purple: this letter is in the phrase, but in a different word from the one you used it in

yellow: this letter is in the word you used it in, but not in the spot you chose

green: this letter is in the correct spot

Wait. Don't go!

Even if you're confused at this point, it's just background, read on.

 

Do back to everything saying something about you. I was playing Phrazle a while ago and, probably for the first time, not only looked at the results, relieved to have guessed them, but looked at my process. And wondered what exactly these guesses say about me.

 

For instance, have I been dreaming about pigs? 

That growl? It's what happens when you realize you're flat broke.

 

 

Is this a sneak peek into where to go to pray for an end to that whole flat broke thing? The fancy pews?

Well, I know what these two say about me.

Bad butter?

 

Cold fried?

 

Good grief, I'm hungry. 

No problem, I got this:

Strawberry Banana Cake

 

 

 

On this day I was clearly just thinking about the game I was about to play. Although, the way I go about it, it's more word salad (but salad doesn't have 8 letters).

 

 

I actually can satire, don't you think?

One thing's clear, if I was robbed, I wasn't bold enough.

 

Man in the hole? That's a long fall from the top of the hill.

 

In the dim house? What was I thinking? Probably that I need more coffee.

 

I'm willing to bet when I started this puzzle, the next thing on my to do list must have been to write my poetry post. I do adore those puns.

 

OK, I'm going to argue for credit for having solved this one in two. After all, I could make a case for a strumpet wife actually being a dumpster fire.

 

 

 

After that last comment, maybe we better forget the smog and the crib, I may need that get out of jail free card. 

Strawberry Banana Cake

                                               ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 box (15.25 oz) strawberry cake mix

1 box (3 - 3.4 oz), divided

1 medium ripe banana

1 cup milk

1 tsp strawberry extract

3 eggs

4 strawberries, cored and chopped

1 can (16 oz) strawberry frosting

1 TBSP milk

3 strawberries, cored and sliced

1 banana

1/2 cup orange juice

 

Directions:
*Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

*Mash one of the bananas. Measure out 3 TBSP of the pudding mix and seat aside for the frosting.

*Beat, for 2 minutes, the mashed bananas, remaining pudding mix, cake mix, 1 cup of milk, strawberry extract, and the eggs.

*Pour evenly into the prepared baking pans. Sprinkle the chopped strawberries over the top, and bake for 20 - 30 minutes, until the center springs back to the touch.

*Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and remove to cool completely. Trim the tops so the layers are flat.

*Slice the second banana. Place in a bowl with the orange juice. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap down onto the fruit. Refrigerate.

*Vigorously whisk the frosting, remaining milk, and the remaining pudding mix. Put about 1/4 cup into a plastic bag or piping bag for decoration.

*Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread about 1/3 of the remaining frosting on this layer and top with the second layer. Frost the sides and top of the cake.

*Pipe the reserved frosting onto the cake. Remove the bananas from the juice, decorate the top of the cake with banana and strawberry slices.