Banana Bread in the Morning

One of life’s pleasures on a cool winter morning is the smell of banana baking in the oven. Sad to find many people have never experienced this simple pleasure. The process is easy.

Special equipment:
Masher or a fork to mash the bananas
Bread pans 9x5
Crisco
Toothpicks
Wire rack

Special ingredients:
Very ripe bananas
Some of the sweetest bananas for banana bread have nearly black peels. I would never eat the “over-ripe” mushy bananas but they are absolutely perfect for banana bread.

Banana Bread

6-7 large ripe bananas
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs, beaten
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda

The process:

Mash the bananas in a bowl.

In a larger mixing bowl blend together the butter and sugar.

Mix in the bananas.

Mix in eggs and vanilla.

Combine the flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl.

Combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Set aside.

Prepare the two bread pans with a thin layer of Crisco rubbed all over the inside of the pan.

Pour half the batter in each pan.

Bake at 350F, depending on your oven the bread maybe done in 35 - 60 minutes.

The first time you bake you’ll have to check it more often. Check by poking the bread in the center with a toothpick. Poke the bread at 35 minutes then every five minutes until it’s done. The toothpick will pull out clean when the bread is done.

Take the bread out of the oven. Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes.

Flip the bread out of the pan onto a wire rack for the final cooling.

Leonardo: A Vegetarian

We understand that Leonardo Da Vinci loved animals. He understood they are sentient beings, they have feelings. He understood that it was not required to kill to have a healthy body. He knew this to be true and lived without eating animals in the 15th Century.

"As long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other." -Leonardo Da Vinci 1452-1519

It is interesting that the act of killing any sentient being is brought together in this note as if he expects that one act leads to another. The act of killing, whatever it does within the soul makes the killer. There is no division in Leonardo’s mind.

“Truly man is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds theirs. We live by the death of others” (Leonardo Da Vinci 1452-1519)

He lived in a tumultuous time. The government was involved in several wars for control of resources. The brutality of war may have prompted this statement. We do know that war interfered with some of the project on which he worked.

Of course, he was a genius or perhaps because of his conviction he became a genius. Regardless, he had hope for the future and that ethical men will look upon killing as killing without distinction of species.

"The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men." -Leonardo Da Vinci 1452-1519

Vegetarianism is a legitimate lifestyle choice. It doesn’t mean that you’re conservative or liberal but it does mean that the temple of your soul (your body) is maintained in optimum health. Some of the health conditions prevented or improved are:

Obesity
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Vitamin deficiency
Diminished Cognitive abilities
Heart Disease
Liver Disease
Gallbladder Disease
Sleep apnea
Osteoarthritis
Diabetes
Cancer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarian

Mustn't Be Rude

Favorite quotes can offer a lovely way to address issues as they come up in life. In the 1998 movie, Merlin Morgan le Fey tells the young Mordred: ‘You mustn’t be rude. To be rude, is to be weak.’

As witness to rude people on a daily basis, it’s important to remember that cultured people are never rude to peers. Within the realm of committee meetings helpful structure has been handed down to create not only a fluid transcript of the proceedings but to focus creating the most productive time possible. The framework is Parliamentary Procedure.

Properly used there is no need to shout or talk over anyone. Everyone gets their say. Everyone is acknowledged, discussion is constructive, not repetitive and the group conscious makes the decisions after all points have been stated. The beauty of parliamentary procedure is, when followed, the harshest enemies can work together to resolve issues great or small.

If you abhor rudeness, it behooves you to learn Parliamentary Procedure.

Quick links, for your convenience:

http://www.kkytbs.org/forms/ParliamentaryProcedure.pdf

http://crs.uvm.edu/citizens/procedure.htm

Simple Accounting

American banks really should try using simple accounting to remedy their issues. It seems they’re too busy with whatever you want to call what it is they do, rather than accounting for the money and assets within their institution.

Case In Point:

21st Century bank statements don’t cover proper accounting, or what should be banking procedure. At least, procedure as defined for anyone who has completed basic high school accounting. As the high school student can tell you for your accounts to balance you need the following:

Receivables, this is a list of all deposits.

Payables, this is a list of all debits. Debits may be broken down into several categories, checks, transfers, fees, charges. The proper form is a list for each category.

Summary, this is a short list of the account showing previous balance, in, out and current balance.

You’d think with all the technology at their disposal, they’d include all pertinent information on the statement.

Today’s mail brought a bank statement which included a summary and a running balance.

Transaction History or Running Balance, this is a list of the in and out from the account. This is nice to include a running balance sheet but is not a statement of account.

This running balance is good to know if you tend to overextend yourself, but kiting checks puts you in danger of bouncing checks, getting charged mega-dollars in fees, not to mention bouncing checks is illegal.

The question that comes to mind: If this is the state of banking at this small level, imagine what a mess it is on a large scale…

What’s that you say? You’ve been reading the financial news headlines?… Well, then you already know…

Happy New Year Rabbit!

Were you born in a Year of the Rabbit? 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999or 2011

Famous Rabbits include: Albert Einstein, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt.

Like the animal, those born in the year of the rabbit may have similar traits. Rabbits are cautious, thoughtful, calm and yet persistant. They also accumulate wisdom over time and are often consulted for advice.

Much like Peter Rabbit, persistance without wisdom can get a body in much trouble. We may remember the children's story that tells of Peter's persistance in getting into Mr MacGregor's garden.

Still the wise Mama Rabbit offers great wisdom. She offers Peter Chamoile tea for stomach ailments and shares her cares and woes about Papa Rabbit's demise. Mama Rabbit is the picture perfect wise rabbit.

The Chinese Zodiac has twelve signs, over twelve years: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep,Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig For more informatin about People of the Rabbit http://www.usbridalguide.com/special/chinesehoroscopes/Rabbit.htm