The Weekend

Due to the weather, it was a pretty uneventful weekend at our house. We stayed in a large part of the weekend. We did venture out in the rain on Saturday and Cate got some new markers (the highlight of her day). She was happy to spend time coloring with them when we got home. She is very serious about her coloring.
Stephen and I did not get to celebrate Valentine's Day together because he was out of town. He was doing a little tour of the state for work, visiting newspapers to talk about the new casinos coming into the state. I have included links to a couple of the articles that resulted from his interviews. I am sure there will be more articles as the casinos get closer to actually opening and I'll keep posting information about them here.

Next step toward Ford Co. casino could be finished by late March

Gaming reps visit

Since we didn't spend much time together during the weekend, we had a babysitter on Sunday evening and caught a movie and dinner.

Cate and I baked some bread for one of our neighbors. It was so delicious that I had to post a couple of photos here. I am not particularly skilled at food photography, so these aren't terrific. But if you like banana bread and coconut, I am sure you will love this recipe. You can see the coconut on the top of the bread...it got all toasted and yummy. And the lime glaze on the top is fantastic. It's a litte sour and little sweet. Plus, it's a Cooking Light recipe, so it's pretty healthy!

Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze
2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 ounces)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
3 tablespoons dark rum
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, rum, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon coconut. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Combine powdered sugar and juice, stirring with a whisk; drizzle over warm bread. Cool completely on wire rack.

Yield: 1 loaf, 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

CALORIES 193 (21% from fat); FAT 4.6g (sat 2.8g,mono 1.1g,poly 0.3g); PROTEIN 2.9g; CHOLESTEROL 35mg; CALCIUM 15mg; SODIUM 179mg; FIBER 1.1g; IRON 1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 35g

Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2007