I took my Latin final today. Thank the gods. I think. It's out of my hands now, for better or worse. I managed everything, and remember what I think is the Latin word for pigeon (though on closer inspection I was wrong - we translated columba, ae as 'dove' rather than pigeon, and I was woefully confused by this xkcd and thought that peristeron, onis would work. Whoops. I'm debating emailing my professor to show her the woeful mistake I've made, because it's actually quite funny. Ah well). So overall: I passed. I think. We'll see.
In other news, I'm in the news. Not for any bad reason, just...Okay. Story time! After that dreadful exam, I tottered off to Starbucks, acquired some lovely chai as I said I would with that gift card, just to celebrate, and on the way home called Ian to organize a picnic. It was just one of those days, perfectly sunny, absolutely stunning, but not so hot out that you're sweltering in the shade. There were birds in droves - mostly ducks, of about four varieties, apparently - and the flowers were out, all that. Absolutely gorgeous. So we wandered around for a while, and then coming around a corner, I saw the most spectacularly perfect cherry tree I'd ever seen. Perfect for climbing and encrusted with soft puffy flowers. Of course we had to climb it. So we did. Then we were inundated by all these men with cameras and stuff - asking us to hold our pose, et cetera. One man cam over on a bicycle and took literally a hundred pictures of us for some paper in Richmond. There was a man with a news camera on his shoulder who we mistakenly and quite accidentally attracted the attention of. I just found it and watched it - no direct link, I'm sorry. Edit: actually, there is! But it appears that we were accidentally interrupting some backwards-flying hummingbird's return to Vancouver. Ian will be sad to hear this, as he is an avid birder. But yeah, that was my fifteen seconds of amusing fame today. Veritably odd.
Otherwise, I'm currently experimenting again with banana bread - trying to make actual bread this time, rather than biscotti. I'll tell you what happens when I'm done kneading it and rising it and whatnot. Also at some point I need to clean my room. I know, I'm just a ball of interesting this evening, right? But it's that slump after that final that's getting me, plus I'm kinda hungry. So I'm going to go knead things, and leave you to search out that video if you want.
Edited a couple hours after posting:
So, the banana bread. It's not bad, but it's not great. My problem is not enough banana, of course! As a note to you, dear reader: if you ask whether it's enough banana, the answer is NO and you need to add more quam primum, or immediately if you're not feeling the Latin. So I've recorded what I did, and then what I'd do differently in parentheses.
Banana bread
Mix:
2/3 c whole wheat flour
2/3 c white flour
1.5 t instant yeast
1 pinch of salt
Mash together:
1 (2!!! At least!! One which is thoroughly dead, one which is on its last legs, and maybe another just 'cause you can never have enough banana in this)
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 c brown sugar (go wild. Use more. Say, between 3/4 and 1 c)
(1 t vanilla extract)
Some milk, to get it wet (water works too - I used soy creamer)
Combine both amalgamations in the big bowl with the flour. Stir, and add water/milk accordingly, until it's a bit crumbly, but all bits incorporate. Knead for ten to fifteen minutes (really, the longer you knead it the better it will be. I promise), adding flour as needed, and then let it rise for a good hour. Knead again for a bit (don't add flour! I always forget this and my loaves don't turn out as they should), just long enough to get it shaped. Put it in a greased bread pan and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. When that finishes, bake it for about 35 minutes, maybe 40. Extract. Eat with too much salted butter if it's less than ideal. That's what I'm doing.
Kate
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