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Blogging How to(s)? Science

Banana Bread Kids

So starts the second week of Summer Vacation, and it is raining…

Since vacation has started, my kids have eaten more bandwidth than food!

What to do?

Well, being the frugal person that I am, and seeing that we had 5 ripe bananas…

I Googled three recipes, printed them up, and had the kids review the recipes, and create a common ingredient list:

5 Ripe Bananas
2 Cups Flour
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Large Eggs
1 Stick Melted Salted Butter
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Preheat Oven to 350ºF. In large bowl, mash the bananas; Mix in the Eggs, melted butter, brown sugar, baking soda/powder, cinnamon and vanilla. Pour mixture into buttered loaf pan, and bake until center is cooked and crust is deep brown (60+ mins).

This helped Logan with this reading, while Madison learned more about units and measurement conversions!

What was also fun, was to comparing ingredients, such as white vs brown sugar, and deciding which one to use.

They also gotten to use a mortar and pestle to ground the fresh cinnamon, which was finished off in a coffee grinder.

I encouraged them to taste it, and explained why it was not a good idea to try the fad trick of trying to swallow a tablespoon!

And let us not forget the mashing of the bananas!

During clean-up, we also had the chance to “test” the classic Baking Soda vs Power with vinegar trick!

As I set up and measured, the kids kind of knew what was going to happen, but they were still very eager to see what would happen!

Finally, as the bread pan went into the oven, we used some of the leftover flour, to test our drinking glasses for fingerprints!

Update

I have since started this post, and the lights in the house flicker off and on because of the storm passing over us.

The house is beginning to smell good!

Update 2

The loaf is out and the smell!

The kids don’t seem to understand ‘cool down on a rack’…

Homemade Banana Bread
Homemade Banana Bread

Update 3

“I like the taste, but the texture is weird…”

All the more for ME!

A belated Father’s Day ‘gift’ to myself!

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Adobe CCPaPhoto Chester County Chester County Balloon Festival Events Facebook Flickr HDR Long Exposure Nik Software Photo Essay Photo Journal Photography Sunsets Tone Mapping

2013 Chester County Balloon Festival

The last time I went to the Chester County Hot Air Balloon Festival was back in 2011, when it was held at the Embreeville Athletic Fields along Telegraph Road (Rt 162).

Back then, I remember that at the gates closest to the balloons, were packed with people and one could hardly move!

This year, the festival was held at Plantation Field Horse Trials just outside of Unionville, and the venue change alone was awesome! Chester County at it’s finest!

That being said, be prepared to walk, up and down the long public slope that features live music, arts & crafts and food booths.

In the small valley, the balloons were unfurled and prepared for flight.

The extremely long fence line offered great close-up views for hundreds at a time, which was a welcomed change!

Earlier in the year, I contacted the festival organizers about getting some Passes for the Chester County Photography Groups (Facebook, Flickr, Google+ and Twitter) and they provided me with 5 All Access Passes!

I posted that I had the Passes to the groups, and with an hour, they were spoken for.

After several round-robin emails and phone calls, I was able to give John Griggs and Michael Weinstein their tickets for the event.

To say that we were not excited would be a gross understatement.

With the passes, we were able to walk freely in the Launch area, as the hot air was being blown into the balloons as they slowly rose into the sky!

Just before sunset, after most of the balloons had launched, the Shaped balloons began their rise, and a featured balloon was the Patriot – The Space Shuttle.

It is HUGE!

It is 190 feet Tall, 115 feet Wide and weighs 992 pounds! [usflagballoon.com]

It is something that really needs to be seen live!

Some of the earlier launched balloons returned, and set up to do some night time glows for the large audience that was still there.

As 9:30 rolled around, there was a general slow exodus from the grounds.

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Categories
Adobe Chester County Creeks HDR Hibernia Park Long Exposure Nik Software Photo Journal Photography Tone Mapping Water

Brandywine Creek – Hibernia Park

Some images taken along Wagontown Rd of the West Branch of the Brandywine Creek in Hibernia Park.

Hope you enjoyed!

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Adobe Blogging

Skip’s 30th Reunion

It is the Monday after Skip’s BIG 30th High School Reunion, and unlike Las Vegas, things do not stay there!

He could not afford to spend much time, but he did manage to visit some of the more cherished places.

It is hard to believe that over 30 years ago, Skip first walked down this same slate path into his future…

Looking at the Main Entrance
Looking at the Main Entrance

As he walked through the doors and passed the various announcement boards and into the common room, where he paused and looked.

There it was, at the other end of the dining hall.

The mural of the school’s foundation, that stared at him, during all his meals those many years ago.

Dining Hall Mural
Dining Hall Mural

He walked down the small set of stairs, and moved into the room, where he took this picture.

In the back of his mind, he heard a little voice saying he was about to receive three marks.

He scampered the rest of the way into the hallway, turning right and headed out to to the lawn.

Garth and Steeple
SAS Garth and Steeple

While taking this picture, the clock bells chimed, triggering a distance memory of days gone by, and reminding him that his time to leave was closely approaching.

He walked back across the lawn, reentering the building, looking for that room where he made another cameo appearance several years back.

O Captain! My Captain!
O Captain! My Captain!

Snickering to himself, he knew he had to get back to his boat.

He stayed just long enough for the Class Reunion photo…

The Class of 1983 Reunion Photo
The Class of 1983 Reunion Photo

With that, he was off.

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Events Personal Photo Journal

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