Banana Chocolate Drops, Apple Pillows and Rockin' Roll Ups

Good Tuesday morning!

Well, I've added the last Washington picture to the blog. I know you're glad the trip is finally over, aren't you? Now, I just have to take the card to Wal-Mart and print the 452 out of 689 good pictures for his scrapbook. No biggie. It will just take all of THREE HOURS! I'll try to go during an "un-busy" time... and hopefully that will alleviate people making heavy breathing sounds behind me. (I always want to tell them the impatient sounds just make me go slower. Added pressure has the opposite effect on me. I don't slow down on purpose. I kind of "shut down.")

"Why don't you choose the pictures from your computer at home and SEND the info to Wal-Mart for printing?" you ask. It's really very simple. Other than the blog (which took me DAYS AND DAYS to figure out), I am totally and hopelessly computer illiterate. I think that is the reason I am so opposed to Facebook. It intimidates me. So until my Photo Helper Guy from Wal-Mart makes a house call and shows me step-by-step (multiple times) HOW to send the info directly to him at the store, I'll be tying up machines. Heavy breathing and all.

NOTE TO LEANNA: Hi, girl! Did you notice Roxie's tankini matches her life jacket? Are we styling, or what? As far as Mikie is concerned, his life jacket matches nothing, but looks like a khaki parka! And while normally he would have peeled off a layer or two, we found that Thunder Tubing in the rain is really quite cold... even in July... even in Alabama. When Roxie wasn't tubing, she was wrapped up in THREE of the five dry beach towels I brought. Unfortunately, the rest of us didn't realize it until we got back to the pier two hours later in the cold, July rain, and all but two towels were wet... and one of the dry towels was MINE! (I hated it for the guys. I really did... But as their mother, it is up to me to teach them chivalry, isn't it?)

New Contest Rule - I knew I left something out! If you still want to enter the contest, but you don't share the website with anyone, all you have to do is comment OR e-mail me using the word "contest." It doesn't even have to make sense or be in a sentence. Your name will be put in the bowl sitting beside the computer. Sorry I left that one out!

Seasons

Yep. That's the topic for the rest of the week. Four days... four seasons. It's a perfect fit.

I know what you're thinking. I've already told you I love Fall, enjoy Winter, tolerate Spring and sweat a great deal during the Summer. So why am I going to post a season a day for the rest of the week? Good question.

I've been thinking about the Season of Life I'm in at the moment. Let's say I live to be 100 years old (and that is a possibility). The women in my family live well into their 90s and several have made it into their 100s. In my mind, I have divided each season neatly into 25 years. Which means I am NOT in the Autumn of my life as some people would assume, but the Dog Days of Summer... literally.

But today is not about Summer. Today is about Spring.

Spring is hard to watch. I see Spring women at the pool ALL the time with their little ones wearing swimmies and jumping up and down, up and down the entire time. Spring can be exhausting. However, I didn't start my family until the beginning of Summer (again... tomorrow), so my own personal Spring was a little different than what I observe in other women (the birth to 25 years group).

Do you remember being a kid? Time moved soooo slowly. You couldn't wait until your birthday. Christmas was an eternity away... even the day before. You finally made it to middle school, and then you couldn't wait until high school. You graduated high school and were so anxious to get out into the world. Birthdays were inconsequential. I, for one, definitely took Spring for granted, and didn't fully appreciate the Season... until now.

It's that way in nature, too. One day everything is gray and stark, and if you are really paying attention, you might notice a few buds on some trees or bushes. Then one morning you wake up and everything has "grown" overnight. It doesn't take months... it's more like minutes! Spring is impatient. It wants to grow, grow, grow and it doesn't want anyone telling it to slow down and enjoy the moment. There's too much to do.

One more observation about Spring before we get to the recipes for the day. Spring is beautiful. It is young, colorful, energetic and vibrant. But again, I didn't realize it was so short-lived until it was gone. Saying all that, I have heard many people say, and I agree, they wouldn't want to go back to Spring again. The uncertainties, the self-consciousness, the unanswered questions about what life would one day become. I like knowing the answers (good and bad) to some of the Spring questions in my late-Summer life.

Now there are many questions about Autumn and Winter lurking in the back of my mind, but with all that living in the Summer Season of my life entails, they are definitely in the back of what is left of my once sharp mind... where they belong. I would like to think one of the benefits of living through the Summer Season is not being so impatient for things to happen FASTER, as much as wanting things to stop and stay the same for a while. At least, that's how I'm feeling right now.

"There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven. A time to give birth, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted." Ecclesiastes 3:1-2.

More musings tomorrow, but today we COOK!

Banana Chocolate Drops

1 package (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped peanuts
2 bananas, cut into 1" pieces

1. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Place the chocolate chips in a stainless steel bowl and set it on top of the saucepan.

2. Turn the burner off and allow the chocolate to melt over the steaming water.

3. While the chocolate is melting, select a baking sheet or large plate that fits into your freezer. Line it with wax paper or aluminum foil.

4. Place the peanuts in a small mixing bowl or on a plate. Set aside.

5. Stir the chocolate with a wooden spoon until it is smooth and completely melted.

6. Skewer each piece of banana with a toothpick and dip into the chocolate. (You can also use popsicle sticks instead of toothpicks.)

7. Roll the banana in the chocolate until completely coated.

8. Using the toothpick as a handle, roll the banana in the peanuts.

9. Place the coated banana on the baking sheet or plate.

10. Freeze bananas for 1 hour before serving.

Apple Pillows

1 package (8 ounce) refrigerated crescent rolls
1 small apple, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
Milk for brushing
Cinnamon for sprinkling
Granulated sugar for sprinkling
Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Separate crescent rolls into individual triangles, and arrange on a lightly greased baking sheet.

3. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the apple, raisins, pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon.

4. Place teaspoon-size portions of the apple mixture onto the center of each triangle.

5. Roll into a crescent shape.

6. Lightly brush the tops of the crescents with milk and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

7. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Rockin' Roll-Ups

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese (softened)
1 tablespoon honey Dijon mustard
2 sticks butter
8 slices of white bread
3/4 pound thinly sliced ham
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2. In a small mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese with honey Dijon mustard and set aside.

3. Melt the butter in the microwave and transfer to a small mixing bowl.

4. Slice crust off the bread.

5. Using a rolling pin, roll each piece of bread very thin.

6. Evenly spread cream cheese mixture on each slice of bread.

7. Place a thin slice of ham on each piece of bread and roll up lengthwise.

8. Dip the roll into melted butter.

9. Sprinkle the roll with Parmesan cheese.

10. Place rolls 1" apart on a lightly sprayed baking sheet.

11. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden.

Not too shabby, is it? Now to be honest, I've only made the Apple Pillows, and I've eaten the Banana Chocolate Drops, but I haven't made the Rockin' Roll-Ups... yet. I'm planning on it this weekend for some friends Austin is having over.

All three of these recipes were taken from The Sleepover Cookbook by Hallie Warshaw. It's the book I told you about last week which I bought at a yard sale for $1, so I'm not sure if it is still in print or not. If you come across it though, it has a lot more to offer in the "cooking with kids" department, and I would recommend picking up a copy (even if it costs a little more than $1).

I hope you have a fun Tuesday. I'll have a Seasonal Tradition tomorrow (SURPRISE!), and we'll talk about the Summer Season of life. (That's the one I'm quickly being kicked out of!) I will also share some Road Trip ideas from a blog friend just for a bonus. If you have small kids (especially), there are some really good ideas for making the trip more enjoyable.

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.