Yellow

For this week's "yellow" challenge at "Unplug your kids", we began by sharing music.  We listened to one of my favorite favorite songs... "yellow" by Coldplay (listen here)  

(actually honeypie is a big fan too) 

and we listened to Bananaphone by raffi (listen here) which she has loved since she was a baby. 

We started to do some embroidery together using burlap.  I drew a banana for honeypie and she traced the lines with her needle and yellow thread.

 

I pulled out my copy of "The Persistance of Yellow", which is a great book, more for adults and full inspiration poems.  A very whimsical book.. always makes me smile and lifts my spirit.

"Most of my life," she says, "I've been in search of IT. And I thought that IT came inside a big box with a bow on top carefully marked and labeled and numbered. I brushed away all the 'incidental' discoveries like cobwebs. But now everything counts. Now I search for traces of miracles...and I find them everywhere."  #172

We played with "bananagrams"  and made a wonderful loaf of "yellowman banana lime bread" one of my favorite recipes for banana bread... and I've tried many! 

WE LOVE BANANAS!

Its from the Cook book "Sundays at moosewood restaurant".

"Yellowman's Banana Lime Bread"

In St. Lucia and Anguilles, I made friends with some local people after repeated visits to the same beaches. I won't forget their great nicknames: Merit, Rah's Bucket, Campbell Soup, Sugar Ray, the Ram, So-lar, Freakout, Domino, Splif and Gorgeous. This tasty bread is named after Yellowman."

Yields 1 loaf.

BATTER
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)
3 tablespoons milk (or plain yogurt)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup unsweetened grated coconut, toasted
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

GLAZE
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon rum
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

TOPPING
1/4 cup unsweetened grated coconut, toasted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.

To make the batter, in a large mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter. 

Stir in the eggs, bananas, milk or yogurt, and lime juice. 

Add the salt, ginger, and grated coconut and mix well. 

Sift the flour and baking powder together in a separate bowl. 

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix them until smooth. 

Pour the butter into the buttered loaf pan and bake for an hour, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Cool the bread for about 10 minutes before removing it from the pan.
Meanwhile, for the glaze, combine the brown sugar, butter, rum, and lime juice in a small saucepan on low heat, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes, until it becomes a thin syrup. Pour this glaze over the loaf, spreading it with a spatula or spoon to coat the top and sides. Sprinkle toasted grated coconut evenly over the glazed loaf.

This is an absolute delicious recipe to try!