Cooking!

Everyone that visits here regularly knows I'm not a cook. There's no denying it. Well, last week I tried a baked ziti recipe  that turned out good & I also baked. I made some healthy apple cinnamon muffins. The recipe used almond meal instead of sugar & flour. They were just ok. I've been told healthy food doesn't last long & that was true with these muffins. They started getting black spots all over them after just a couple of days. They were just ok the first day, by the 2nd day I didn't like them. Oh well.

So, awhile back when I was reading Carol's blog she'd made banana bread that looked amazing. It didn't sound too hard. I did have to email her & ask a few questions. I think she understands now just how much I'm not a cook. She probably also has some sympathy for my mom & Dean who have to deal with all of my questions when I do attempt to cook.Click the link for the Banana bread recipe. I had some pecans in the freezer so I added those. Well, this is a perfect example of the things I do wrong when cooking.
Notice how those "pieces" of pecans look more like hunks & not pieces? That would be because I completely forgot too chop them & I just threw them in. You should've seen me attempting to chop them with the whisk in the batter. sigh. You'll also notice the bunt pan. That's not part of the recipe. Carol said it made a lot & I could use several loaf pans & a muffin tin. Well, after looking around I realized I only had one loaf pan & one muffin pan. I didn't want to have to wait for pans to cool & wash them & then use them again so I pulled out the bunt pan. It worked fine. The picture above is before I put it in the oven. I completely forgot to take a picture of it after it came out but it was very pretty.
I promise these weren't burnt but they didn't rise like they were supposed to. I have no idea why but they tasted really good. I froze the loaf. It wasn't as pretty because I had a sticking problem. I'll definitely make these again. It was really good. I've mentioned before that our oven cooks hot. What is the best way to handle that - turn the temp down & leave it in longer or leave the temp at what the recipe calls for & take it out sooner??

Friday night we went for our usual Friday night Mexican dinner at Caliente. Jose the bartender was working  so we were able to get our special blue margarita's!
Yum!!!

With the Super Bowl being in New Orleans there were all sorts of celebrities there. Very exciting. Some of the excitement even came to Baton Rouge. If you're a New England Patriots fan you may recognize this guy.
It's Rob Gronkowski. He plays for the Patriots. I didn't know who it was but I saw the picture on Twitter that he was on the bar at one of the local bars by LSU. The black thing on his arm is a cast or brace or something. He broke his arm recently. Not sure he should be drinking on a bar with a broke arm but whatevs!!! Apparently, "Gronk" as he's called, had a really good time in NOLA & BR.  I've heard several stories about how much fun he had.

We didn't do anything Saturday which was nice. I got in a really good nap. Dean fried shrimp & fish & I sat on the patio while he cooked.
The weather was fabulous & so was my wine. We're having unseasonably warm weather which is great in that I hate the cold but not so great in that mosquito's are everywhere & they're the size of small mice. Not good!

Sunday I did a little shopping. I was in the market for some capris for Yoglates & I wanted a new pair of tennis shoes. Not to run in, just to wear around. For my "in real life people" reading, yes you read that right. For the rest of you I'll explain. I've never been a tennis shoe wearer unless I was exercising or working in the yard. Well, I want some to wear around. I found these at Academy & fell in love!
When I saw them it was love at first sight. Then when I saw the price I almost passed out. $39.99!! REALLY??? SERIOUSLY?? NO WAY!!! YES WAY! There's a catch. Of course there was. I don't find stuff that cheap. If you're a ladies size 11 these are the shoes for you. Sadly, I'm a ladies size 9. Which is something else that's weird. I've worn an 8 or 8.5 my entire life. When I started running I had my feet measured & I became a 9-9.5. WEIRD! I didn't think it was a big deal that they didn't have my size. After all that's what the internet's for. Apparently, these are discontinued shoes. I found one other pair online in a size 5. I couldn't squeeze this foot in those if I wanted to. sigh. Needless to say the only ones I've found that I like as much as these are $115. Too much for shoes just to wear around & not run in & I can't get them to run because they don't fit my foot correctly for running. It's a real bummer!

Toodles!