Today I want to: Make paper

Source: Amazon.com

I drive a long way to and from my (awesome) regular job. To pass the time, I sometimes listen to audio books. Right now I'm in the middle of Diana Gabaldon's A Breath of Snow and Ashes, one of the books in the extremely popular Outlander series. In this morning's "reading," one of the characters discussed her paper-making process.

And just like that, I suddenly want to make paper. (My boys would enjoy working with the mushy pulp, I think!)

Side note: This post's image is of handmade paper cut into hearts. The text says "Forever," but this writer first saw it as "Lorene." Our personal stories most certainly affect our perceptions.

Banana bread + chocolate = Heaven

Photo credit: www.TheLiveInKitchen.com 

 

This morning, I invented chocolate-covered banana bread cubes...

Of course, a quick search of the 'net revealed that I am not the first to think of that tempting combination (because no thought is an original, n'est-ce pas?). For the chocolate coating, this combination of dark chocolate and coconut oil looks promising. I'm pretty sure my kids will  look at me with over-the-top adoring eyes when I serve this form of banana bread to them.

Side note: Do you like chocolate coating on your ice cream? I do, but I don't like the hydrogenated oil that most of the store-bought versions contain. It turns out, though, that you CAN MAKE AN ALL-NATURAL CHOCOLATE COATING!!!! And just as for the banana bread cube coating, the key to a homemade "Magic Shell" recipe is coconut oil.