Since I'm pretty much broke (but usually can scrape together a few dollars to buy a skein of yarn or two) I decided to donate my time to
WBUR - my favorite radio station (possibly ever). I got up at 5.00 to be there for 6.45 and spent three hours answering a few phone calls for people who donated $150 to send
Winston roses to a Valentine of their choice. I received a dozen white Winston roses from Innocent Bystander as his company sent them to him in sympathy after his father passed away. IB told my mother he didn't want to be mistaken for one of the Fab Five, so he thought the roses would look better in my apartment. He also deftly asked if that means he was off the hook for flowers on
Valentine's Day.
Anyway, I met some very nice volunteers at WBUR and one in particular, whose daughter is thinking about signing up for the hell we folks call law school. I told her that I would be happy having her come to a couple of classes with me to see what it was like. I hope her daughter takes me up on the offer.
After picking up a few of the free books that the station is regularly bombarded with, I took a tour of the studios to see where the magic really happens. I stood in the Car Talk studio, saw Tom Ashbrook, and talked with Bob Oaks, whose voice is the first I hear just about every morning.
When I departed, I felt really good about volunteering and I think I'll be back. Three amusing things:
1. A volunteer was very concerned about not knowing she had to memorize the military alphabet when repeating spellings of names back to callers - it was explained to her that any phonetic list she came up with would be fine;
2. A man asked me to have the gift card on the roses read, "to Little Bunny from Big Bunny;" and
3. On my way out of the parking lot, one of my fellow volunteers was in the garage with his guitar out and proceeded to serenade me with a song he had just written a few days before. Apparently the acoustics were really good in the garage - something I know nothing about.
This weekend I've been very productive. I installed shelves in a cubby corner in my room, which now houses photos, old Martha Stewart Living magazines, a few photography and history books, and of course, my acrylic yarn stash for all of the cute little crochet creatures I plan to make (someday). I also did a bunch of homework, so my Monday won't be a complete cram session, and I finished up AArF's third sweater. The second one I am angry at so I've set it aside and won't look at it. I'll post a picture of this bad-ass sweater tomorrow. I know AArF feels like quite a toughy in it!
The last productive thing I did before
Brothers and Sisters took me over, was to make Banana Coconut muffins from Epicurious.com. I'm going to get up extra early tomorrow morning and bring some to Innocent Bystander before he leaves for his first day back at work. I hope he likes them! Here's the recipe:
Banana Coconut Muffins
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1/4 cup regular - next time I'm going to use all whole wheat flour)
2-3 Tablespoons ground
flax seed - again - totally optional - something I decided to add in b/c my mother got me on a flax seed kick (I used my coffee grinder to grind up the seeds) - a T in my oatmeal every morning!
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 very ripe bananas, mashed (3/4 cup)
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar (Next time I'm going to cut down on the sugar and maybe use light brown instead)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut Special equipment: a muffin tin with 8 (1/2-cup) muffin cups; paper liners - NB - I used slightly smaller muffin cups and got one dozen - also I just sprayed the tins with Pam as I couldn't for the life of me find my paper liners.
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Line muffin cups with liners.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together bananas, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and 1/2 cup coconut in a large bowl until combined well, then fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened.
Divide batter among lined muffin cups and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup coconut. Bake until muffins are puffed and golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer muffins to a rack and cool slightly.
All I'm going to say is that these are awesome and the coconut toasts quite perfectly on top of the muffins. Forget banana bread! This is the way to go!
The girls are coming over for 24 tomorrow night - we have decided on homemade pizza. Should be yummy!
Until Next Time,
~GAC
ps. Support your local public radio station - and law school student.
Ahh, she's so pretty. It's been a little scary learning to ride, but I think I'm much more confident and comfortable with it. For a good two weeks I was afraid to go over 40mph but now I can open the throttle up a little more. I've only done one extended trip back to my parents' house with it - just about an hour and a half out - but it was in late April when the weather turned and I nearly froze to death driving home - even with all my riding gear on. Since it's been raining here for the past week and a half, I've been only intermittently riding her, which is a bummer. Took her out this morning to the garden though, so hopefully she doesn't feel too neglected. 
