Whole Wheat Nutty Banana Bread

Most of my blog entries have been about travel, but the real reason I began this blog was to keep a collection of all my recipes. I LOVE to cook, eat, and do all things food related. So...here is my first recipe blog entry. There will be more to come...

 What you need:

1 stick of softened unsalted butter

1/2 cup of golden brown sugar (packed)

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of salt

3/4teaspon baking soda

1 teaspon vanilla extract

2 cups of mashed ripe bananas (with brown skins)

1/8 cup of honey

2 eggs

2 cups whole wheat flour

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Blend together butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla until smooth. Then add the wet ingredients: bananas, eggs, and honey. Again, blend together until smooth. Add the flour 1 cup at a time and blend until smooth. At this time, add nuts, raisins, cranberries, etc.

Pour batter into a greased 9x5 loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes.

Pull bread out of the oven and let cool in loaf pan for at least 15 minutes.

Once cool to the touch, let rest and cool down on baking rack.

Slice and ENJOY!

The Final Product



Los Angeles Zoo

In an effort to work on my photography skills and practice more with my camera, I decided to spend my "Furlough Friday" at the LA Zoo. I haven't visited the zoo since I was much younger (even though my sister worked there all throughout her high school years). I expected that this would be a great place to take pictures. Admission at the zoo is currently $14 for adults.

Travel Plans for 2011!

It's only January and the travel plans have already begun!

1) Europe - London and Paris for sure, maybe Rome too! I'm going with one of my oldest and dearest friends from high school! I'm so excited for this trip!

2) Washington State - I read a blog about a girl who took a solocation to Washington and fell in love with her adventure, so this may or may not be a solocation for me. My sister also wants to visit Washington and the door is open for her to join me.

3) Georgia - Going for a childhood friend's wedding and taking in some of the sights as well!

4) Tahiti (or Australia) - Timeshare with my honey! Our annual vacation!

5) Las Vegas - Ok so Vegas is not really a vacation for me because I live in California and its only a few hours drive away, but this year's trip is special. It's to celebrate graduation with my friend from college! We started our journey together 4 years ago, and whenever asked "What are you going to do when you graduate," we always said, "GO TO VEGAS!"

Sounds like a lot of places to visit and at this rate, I should be around the world in no time!

Year End Solocation - Day 3

DAY 3: 17 Mile Scenic Drive: Monterey, CA
Our Yosemite National Park trip had been cancelled due to dangerous conditions. Our tour bus replaced the Yosemite trip with a trip through the 17 Mile Scenic Drive in Monterey, CA.

Look Closely...SEA LIONS!

This ended our trip. I have to say that the 17 mile was beautiful, but I was still very disappointed that we did not get to go to Yosemite, but overall was satisfied by my entire experience.

Afterthoughts:
I must agree with all the people who told me that taking a solocation was a liberating experience. Although I was not really alone, but with a giant bus full of other tourists. I did learn a lot about myself and set some great goals for the following year. I also discovered that I am okay to do things alone and self-consciousness should not be a real issue...the only issue is whether or not I am happy doing what it is that I am doing. It's going to take some time to get the solo travel part down, but here is what I learned:

1) Bring a map! or a GPS with charger!
2) Plan ahead... Planning the tours, places to eat, and things to do is very important! I learned that without planning (for me at least), I would have walked aimlessly around town and getting lost. Write down and schedule your own itinerary.
3) Do your research...places to go, safest routes, background, times that places open and close, etc.
4) Although one may be enjoying the city, always keep your eyes and ears open. Walk with you head held high and with confidence.

I will definitely be doing another solo vacation, but next time without an actual tour group. I want to challenge myself to see if I can really handle being out in a new town by myself. I plan to end up in Washington State this summer.

Lastly, I found through this solocation that I want to take myself out on a fancy date. At least every few months, I want to take myself out to dinner at an expensive steakhouse and a movie after, practice being ble to say "table for one please."

Year End Solocation - Day 2 (Part 2)

DAY 2 - extended city tour: First Stop: Saint Mary's Cathedral, San Francisco
Known for it's architecture and beautifully decorated interior, Saint Mary's Cathedral is one of the stops on the tour. Unfortunately, a wedding ceremony was going on, therefore we could not actually enter the cathedral.

DAY 2 - extended city tour: Second Stop: The Painted Ladies, San Francisco
Another famous landmark in SF is The Painted Ladies. The six houses on Steiner street survived the 1906 earthquake and is sometimes known as "Postcard Row". The architectural style is Victorian and was very popular for it's time. These 6 houses were seen on the opening credits of the TV show Full House.

DAY 2 - extended city tour: Third Stop: The Castro, San Francisco

The Castro District is America's largest and most well known gay neighborhood. "The Castro remains a symbol and source of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activism and events." (Wiki). We only passed by this location, but did not get to stop.

DAY 2 - extended city tour: Fourth Stop: Twin Peaks, San Francisco

The highest location in SF, it is the perfect spot to view the entire city (from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Bay Bridge)! We only had 15 minutes to stop and take pictures. Oh how I wish that we could have visited this place at night...

DAY 2 - extended city tour: Fifth Stop: SF Capitol Builing, San Francisco
This spot on the tour was quite interesting. The Capitol Building in SF looks like a miniature version of the US Capitol Building and The White House combined. It is said that the top of the building is made of real gold. In addition, there is a giant sculpture in front of the building titled "Three Heads Six Arms" which was donated from China.

DAY 2 - extended city tour: Sixth Stop: Treasure Island, San Francisco

No not in Las Vegas and not an actual island, Treasure Island is the best view of the city at night.

This was our final stop on the tour and we headed back to the hotel. After this day of running around the city, I was exhausted. I got a quick bite to eat at a small thai restaurant and ended the day. Our following day was originally scheduled to head out to Yosemite National Park. I was pretty excited about this location because I had never been and always wanted to go. We got the bad news at the end of the night that our trip was cancelled due to dangerous conditions. Our tour company went to plan B and would take us to the 17 Mile Scenic Drive in Monterey, CA. It was off to bed as we had to be packed and ready to leave the next morning at 6:30 am.

Year End Solocation - Day 2 (Part 1)

 Wake up call at 6:20 am and on the road by 7:00 am. The Courtyard Marriott in Newark, CA is about 40 minutes outside of San Francisco ("SF"). I took a nap on the bus and we arrived at our first location...

DAY 2: First Stop: Chinatown, San Francisco
This particular Chinatown is one of the largest in the United States. Because I have been to SF many times before, I remembered that there was one main street with all the shops, hanging lanterns, and dragon entrances. However, we did not get to see that part of Chinatown. Rather, the tour bus stopped only for breakfast. I had a craving for an American breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, etc.) rather than the dim sum style Chinese breakfast that the tour group was going to have. I ventured off from the group and found a small Chinese restaurant that served American breakfast for under $5! What a steal! We only had an hour to eat and take a look around Chinatown, which was hardly enough time to truly explore. So I ate my breakfast, took a few photos, and went on my way with the group...

DAY 2: Second Stop: The Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco

In all the times I have visited SF, I have never visited The Palace of Fine Arts. I don't really know the story or history behind it, but you can find more info at http://www.palaceoffinearts.org/. The bus only stopped here for about 10 minutes so that we could take a few pictures outside, and then we were on our way.

DAY 2: Third Stop: Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco
Probably the most famous landmark in SF, our next stop was at the Golden Gate Bridge. We got off the bus at the viewpoint at the start of the bridge. The piece of trivia that I learned from our tour guide is that the color of the bridge is actually "international orange" and it was painted this bright so that it could be seen even in the very foggy days in the bay area. The bus gave us an hour and I made it under the first column before I had to walk back to make it to the bus on time.

DAY 2: Fourth Stop: Lombard Street, San Francisco
This is the curviest street in the world. The story is that the hill was so steep that there were numerous car accidents every day. The government wanted to shut down the street itself in order to eliminate the problem. The citizens of SF did not want to close the street, so the government came up with the idea to incorporate curves in the road in order to slow down the drivers. This street is lined with houses and a walkway for tourists to walk along. A great test for anyone's driving skills.

Another thing unique to SF is their moving landmark...cable cars. Although our tour bus did not have time for us to actually ride one, we saw one passing by...

DAY 2: Fifth Stop: Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39, San Francisco
The tour bus gave us a few hours to roam around Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. Home of the famous clam chowder bowl. We were also given the option of the bay tour by boat. I opted for the boat tour and did not have much time to roam around and explore. We only had about 45 minutes to eat lunch and get in line for the boat. I stopped to have only a corn dog so I would have time to take some pictures before the boat ride.

The boat tour was about an hour long. The lines to get on the boat wrapped around the pier, but luckily as part of the tour, we got in a much shorter line which guaranteed that we would be on the boat. We passed underneath the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island.

Once we were done with the bay area boat tour, our tour bus gave us the option to be dropped off in Chinatown to do some solo exploration or to go on the extended city tour. I opted for the extended city tour to see some things that I haven't yet experienced in all my previous visits to SF.

Year End Solocation - Day 1

For the longest time, I've toyed with the idea of traveling solo. And for the longest time, I've come up with excuses why I should not or cannot do it. To name a few: self consciousness, fear of getting lost, my relationship, and the idea that traveling alone would be boring. This past year, I've been doing tons of soul searching and self discovery. I decided that the best way to reflect on 2010 would be to do a solocation. It was a last minute decision so I booked a tour (http://www.gotobus.com/) rather than doing a 100% solo trip.

The tour I chose was from Los Angeles, to Solvang, to Hearst Castle, to San Francisco, and Yosemite National Park. We departed from Chinatown at 6:45 am on December 29, 2010. We did  bus transfer in Monterey Park and were on our way.

On a side note, let me do a little review on the bus company. They are on time and the staff is friendly. The tour buses themselves are clean, have a bathroom, TV monitors, and overhead storage. It's sort of like the inside of an airplane. What I didn't realize was that most of the tour patrons were Chinese. It was cute (for a lack of better words), the tour guide would say the tour details in English first, then translate everything into Chinese. The people on the bus were very friendly and opted to help take photos of me cause all my self-portraits didn't look too great. Now on to day 1.

DAY 1: First Stop: SOLVANG, CA
Solvang is a small town located close to Santa Barbara, CA. What makes this a unique stop on the tour is that the architecture is Dutch. Windmills and all. The story is that many, many years ago, Dutch settlers had a dream to make this untouched land in California like their home. They wanted to incorporate the styles of architecture, language, food, and culture into the land. Today, it's a tourist spot worth a few hours of roaming the streets, having lunch, and checking out the shops. The bus dropped us off and gave us about 2 hours to tour.

This is where I also had my first solo meal. I stopped for breakfast at The Belgian Cafe. I felt a little awkward as a said to the hostess, "table for one please." I ordered a Belgian waffle and thoroughly savored my meal.

DAY 1: Second Stop: Hearst Castle, CA
Hearst Castle sits high atop a mountain. It was owned and built by newspaper tycoon Randolph Hearst. After Mr. Hearst passed away, the Hearst estate donated the castle to the government and it is now a State park. (Find More info at http://www.hearstcastle.org/). I opted to do the tour offered by the bus company. My personal feelings are that it is not actually what I had imagined a castle to be. It is more of an extravagant mansion filled with marble sculptures and ornate decorations and pieces of art. Hearst Castle was about 2 hours away from Solvang.

After Hearst Castle, the tour bus headed off for their dinner location. Dinner was also about 2 hours away. They stopped off at a Chinese Buffet located in a plaza like structure. The plaza also had a deli and Pho/Noodle restaurant. I went for the hot and warm Pho on a such a cold night. Again, I asked the host, still a bit self-conscious - "table for one."

After dinner, we headed off to the hotel. The hotel we stayed at was the Courtyard Marriott in Newark, CA. It was a nice and clean hotel located amongst several shops and plazas. Once alone in the privacy of my very own room, I jumped up and down on the beds like a 5 year old. I checked out all the amenities and then just sat in silence, amazed the I was doing this trip solo! I was simply ecstatic in my heart and mind. I felt amazingly liberated and free from everything.

We started off our next morning into San Francisco at 7:00 am. Another adventure awaited...