Goudy Straight Trippin'

Author: deandragoudy

  • Banana Nut Bread

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 4 overripe bananas
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
    • 2 large eggs
    • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
    • Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

    Directions

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.

    In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

    Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together for a good 3 minutes; you want a light and fluffy banana cream. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla; beat well and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated; no need to overly blend. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Give the pan a good rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.

    Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Don’t get nervous if the banana bread develops a crack down the center of the loaf; that’s no mistake, it’s typical. Rotate the pan periodically to ensure even browning.

    Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes or so, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. Toast the slices of banana bread, dust with confectioners’ sugar, and serve.

  • Chocolate Velvet Cupcakes

    INGREDIENTS

    • 1 1/2 cups of sugar
    • 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter, room temperature
    • 2 eggs, room temperature
    • 2 1/3 cups of cake flour
    • 3 tablespoons of Dutch-processed cocoa powder
    • 1 teaspoon of baking soda
    • 1 teaspoon of baking powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
    • 1 cup of buttermilk*
    • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
    • 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar

    Frosting ingredients

    • 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature
    • 8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
    • 2 – 3 cups of powdered sugar
    • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

    *You can make your own buttermilk by adding a tablespoon of distilled white vinegar to milk and letting it stand for about 10 minutes.

    METHOD

    The cupcakes

    1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer for 3 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy.

    2 Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is fully incorporated. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing.

    3 In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl whisk together the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla extract, and red food coloring.

    4 Add a fourth of the dry ingredients and mix, then add a third of the wet. Continue adding in a dry, wet, dry pattern, ending with the dry ingredients.

    5 Scoop into cupcake papers, about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Rotate the pan after the first 15 minutes of baking to ensure even baking.

    6 Allow to cool for one minute in the pan then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

    The Frosting

    1 Cream the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.

    2 Add the vanilla extract and mix.

    3 Add the powdered sugar, continually taste to get to desired sweetness. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

    Yield: Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cupcakes.

    You can make them with a 1 1/2 tablespoons of red food coloring for red velvet cupcakes.

  • Creamy pesto chicken

    Marinate the chicken for 30 minutes:

    3 pieces of chicken

    2 tbl lemon juice

    special spices (use any you would like for you chicken)

    olive oil

    Pesto sauce:

    Pesto (McCormick bag – add water and oil)

    Cream Sauce:

    2 cloves of garlic

    2 tbl butter

    1 cup heavy cream or half and half

    1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese

    2 tsp lemon juice

    Pasta of choice

    While the chicken is grilling, cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Set pasta aside and keep warm. (You can either grill your chicken or cook it on the stove. I cook mine on the stove in butter and olive oil and then set aside)

    Meanwhile, prepare the pesto sauce, follow directions on the package or make your own. Next prepare the cream sauce. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Whisk in milk and lemon juice. Continue to whisk mixture and cook until slightly thickened, add pesto and cook about 3-5 minutes making sure not to burn the milk.

    Toss cooked pasta in the pesto, top with chicken and garnish with tomatoes.

  • Let’s get physical

    Do you have that song stuck in your head now? Haha, my day is complete! Stephen went this past Sunday to get his physical, which is required to complete the LMRA/visa process. I feel as though we have stepped back in time to when Internet was a rare privilege rather than a foregone conclusion of how you live. My postings have been silent due to not having Internet at the new place as we are still waiting on his visa and CPR card to be completed. Only with a CPR card can you actually go into a binding contract with a company, except when renting a villa or flat – for that just your word and signature and oh yes of course do not forget the monies. Therefore, to solve this dilemma we go to base, hang out, and use their free WiFi. We usually partake in Starbucks (which is half the cost as it is back home, although not always guaranteed to get it right, but cheaper nonetheless) or lunch while we ‘hang out’.

    Micah has made some friends. He spends his mornings with me watching Gilmore Girls and then is off to base to use the computer, gym, play basketball or go rock climbing. He spends his evenings with friends yet again and typically, they can be found in the pool. I do believe he has spent more time with friends here than back in the states. The gym, rock climbing and the theater on base are free. I am very glad that we decided to move to the new villa, even if it was the more expensive choice as I do not worry about him walking to base or hanging out with his friends.

    I spend my days doing laundry, only twice a week (a lot less when you only have three people at home) and catching up on movies, reading or watching shows that we have. We have watched all of our seasons of NCIS (need to buy more now lol), and the first season of Gilmore Girls and have sweet friends that let us borrow the 2nd season. I have tried Alias, but it has not really caught my attention enough to finish it. We do have better cable here – yay for Food Network, and a plethora of Olympic watching choices.

    We have met a wonderful family, the Hughes. They have three children and we get along with them great. We have been invited over for barbecues and games – though Stephen was uninvited for our next game of ‘Scene It’ as he took all the awards this past Friday. I promised to leave him home the next time haha. It has been nice to meet some people that we enjoy hanging out with and get along so well. They are a veteran of the island and have a lot of knowledge for us – the do’s and don’ts and they also have a car and have graciously taken us along for shopping and a couple of outings. Not sure if we will buy a car, but renting one might be on the agenda soon – we shall see.  

    Speaking of let’s get physical, I started a workout this week. Thanks to Celeste who invited me to go with her. We work out for an hour (me for 45 minutes since I am working up to it), head back for a shower and then get dinner started so it will be ready when Stephen gets home.  I have slept very well these past few nights and I look forward to the results in the future as well. Are you singing the song in your head still? I hope so that way I will not be alone (Stephen is humming it now so I at least I am in good company). Happy Saturday!

  • Weekend at Bernies…. I mean Bahrain

    On my last post, I spoke of a BBQ that we were going to attend on Friday, well Stephen got another offer to a different co-workers house and we decided to go there instead. This was a small dinner party, our family, theirs and Stephen’s boss. The Hughes family have three children, two girls and one boy, ages ranging from 18-12. Their son is around the same age as Micah and they have many of the same interests. The kids had a great time, laughing the whole night. It was a delightful evening.

    While we were there, we found out to my delight and Stephen’s chagrin that the villa next door is available.  It is right outside the base and in a family environment. It is a little more expensive than our flat currently; however, it has many pros as well. More room, in house washer and dryer, full size refrigerator, families all around and the architecture of the place is beautiful. We will find out tomorrow if they accept our offer (everything here is negotiable). I will post up pictures when they are available.

    Saturday slept in and then ventured out to City Center Mall. Micah chose not to go and stayed at the flat. Stephen and I were able to purchase a few things that we needed at the flat – one of those being measuring cups. I have been searching for these all week. All I wanted was measuring cups, surely it wasn’t too much to ask, or so I thought, boy was I wrong, even the base did not have any. This whole past week I have been searching for measuring cups. Yay for the Home Center at the mall!! I love that store and so many others there. We then went and saw Snow White and the Huntsman. I had seen it but Stephen had not. Afterwards we went to Wafi Gourmet, authentic Lebanese food, where I branched out and ordered food I typically would not. We ordered fried zucchini with yogurt and garlic, thinking you dipped the fried zucchini in the yogurt dip, however, the fried zucchini was the dip and they gave you this soft and delectable bread that you dipped in the sauce. Our main course was chicken shawarma, which was scrumptious!

    Tonight we went to Pizza Inn for dinner – love their pizza! Then the boys went to get a haircut in town while I came back to watch The Whole Ten Yards and have a glass (or two of wine) and relax. I will write later and let you know how the villa negotiations go.

    PS – pictures at the moment will have to wait until we get our internet =[

  • Our adventure begins

    Good morning or should I say good evening since it is technically your Monday evening and my Tuesday morning. Micah and I left the good ole USA Friday afternoon and arrived in London bright and early with virtually no hiccups. Somehow our seats were changed and we were not sitting together, however, they were able to get us relatively close to each other although not side by side. Our experience at the Heathrow Airport was painless. We did however have to go through security check in again which I found odd, but it was quick and although we arrived 45 minutes early to our gate for our Bahrain flight they were already BOARDING! We were hoping to get our seats together since we were several rows apart but that wasn’t going to happen, so on the plane we went. Before we lifted off, I was able to move up a few rows and sit by myself. I had room for Micah but unfortunately he did not understand that and sat back where he was, though he did just fine. We arrived in to Bahrain early and luckily got through customs with no problems. Apparently others have had a bad experience but the gentleman who took care of us was rather nice! Stephen was there to pick us up and we took a taxi back to the flat (aka our apartment), freshened up a bit and were off walking to Ric’s Bar and Grill. We do a lot of walking since we do not have a car here which will be good for us. Dinner was interesting. Ric’s is owned by a sweet old Italian man and dinner that night was a Tex-Mex Buffet – HAHA! It was pretty good, though some one needs to tell them that refried beans aren’t that runny (still good though). We were joined by two of Stephens colleagues and had a nice time for our first night in Bahrain.

    Sunday is the beginning of the work week here and Stephen was off to work with Micah and myself fending for ourselves. We slept in and spent the remainder of the day watching movies and playing Starcraft. We went to the MegaMart (so not like Wal-Mart but bigger than the regular grocery store here) to get some much needed groceries and necessities. It was interesting to say the least as you have to get past labels and be adventurous in your choices. Buying American will cost you almost three times the price and surprisingly their products taste almost the same (I know, I know)! When you buy pastries or bread, it is all fresh and you better know that you are going to eat it soon or risk throwing it out and wasting it, and relatively cheap. We had Shawarma for dinner – absolutely wonderful and then had Marble Slab for dessert! I love American Alley lol

    Monday I slept way too late, having had troubles falling asleep. Laundry and movies were on the agenda for today. We cooked in tonight and then Micah and I made a trip to the MegaMart on our own and did relatively well. Stephen had a long and exhausting day and we made it better by going to the pool. Did you know they chill the pool because it is soo hot here? OMG it was soo cold, but you got used to it after awhile. I decided to take an Excedrin PM to help me sleep and it did the trick!! I went right to sleep and slept all night. This morning I tried my new blow dryer as mine do not fit in the converters UGH! And now I have to find a curling iron…..pray for me LOL I will manage. It is just a bump in the road but really would like to find a happy medium in that department.

    Well, it is time to go check the laundry and get this posted up. We have a barbecue dinner this Friday at one of Stephens colleagues place so I will write back then and let you know how it went! Have a great week

    ~deandra

    PS – pictures to come when I have more patience for them to upload

  • Ooh-rah!

    What a ride these last past few days have been. Wednesday, Micah, Buddy, Lauren, Reagan, her mother, and myself left bright and early for San Diego. You see our middle son, Taylor has been in boot camp for the Marines since March 19th. It has been a long three months, longer for him though I am sure. We left DFW airport and arrived in San Diego around 9 a.m., rented a car and went to Coronado Island to kill time before our hotel room was ready. We left Dallas with temperatures in the 80’s-90’s only to never get above high 60’s in San Diego, needless to say some were a little cold lol.

    We picked up Stephen and headed to the Meet and Greet for India Company Platoon at Coyote Cafe in Old Town San Diego. It was great getting to meet the other parents and families of the platoon members.

    Thursday morning we arrived early to see Taylor in the Moto Run and to our surprise they were practicing for graduation and we got to see him up close and personal, though you still could not get close enough to touch him – we at least could see him and he knew we were there! Taylor made Guide of his Platoon – what an honor! His dad and I are so very proud of him. (that is Taylor holding the flag with the white gloves on)

    After watching a video and listening to the Do’s and Don’ts we were finally able to spend the afternoon with our Marine! I don’t think any of us every stopped smiling just from the sheer joy of being in his presence that afternoon. It was so good seeing him after all this time and what a transformation! He left a 19 year old boy and returned to us a Marine. We left him after feeding him at least three times that afternoon. It was amazing to see him eat – the amount he could fit in his mouth and the time it took him to eat it.

    Friday was the big day! We left early to see the Color Ceremony, have breakfast and get our seats for graduation. It was a beautiful ceremony which started out with the San Diego Marine Corps Band and ended with the Guides handing off the platoon flags to the DIs. One of the most amazing moments is when Taylor and the other guides were called up front and honored for being Platoon Honor Guides, though a funny moment is when they tried to pronounce our city, Watauga Texas which came out as Wattatooga – I laughed through my tears!

    After sitting Taylor down and talking to him about our new job and upcoming adventure, which he took very well considering, we spent the afternoon with our new Marine at the San Diego Zoo. Saturday, we took Stephen back to the airport and then went shopping for some new “civy” clothes and took him to his first movie in three months – The Avengers!

    We left for DFW later that evening and finally arrived back home. Proud is an understatement. I leave with a mothers poem

    I Give To You, My Son-

    I held him as an infant; I hugged him as a boy

    and through the years he has become my greatest pride and joy.

    I love him more than I can say, 

    his life more precious than my own,

    but gone are the whims and notions of the little boy that I had known.

    For the years have passed so quickly since the time it all began

    and now he stands before me with the conviction of a man.

    He wants to serve his country, he states aloud with pride

    as I try to sort out the emotions that I’m feeling deep inside…

    a union of the uncertain fear, which I cannot control

    and the allegiance which lies deep within my patriotic soul.

    I trust that my years of guidance will serve as a strong foundation

    as he performs the duties requested from his beloved nation.

    God please guide him as he travels to the places our soldiers have bled

    and walk with him through pathways where those heroes’ feet have tread.

    Oh Sweet Land of Liberty, humbly I give to you, my son

    praying you’ll return him safely home when his work for you is done.

    —Author unknown—

  • Rockin’ Kingdom of Bahrain

    Today (Sunday, a.k.a. Mother’s Day) represents the first official day of ‘work’ in the island kingdom of Bahrain…

    I was introduced to the official management structure persons of interest today with a lot of “this is the guy we have been waiting for” and “Pam (Drake) did a happy dance when we told her he was coming aboard” as well as “This is the VMware guru, Commvault guru, Microsoft Guru” and other such claims that I will be struggling to fulfill in the future…

    Don’t get me wrong… I love the praise but I have a much more practical (read extremely reserved) view of my skills than many of the people with whom I now work…

    I am excited about working here and I have already seen things that need to change from a systems standpoint, but change comes slow in this type of environment and I am not going to rock the boat on day 1 or even day 100 without careful and reserved forewarning of potential risks.

    I am very optimistic about the residence situation, however. I went with another new co-worker to review some available flats. I don’t mind saying they look to be pretty comfortable and convenient to local facilities and easy walking distance to the base. The building is really nice, really new (We will be the first people to live in the unit we are getting), and super clean. We will have 24×7 access to a swimming pool (on the roof of the building) and fitness center on the floor below the pool.

    I will be looking into a bicycle tomorrow to see if I can get a relatively inexpensive transportation option to minimize the time spent in the heat. We are not looking to buy a car here, even though gas is only $.78/gallon… YES…. that is less than 1 dollar… 🙂

    The visa process began officially today… hopefully it will not take as long as some here are predicting… and that is just for MY visa… then the process begins to get Deandra and Micah family visas so they can legally be here as well…

    I have not been able to see much of the city as of yet, considering the heat and my unwillingness to fork out the taxi fare to go exploring… I am thinking I will be more adventurous when I have a bicycle… and a compass… and a city map… and someone to help me find my way back when I get lost…

    I have already been given shopping orders from my baby-girl… “Daddy… buy me some shoes…” lol… I love you Lauren!!! I will see what I can do!

    I have also been told I can get really nice shirts made for about $15 each… I am going to explore this very soon and maybe even get my own Thawb and Keffiyeh (Traditional Arab men’s clothing and head cover).

    Mainly I will be looking for light-weight clothing that is conducive to the pervasive heat that is cooking up and will only get worse since “summer” is just getting started here

    Happy Mother’s Day!!!

  • And he’s off!

    Stephen left today for Bahrain. We had a little hiccup at the airport because his ticket is one-way and he doesn’t have his work visa yet so they said he might be refused entry DOH! Hopefully, he will bypass any unwanted issues and get in the country without any problems.

    At the time of this posting, he has landed in Kuwait and will be awaiting his connecting flight to Bahrain. Hopefully, I will receive pictures of Juffair from him this weekend and I will post those as soon as I am able.

    I am off to our niece’s wedding in South Carolina! Congratulations to Nichole and Michael – can’t wait to see you guys and witness your wedding! Love you!