Yep, that's right. Dad was in Brazil on business this past week and while he was there he had some informal cooking lessons at the home of one of the ladies on his team. If you don't know Brazilian food, let me tell you that it is good food... believe me. One of our favorite restaurants is a Brazilian steakhouse - these folks know how to make steak! Unfortunately it is also one of the most expensive restaurants we've ever been to... so it's reserved for birthdays only! Anyway, back to the cooking lessons. They instructed Dad on how to grill bananas for dessert. You grill them right in the peel until they are nice and brown and... well, kind of mushy.
Then you slit the peel and open it up, lift out the banana, put it in cinnamon and sprinkle more cinnamon on top - and enjoy!
My blog conscience wanted an update, and here she's getting 2 in one day! :-) That's only because I had 2 posts in my head and now I am actually sitting here doing it.
A month or two ago Tara and I decided we wanted to try to make some white dresses based on the movie "Wives & Daughters." Tara started on hers and did a lot of fancy embroidery, etc. She finished hers in good time and it turned out lovely. Hers is based on Molly's white ball gown (click here for a couple of pictures of the gown). Somewhere along the line our friend Emily decided to make a white dress too, and then we thought it would be fun to all wear them for our "end of the season" program at the retirement home we all visit every week. Well, I didn't have time to make mine till the week before and amazingly I finished it in record time of almost exactly one week! Mine is based off of Molly's white dinner gown. We changed the pattern to suit our tastes, so they don't look just like the movie dresses - but we like them! We also wore them to a tea for Emily's Bible study where we sang for the ladies in between courses.
After the tea we had a "white dress photo op."
After posing for "pretty pictures" we decided to get silly and jump on the trampoline - definitely not period correct but who cares.
This post is a bit belated, and I apologize for it (Hannah :-) but I have been very busy with other things besides blogging. This post should have been posted a couple of weeks ago, but oh well... better late than never.
Dad has sort of organized an ensemble with the string players at church. We've had two practices so far, and though I don't play a string instrument (except piano which doesn't count and which I have recently been informed is actually a percussion instrument) I enjoy looking on. The first practice was just playing around with some pieces for fun and dare I say, not for the listener's enjoyment. :-) The second practice was a decided improvement. For those of you who read this post before when I said I couldn't find video from the first practice, that is now changed and here are a couple. I've been told that by videoing I have broken the first rule of group practices, that being, leave no evidence, but I am afraid I don't feel even a twinge of guilt on the subject.
This is a minuet by Haydn (one of the better sounding ones :-)
And this was requested by Mrs. Erber because a certain person in the group was a little - ah - rusty.
While the musicians were making music at the second practice, some of us bystanders were amusing ourselves with trying to figure out the Landler, the dance that Maria & Captain Von Trapp do in The Sound of Music. Here's just a sampling of we had to decipher (please don't try to read it, it's worse than a knitting pattern - but we did figure it out eventually!):
Landler (Danced by Maria and Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music)
Start M l.f., W r.f.
Introductory mixing figure (as seen in ballroom behind the couple - 16 bars and hold for bow):
With 8 waltz steps M travels along l.o.d. around outside of circle while W travel alone against l.o.d. on inside circle, finishing taking skaters hold (l.hs over r.hs) with 8th new opposite / then with 4 waltz steps wheel as a couple 1 1/2 acw and travel together along l.o.d., M on inside, and with another 4 waltz steps M turns W acw over her l.sh. under raised hands, finishing opening out to face each other across the l.o.d., taking 2 hs in open hold and bow.
That's just the beginning - the rest is about 7 times that long!! And one thing within the instructions that greatly amused us is that "acw" stands for "anti clockwise"! Not counter clockwise - ANTI clockwise. :-) And here we are trying to figure out that fancy turn they do:
Our good friend Lauren celebrated her 18th birthday this past Saturday by hosting a barn dance at her grandparents' farm. A nice size group showed up and we enjoyed dancing, lawn games and food.
The Grand March
Lauren & Grant do the Virginia Reel
"Swing your partner..."
Pensive?
Spectators
Mrs. Erber having... um... shall we say difficulties learning the Postie's Jig (spelling?). Everyone offers their assistance... :-)
Clara
Maggie converses with Dad (notice that I did not say, Dad converses with Maggie) :-)
Ladder Ball
Lauren & Me
Tennessee Wagon Wheel
Lighting the Candles...
...and blowing them out!
Clara was being so cute - she climbed on the bean bag toss board and dropped the bean bags through the hole, and then took them out and did it again. :-) Simple pleasures.
