John Milton: On the Morning of Christ's Nativity

Photo by Magic Marie

Possibly the best course I took in college was a seminar on John Milton taught by the late poet/novelist Reynolds Price. One of the first things we read was Milton's Christmas poem, "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity." It was written in 1629 when Milton was 21.

My favorite verse of the poem (love the rhyme of "whist" and "kissed")  is below.You can read it in its entirety here on Bartleby.

But peaceful was the night
Wherein the Prince of Light
His reign of peace upon the earth began.
The winds, with wonder whist,
Smoothly the waters kissed,	65
Whispering new joys to the mild Ocean,
Who now hath quite forgot to rave,
While birds of calm sit brooding on the charmed wave.

Craig's List--Setting the bar high (not)

My recent experience with a celebrity chef who hasn't paid me notwithstanding, I remain in love with Craig's List as a source of gigs. I was, however, bemused by a listing today that included these requirements:  Must be able to read/write in English, have a keyboard and an internet connection.  Good thing I have a keyboard and I know how to use it.

It's the little things that mean a lot!

Imagine how excited I was to get a royalty statement for my contribution to an anthology published last year. I'm accustomed to looking up my own stats but this book was published through a "legacy" publisher and the statement was sent in the mail with the postage franked on the envelope. I use Forever stamps so I had to look up the current postage rate for first class mail. (It's 45 cents, in case you didn't know.) My share of royalties?  A whopping 66 cents!  Woo hoo!  I am booking that Caribbean cruise now.

Christmas in Paris

If you can't be in the City of Lights for the holidays, you can always log on to Christmas in Paris and look at the pretty pictures of the places where you could be staying.

Paris is calling!

Banana Bread Recipe

Photo by Romek Kowalski

It's been a busy week here at Kattomic Energy and I haven't done much baking for the holidays. (My mother used to whip herself into a cookie-making frenzy but I take a more conservative approach to prepping for Christmas, which is a lot less stressful.)  Last night, though, I whipped up a batch of banana bread and this morning, I notice, it's mostly gone.  The elves must have gotten into the fridge.

My loaf pans are on loan to a friend who's got a big catering gig so I made this in a square pan. It came out delicious.

EASY AND LUSCIOUS BANANA BREAD

1 1/2 cups of flour (sometimes I make the 1/2 cup flour whole wheat flour)

1 cup granulated sugar (if bananas are very ripe, I usually use just 3/4 cup)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup mashed bananas (about two medium bananas)

1 stick butter (unsalted)

1 tsp. baking soda

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs and vanilla.

Combine flour and baking soda.

Add to wet ingredients.

Add mashed bananas and sour cream.

OPTIONAL:   1/2 cup chopped walnuts--add with bananas and sour cream

Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes. (Because I used a square baking pan this took less time than usual.)

Also optional--you can make a glaze of confectioner's sugar and milk to drizzle over the bread if you want.

This bread is yummy right out of the oven and is also lovely cold for breakfast. (And apparently also for midnight snacks.)

 

My sentiments exactly

Of all the things I've seen posted in the wake of the shooting in Newton, CT, this pithy comment made the most sense to me.