Broom Sticks and Pancakes (and a Sweater, too!)

Friend M came over yesterday (Friday) afternoon, fully expecting to work in the garden, and found himself being turned into a security system installer, instead!  LOL!  Poor guy never knows what he is called upon to do when he comes over to my house to do the garden!  But, after I told him about the mysteriously opened window the other day, he willingly assisted me with securing the windows and doors.  He cut down broom sticks, an old PVC pipe I had leftover from a garden project, and even some branches from a tree in the garden, and we rigged up a way to prevent (or, at the very least, thwart) any accidental openings of the sliding glass windows in all the rooms, as well as the sliding glass door in the family room!  These broom sticks and other items have now been fitted into the windows in such a manner that the windows will not slide open, even if the latch is released!  I should have given him the handles from the old mops, instead of my brooms, to cut down, but I forgot them!  Now, I need to buy two new brooms (I keep one broom in the bathroom to sweep up the sand from Dancer's litter box; the other broom is for the kitchen and rest of the house).  Never mind; new brooms sweep better, they say!

Last night's dinner was a bowl of soup, followed by a part of the salmon steak and stir fried vegetables:

"Blackened" Salmon and Stir Fried Vegetables

It's not really blackened salmon with Cajun seasonings; I just pan seared it with onions and tomatoes until it formed a bit of a crust, because that's how I like it.  For dessert, I had some mixed berries - the last of the blackberries and blueberries.  For my midnight snack, I had the last slice of bread, toasted, with some cheese. 

I slept in, this morning.  I woke up when I felt a whiskery face brushing against my face and heard a rather purry, "Mreow?  Are you still sleeping?  What about my breakfast?  Mreow?"  I tried to ignore him, but his nose was cold and wet!  So, I got up, fed him and the garden cats, had a cup of tea, etc.

Later, in the early afternoon, I decided I wanted something that was more brunch-like than salad; after all, it was the weekend and pancakes sounded good:

"Pancake"

Pancakes?  On a low carb diet?  Well, not your typical pancakes.  My daughter had mentioned that she tried making something called banana pancakes when she was craving something sweet but still relatively healthy, and it was just mashed ripe bananas and eggs (she found a recipe online).  She said they were so-so, they weren't as sweet as she had thought they would be and she still needed to put some maple syrup on them.  It sounded more like am omelette, to me, but I decided to try them, myself: one ripe banana, two whole eggs, and a drop of vanilla.  Daughter said she mashed the banana with a fork and it was still a bit lumpy.  I decided to use the blender to mix it up.  The "batter" blended smoothly and was even a bit frothy. I cooked them as I would crepes - melted a little butter in the pan, added a small amount of the batter straight from the blender jug, let it cook until done on one side, flipped it over to cook on the other side.  They weren't fluffy like American pancakes, but they were a little thicker than what I grew up calling pancakes (which most people know as crepes). 

Banana Pancakes/Banana Omelettes

The verdict: not bad!  I tried them plain, as they were, and they were very slightly sweet, with just a hint of banana (which was good, because I don't like the taste or smell of ripe bananas!).  Then, I cut up an orange from the tree and squeezed some of the orange juice over the pancakes and ate them that way, and it was good.  The amount of batter I had was enough for five pancakes.  I ate four of them for brunch and felt very full!  Two eggs are a lot for me to eat at one sitting (I usually eat just one).  I had the one leftover pancake, with some of the apple/cranberry jam, for dessert, after dinner, tonight, and it was quite good! 

I have one more ripe banana, but I am not sure if I want to make more of these banana pancakes/omelettes or try making banana ice cream with it (apparently, all you have to do is freeze the ripe banana in chunks, and then, blend it while frozen until it becomes the consistency of soft serve ice cream; one can then eat it as it is or freeze it until firmer).  Or, I could use the frozen banana in a smoothie. 

Still later in the afternoon, I sewed up my grey sweater:

Grey Sweater

I knitted it with 100% wool, worsted weight yarn that I had bought on sale back in November 2017.

I had bought five skeins of this grey yarn and I used almost four of them to knit the sweater.  I cast on 70 stitches for the front (and 70 stitches for the back) and knitted the garment with U.S. size #7 needles, including the ribbing at the bottom; but the ribbing on the sleeves were done with U.K. size #10 needles as I wanted the cuffs to be knitted a little tighter.  The front and the back have an all-over pattern called "Little Birds" according to my knitting pattern book; the sleeves are stockinette stitch

Close up of the stitch pattern

Here's how it looks on me:

Grey "Little Birds" Sweater

I've been wearing this sweater all evening and it is nice and warm!  I've already cast on another set of stitches for another sweater with some black wool I had bought, earlier. 

I forgot to include a photo of the other sweater I knitted in last month's Photo Scavenger hunt!  I'm not sure if I am allowed to include that photo for this month.  If not, I will include the photo of the grey sweater for Alt. B "Show and Tell - something you made".

For tonight's dinner, I had the last of the tomato soup and pasta "stir-fry":

Pasta Stir Fry

I boiled a little spaghetti, added the rest of the salmon and the stir fried vegetables from last night and heated it through with a bit of soy sauce and sprinkled a handful of roasted peanuts on top.  Next time I go grocery shopping, I shall look for whole wheat pasta. 

Today, I am grateful for:
- Another sunny day
- A warm, new sweater
- Banana  "pancakes"
- Secured windows
- Flowers in the garden

Along the drive way

They are at their peak, right now!

Osteospermum/African Daisies

How was your day?  Have you tried banana pancakes/omelettes, before?  Do you think it might be something you might try?