Ending on a good note

Despite dedicating last Wednesday's entire post to rantings about the pitfalls of moral decency and basic human goodness, it didn't turn out to be such a bad week!

On Thursday five of MCF's outpatient buildings experienced a rolling black-out, plunging hundreds of us into a dim, computer-less void with nothing more to do than sit dumbly in our chairs whilst straining our ears in silent prayer for the ongoing hum of air-conditioning. The black-out was not necessarily a good thing, but it was an interesting three hour exercise in adaptability and creativity. Those old reports stacked under my desk awaiting dismantling? Gone! That outdated list of "to-do's" on my white board? Call them current! The mailings being neglected all week? Signed, sealed, delivered! The filing that's been piling up forever? Completed! (by our marvelous secretaries, who worked by FLASHLIGHT). It's truly amazing what you can accomplish without electricity...

Arriving home on Thursday evening brought another noteworthy occasion... the return of my plant! I'm still pondering what on God's green earth motivated my neighbor to swipe the thing for one day, but I'll probably never know. What I DO know is that this leafy number's permanent new home is MY deck -- an enclosed, secure second story area.
So what do you do to celebrate when good wins over evil? You go to a fashion show! And when you realize upon arriving that the size 0 models will be a bit delayed in hitting the runway in their fabulous, barely-there frocks, you head to the bistro next door to slurp up wine and decadent appetizers. ;-)

Friday, as it turned out, marked my one year anniversary of beginning work in Jax. I was so excited I stayed up late baking muffins for the crew. Here's a recipe that seemed to win a few fans (especially Mr. Befort, who walked into my office to hoist his third serving in the air and proclaim, "Well done... well done!").

BANANA NUT MUFFINS
1/2 cup(s) sugar
5 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg(s)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger
1/4 cup(s) fat-free skim milk
4 large banana(s), ripe, mashed
¼ c. small walnut pieces

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line 18 muffin holes with paper liners.

Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; cream with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until thoroughly mixed.

In another large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Add half of flour mixture to butter mixture; beat well with mixer. Add milk and remaining flour mixture; beat until batter is combined and then fold in mashed bananas.

Spoon batter into muffin liners about 3/4 full. Top with walnuts pieces. Bake until muffins start to brown and a tester inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes.