Dave served a salad last night for dinner, and I was going to be adventurous and incorporate some sow thistle leaves into it. (Only into mine -- Dave wants no part of eating sow thistle.) Instead I decided to start small, so I pulled one leaf off the plant that volunteered on our patio, washed it and ate it as a prelude to our actual salad. It was "palatable," as Wikipedia said, but not exactly delicious. Sort of generically green-tasting. Still, I'd eat it again, now that it hasn't killed me or induced anaphylactic shock.
I also made banana pudding, or a reasonable facsimile thereof. Dave ordered a box of Nilla wafers ages ago with this in mind, and I got a box of instant vanilla pudding, and they've been sitting in our kitchen taunting me ever since. So on Monday I made the pudding and layered it with the wafers and some bananas and voila. Granted, it's the least laborious version of banana pudding possible, given that some recipes call for making custard and meringue and baking it all in the oven. But hey, it worked!
As I sat in the garden yesterday afternoon reading "Sounder," which is perhaps the most depressing Newbery-winning book I have tackled yet, I heard the crack of a baseball bat from a garden nearby. Another American family lives a few doors down from us, and I figured their boys must be playing baseball in the back garden -- and sure enough, within minutes a ball came sailing over the fence into our garden. I'd found a baseball several weeks ago and figured it was theirs, but this is the first time I actually saw it come flying. I picked it up and took it over to their house, which is what I did the last time too.
I don't mind an occasional stray ball as long as it doesn't hit anything breakable. (Or me!) But God forbid if it lands in Mrs. Kravitz's exceptionally manicured garden -- those boys will never see it again, and there may be a lawsuit.
(Photo: Variations on a theme -- street art found on Finchley Road on our walk to work.)
Banana Dessert? Look no further than the Banana Split. What the Knickerbocker Glory was to England was the Banana Split in the States. Both of them frightening. Mainly because of their size. But then size is everything (in the States). I know this because when I first visited your neck of the woods (Florida), some time in the Eighties, I was in awe of your portion "control". If I had eaten all that was served at breakfast, piled on, I wouldn't have been able to eat again till the next breakfast. It was MEGA. Nay, biggly - in Trump speak (remember him?). Mind you, your buttermilk pancakes generously laced with Maple Syrup were to die for.
ReplyDeleteSunny side up,
U
I haven't had a banana split in ages. I am familiar with the Knickerbocker Hotel, as I used to work around the corner! And yes, diner breakfasts can be big and usually eliminate the need for lunch.
DeleteSo you had a good chat with the lads, your countrymen, about baseball when you returned the ball. I remember from school the ball being very hard, like a large cricket ball. Not that one ever hit me. I was skilled at never being near a sports ball.
ReplyDeleteOf course I had to Google Knickerbocker Glory. It's a sundae, named after a NYC hotel.
Yes, Andrew, I know. But it did become a dessert peculiarly believed British because so popular here. It was the very first dessert I was offered on setting foot onto these isles. Which is, probably, why it made such an impression on me. The sculpted glasses they serve them in are a work of (dim) wit. I bought a set of six of them - just for the laugh. Mainly used them for Eton Mess (google if you must!). Eton Mess is the easiest summer dessert ever. Ask Boris Johnson.
DeleteU
I also avoided any ball-related sport. As a friend of mine in the Peace Corps used to say, "I don't do spherical objects."
DeleteYes Ursula, I had to Google Eton Mess. Thanks for the info.
DeleteSteve, well some spherical objects can be ok.
Chapter Two
ReplyDeleteYou mention balls. When the Angel and his friends were little many a ball would be sent flying into neighbours' gardens both sides. Usually they just threw them back over the fence. However, the elderly couple on one side were rather crafty. At one point they decided that the Angel had to knock at their door to get the ball back. That way they got to know him better. It was sweet. Mrs Kravitz - had she had ever had the good fortune to set eyes on the Apple of my Eye - would have positively prayed for a ball coming her way. :)
U
I couldn't throw this one over the fence because it came from two houses away, and my arm may not be that good! Better to bring it to the door.
DeleteYou'll be okay if there are food shortages then, salad from the garden. lol
ReplyDeleteBriony
x
Hopefully it won't come to that! LOL
DeleteBloody Americans! They are always whacking their balls around. Apart from Trump of course - who doesn't have any.
ReplyDelete(I pray that this comment passes The Presbyterian morality test)
This Episcopalian approves this message.
DeleteThanks be to God!
DeleteAnother Episcopalian approves.
DeleteThis lapsed Episcopalian approves.
DeleteThis atheist approves. (Damned spell-check)
DeleteI think Trump's mother was a Presbyterian -- well, she was a Scot, at any rate -- but I still approve.
DeleteYou’re probably the only person in a 5 mile radius who would recognize that sound.
ReplyDeleteIt's unmistakeable! And a cricket bat doesn't sound the same -- not as sharp.
DeleteBanana pudding and baseball- so very American!
ReplyDeleteIt's like the Fourth of July, a month early!
DeleteGood for you for eating greenery from your yard! Now I'm feeling very nostalgic for my mom's banana pudding (the meringue kind). My aunt used to make a really good version with sour cream too. Ooo - we have a banana at home - maybe I'll make my own pudding!
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of it with sour cream! Interesting. My childhood babysitter used to make the meringue variety too. It was heavenly.
DeleteYour Banana Pudding is exactly how my mother made it, and it was delicious!!
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely the less laborious variety, but why not?
Deleteinstant pudding? that is the lazy person's way. it takes 5 minutes to cook a box of pudding and it tastes much better. so, no arm to just throw it back in their yard?
ReplyDeleteIf they were next door, I'd throw it, but they're two houses away and I can't see that far over the fences, trees, etc. I was afraid it would go into the wrong yard.
DeleteThat was nice of you to return the ball. I might the first time it came over the fence. Probably not the second time. Backyards aren't big enough for playing baseball. How smart of you to eat greenery from your yard. There are a lot of edibles back there. You have a super day, hugs, Edna B.
ReplyDeleteWell, I wouldn't keep it -- that would just be mean-spirited! But I agree that English gardens, in particular, are not ideally suited for a sport that requires so much space.
DeleteWhenever I read posts about baking stuff I always think I am such a lazy bum. I haven't baked anything in years. Maybe I'll be inspired... someday.
ReplyDeleteI had completely forgotten about kids playing baseball in their yards. Haven't heard a hit like that in a long time.
Well, if you haven't done it and you don't miss it, then there's no need! I'm just glad the kid is outside and not sitting in front of a videogame.
DeleteSo nice of you to return the ball. Hopefully they won't start batting balls into the windows.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was a little nervous sitting out there afterwards!
DeleteYou ate that plant! I wouldn't be tempted to do that especially if it was spiky.
ReplyDeleteYour banana pudding dish sounds yummy - reminds me of something from my childhood! (1950s!!)
It's a bit prickly but not hugely so.
DeleteBaseball and banana pud and a neighbor that threatens to shoot you if you get near her yard, sounds like Umerka. Glad you survived the thistle dinner- sounds like a snack for Morticia.
ReplyDeleteHa! It IS a very "Addams Family" kind of salad.
DeleteI had to laugh after I read your post and then went back and saw the title again!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad someone appreciated that! LOL
DeleteAfter my first ear surgery it hurt too much to chew, the motion of my jaw was really painful. Anyway, I started out with instant pudding until I read the ingredients list on the box. After that, I cooked the non-instant kind. Like Ellen said, it's five minutes and much better.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm...I guess I'm glad I didn't look at the ingredients! This has literally been sitting around our kitchen for a year, so it's not like we consume a lot of it. :)
DeleteMmm, banana pudding sounds good. Do you use a recipe or have your own? I have a baseball that Linda Sue sent me, and a cricket ball I don't know where from. THey live together in a fishing box. I think they may be confused as to their sport!
ReplyDeleteI've found cricket balls occasionally while walking Olga -- we live near a cricket club and sometimes they're on the street outside the fence. I always shudder to think that it might have hit a parked car!
DeleteI'd be a bit worried about stray baseballs hit by a bat from two houses away. I've got a scar under my eye from a scary baseball and bat incident. Not a sport to be played in a city backyard. But pray they keep landing safely in your backyard as opposed to anywhere near Mrs. Kravitz. I'm with Dave on the sow thistle. I love all the Mickey Mice. And Mickey Mantle was my idol!
ReplyDeleteYou're such a jock! I WAS a bit nervous, to be honest, but I figured the chance that a ball from that far away would come down on me was pretty slim. I was playing the odds.
DeleteHah! No jock. I did collect baseball cards, but that was probably more because I could sort and ORGANIZE them. When I was 7, I was playing with my sister and a neighbor, Vinnie. My sister was pitching. Vinnie hit the ball and threw the bat before running the non-existent bases. The bat flew through the air and hit me in the face. In grade school, I DID hit a double once. I was as surprised as everyone else... and forgot to run.
DeleteTh sow thistle leaves are a bit bitter to my taste. I like the wine better than the salad.
ReplyDeleteThey are very green-tasting, but I kind of like that.
DeleteI love bananas but don't like the texture of pudding. Banana bread and hummingbird cake are two of my favorites though and I would eat half the box of vanilla wafers if given the chance!
ReplyDeleteI love banana bread, but I'll have to look up hummingbird cake. The texture of the pudding is improved by the presence of the wafers and sliced bananas.
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