Single in September

It's September...Labor Day Weekend...and I'm single in September...my hubby is still in the hospital.(My Soulmate - June 17)...my daughter is back to college...my son is off at the shore...and I'm in single-dom...Ms. Independent...haven't been this way in a long...long...long time...not sure I ever really was Ms. Independent...I've always had my parents...roommates...a husband...or kids around me...all my life.

"Sooooo....sooooo...what should I do now," I said to myself this afternoon. "Should I go shopping?"...I don't really feel like buying fall clothes yet..."Should I go to the gym?"...yep, yep, yep...better get back to building those muscles..."Should I go grocery shopping?"....yep, yep, yep...I went grocery shopping and filled up my shopping cart with so much food...why I don't know...especially since I am in single-dom for the next few days...but I'm not used to living in single-dom...how do singles live...I don't know.

It's lonely in single-dom...and quiet...I didn't like the quiet...so I turned on Vivaldi's The Four Seasons...and since it is September...I played the end of the Summer Concerto and the Autumn Concerto too (it is my favorite but when I am in family-dom no one wants to listen to classical music...so I don't get a chance to play it...I used to listen to Vivaldi all the time in my pre-family-dom days...it started to bring back memories.)

Then I cooked...I actually followed a recipe, which I haven't done in months...maybe even years...I wrote down all the ingredients and I remembered to buy the ingredients at the store too...this was a big...big...big deal...only problem was I cooked for my family...but they weren't there...and I could not eat all four servings of my Dijon Chicken Mushroom Stroganoff...even though it was an old Weight Watchers recipe...and it was calibrated for a lower calorie and lower fat meal...I don't think it was meant for one person to eat all four chicken cutlets and four cups of yolk-free noodles and a half-pound of mushrooms...so I ate two portions (I could not just eat one...I pretended that I was eating for two...so I ate both portions to ensure that I would not go hungry)...and I packed the extra two servings away for another day.

Then I baked...I followed another recipe...this one was easy...it was one of my favorite cakes from The Cake Mix Doctor...I love the Cake Mix Doctor...her cakes are made from a cake mix...but you add so many things to the cake mix that the cake mix cake doesn't taste like a cake made from a cake mix...and the recipes are easy.

I baked a large Banana cake with some of the three pounds of bananas I bought at the discount produce store...not sure what I'm going to do with the rest of the bananas...this cake will last me a long time in single-dom...even in double-dom when my son returns this week...I only ate one slice...was just too full from my double portion of Chicken Mushroom Stroganoff...so I put the rest of the cake away...the whole cake...minus one corner piece...some pieces went in the freezer...and I packed up a basket of pieces for the nurses that are helping my hubby to get better...to get better so I won't be in single-dom come next September.

I ended the day with a glass of wine...my favorite Yellow Tail Pino Grigio...the fruity white wine I like...and I drank two glasses...and I raised a toast to myself...I survived my 49th summer...it was over...never to re-live again...onward and upward...I raised a glass...four months and counting...and I'll be the big 5-0.

Judi

P.S. - If you are ever single in September and have the urge to bake...this banana cake is really good...good for family-dom...or Ms. Independents who like to have a lot of cake around. Thought I would share the recipe adapted from "The Cake Mix Doctor" by Anne Byrn (Workman, 1999). It takes about 1 hour total to prep and bake:

Banana Cake

Solid vegetable shortening
Flour
1 package (18 1/4 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons creme de banane liqueur (I never use this ingredient and it still tastes great)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13x9 inch baking pan with shortening, and dust with flour. Shake out excess flour.
2. Place cake mix, brown sugar and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Add mashed bananas, 1 cup water, oil, eggs and, if desired liqueur. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed 1 minute. Stop mixer and scrape down side of bowl with rubber spatula. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed until well blended, scraping side again, if needed. Pour into prepared pan, and place on center rack of oven.
3. Bake until top is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 16 servings

Banana Cream Cheese Frosting (I don't always make this frosting...but it is very, very good with the cake...I didn't write down the ingredients on my shopping list today...so my 49 year old brain forgot to get the ingredients for the frosting!)

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups confectioners sugar
3 to 4 drops LorAnn banana creme flavor or 1/2 teaspoon imitation banana

1. Place cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Add confectioners sugar a bit at a time, and blend on low speed until well incorporated, 1 minute. Add flavoring, and blend at medium speed until fluffy, 1 minute more.

2. Use at once to frost top of cake.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups