Special Moments . . .

Life is full of moments, both grand and small. Once in a while I like to just sit and close my eyes, and think about what might have been the most wonderful moment I have lived through . . .



The most wonderful moment in my life . . .



The most wonderful moment in the last year . . .



The most wonderful moment in the last month . . .



The most wonderful moment in the last week . . .



The most wonderful moment in the last day . . .



More often than not it is the little things that fill my heart most of all, simple things and moments. Small and cherished things that probably have no meaning to anyone else but me. It could be something as simple as chancing upon a lost feather caught up in the hedgerow that lines the lane way up to work, or the song of robins heralding me from the rustling branches of the trees that are hanging overhead. It is knowing that I am in the best place possible for me, at the best time possible and in the best way possible.

Dwelling on the most wonderful moments of my life is probably one of the greatest gifts I can give myself. It helps to lift my spirits and feed my soul. It helps me to realize that I am, indeed, very blessed. It helps me to appreciate the here and now and the what has been in a very special way.



Each day is filled with moments. Live each one to the fullest, for it may never come again. Store them in the windmills of your mind, and then . . . remember.

We are off to London to build some more wonderful moments today. We had thought about driving down to the coast and doing a seaside tour for a few days, but, after experiencing the traffic yesterday afternoon just trying to go into the nearest large town to buy a few things, we have changed our minds. Somehow the thought of spending hours in a traffic queue on a motorway has lost it's lustre, and so we are going to take the train into London today and spend the morning just taking in some of it's sights. We'll have a noon picnic in one of the parks, and then this afternoon we are going to go see Les Miserables! I have always wanted to see a West End musical and I am very excited about it! Afterwards we'll treat ourselves to some supper before we head back home. I can't think of a better way to spend my Saturday. Can you?

There were some bananas that needed using up yesterday. (Aren't there always?) I seem to always buy more than we can eat, but really, I don't mind. I am always up for a banana cake, muffins or loaf. Yesterday it was muffins, and I decided to glaze them with a coconut lime glaze. They were decidedly moorish . . .



*Coconut Lime Glazed Banana Muffins*
Makes 12
Printable Recipe

Moist and full of banana flavour these muffins on their own are pretty wonderful. When you add this delicious coconut lime glaze though, they go from being simply wonderful to full on moorish . . . they're almost too dangerous to have around!

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 large very ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon extract
GLAZE:
The juice of one lime
1/2 cup sifted icing sugar
2 TBS flaked unsweetened coconut

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/375*F. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan really well (or line with paper liners) and set aside.

Whisk the flour, soda, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk together the bananas, sugar, egg, butter, vanilla and lemon extract. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and fold them together, mixing them together only until the dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until they test done. A toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean. Remove the pan to a wire rack to cool for ten minutes before removing the muffins from the pan. Place them back on the wire rack and spoon the glaze over them while still warm.

To make the glaze, stir all the glaze ingredients together until smooth.

Enjoy!

I'm off now to make some sandwiches for our picnic today. Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you build some special moments too!

PS - I apologize if this posted prematurely and you have chanced upon it before I have had the chance to fix it. Blogger has done that to me a couple of times this week. Most annoying! Those flowers in my post yesterday were Lupins. I just love them and we have quite a few growing in our garden. Also Great-Granny Grandma to answer your question, it is quite possible to have more than one browser on your computer. We have Firefox and Internet Explorer and we use them simultaneously. It comes in very handy at times, especially if there are problems with one. We like Firefox (Mozilla) because it is very quick and easy to use.