The Kawa Blog

Academically, socially, emotionally, this semester has been nothing if not overloading. There’s so much to say and so much to digest. There are things I’m afraid of and things I’m proud of.

I’ll add to this when I have the time and energy, but until then, have this link.

No butter, no eggs, all banana goodness. Only one bowl, too! Keeps well too, and is pretty tasty both warm and cold.

4-5 bananas
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. ginger
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1.5 cups all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 475 F. Grease a loaf pan or 9″ cake pan.

In a large bowl, smash bananas with a fork or pastry blender. Add sugar, mix well. Add spices, mix well. Add flour, mix well. (Yes, this batter is fairly thick.) Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Let cool in pan for at least 15 minutes before serving. If you really like it warm, put it in the toaster.

This keeps well in fridge or freezer, wrapped tightly in aluminum foil.

As much as this blog is “math, craft, games, food, life”, the fact that Blog.com doesn’t support any LaTeX plugins is severely going to cramp my desire to type notes for each class in blog form to improve my understanding of the material and LaTeX.

So check me out over there: kawamath.wordpress.com

Sorry for the lack of updating. Haven’t been baking much (except for banana bread, more on that later); had computer problems until recently.

Parents are in town - this is pretty good except for the broken record lecturing. I’m really starting to understand that they do it because they love me though.

Got in a bit of a fender-bender which needs serious repair, though the car is drivable. Much more of a time/money inconvenience than anything else, though it should get resolved pretty quickly. Having parents in town helps with that a lot.

In brighter news, having parents in town meant talking to them honestly about Adam’s and my relationship and our plans for the future. They’re pretty supportive as long as they’re assured that we’re both making the most of our opportunity and have plans for the future that make sense. It’s a total relief and we’re both very happy. I just really hope there are grad schools out there that will accommodate to both of our needs and hopes.

Today is the first day of classes, though I really only have one class today. Should be interesting and fun. I’m doing mostly math credits right now and I’m honestly really excited to finally feel I’m getting into the meat of my major. Today’s class is my breather/elective, also in something kind of technical and pattern-like: music theory. Should be fun!

I do have a lot of administrative stuff to do today though. Hope to get that sorted out ASAP.

1) Getting paid to pick up the roomie’s boyfriend from the airport.

2) Working car to make that possible.

3) The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus.

4) Free sweet potatoes at Mr. Chips.

5) More than enough drinks at home, with variety (milk, iced coffee, orange juice, Iron Beer…)

1) Computer getting replaced for a totally reasonable price at Mr. Chips here in Melbourne.

2) Cool friends who feed me and who have fun.

3) Homebrew PSP, Dragon Warrior Monsters.

4) Girls as the main character in video games.

5) Finally onto integrals with the tutoree.

1) Loving math enough to do problems at 4 AM.

2) Not having to wake up early tomorrow.

3) Having an awesome tutoree.

4) Test reviews with answer keys.

5) Learning something new about calculus every day.

1) Cold pressed coffee update - my drip coffee maker drips even when off, and doesn’t release water from the filter until the proper container is put in. This makes filtration a lot easier!

2) Peaches and Cream Pie/Tart/Cobbler, recipe to come later.

3) The solutions manual to Anton Calculus, 7th Editon.

4) A totally understanding, cool tutoree.

5) Physics labs are OVER!

This process takes time but makes coffee taste *wonderful*, and you save tons of money doing it! I tend to not like putting ice in my coffee - I feel even more ripped off than I usually do, since ice is really just water taking up too much space - but I do like it cold, especially in hot Florida summers.

1/3 cup ground coffee
2 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk (optional)
1/3 cup sugar (optional)

In a pint jar or cup with a lid, put in ground coffee and 1 1/2 cups of water. Let sit, covered, overnight or longer, up to 12 hours.

Filter through coffee filters twice: Have a bowl handy, as well as a funnel and the final container (I used a quart-size water bottle with a spillproof bottle top). Fit a coffee filter around the open end of the brewing cup and pour into the jar. Fit a second filter in the funnel and funnel the resulting liquid into your final container.

Add a cup of cold water and any milk or sugar to your taste, screw on your bottle top, and shake thoroughly to combine. Keep in the fridge until ready to drink.

I cleaned out the old coffee jar, labeled it “Saving Jar”, and put $2 in it. I plan to put in at least some cash every time I make this, since it saves so much money versus buying coffee. I’m really hoping to have enough by the end of August to make a road trip to Atlanta to watch the Good Eats 10th Anniversary Taping with friends. Here’s to hoping!

1) Homemade cold-brew iced coffee!

2) Spending cash for a few fun things.

3) 50 cent vending machine soda.

4) Hanging out and watching fun stuff with the guys.

5) Almost done with classes!