Weekend Treats

This past weekend was a busy one. With the summer days dwindling down and September being just right around the corner, the Munchkin and I made it our mission to enjoy the nice warm sun as much as we could. So this meant a lot of time was spent playing road hockey, running around at the playground, and taking a stroll around the brett is awesome inner harbour. When it got too hot out or when we needed some down time, we made some treats. I dipped into my marshmallow and made some Rice Krispie treats, and since we had an extra bunch of bananas on hand I decided to make some Mini Chocolate Dipped Bananas again. Yes, I said again. I made them a few weeks ago but forgot to blog about them. They were absolutely deeee-lish!! I used this recipe by Joy the Baker. Last time I used baking chocolate to coat the bananas (yeah, what was I thinking??) and it tasted just ok. Nothing to write home about. So this time I made sure to buy some nice chocolate that I'd be willing to eat on its own, and boy, did that ever work. This batch of dipped bananas didn't even last a day!

If anyone is wanting to make a batch themselves, I highly recommend using bananas that are either almost or just ripe. You definitely don't want overly ripe bananas as they'll be way too soft and won't stay on the lollipop sticks well. Another tip: don't let your 2 year old son take random bites from different bananas, unless you want them super mini.

I also recommend eating these within a few days of making them. If left in the freezer too long they get really mushy and gross and they kinda shrivel up a bit. Not really an appetizing sight.

The Munchkin loved these, not only was he able to "help" (ok, he really enjoyed using the rolling pin to smash up the peanuts and his idea of dipping was putting as many bananas as he could in the chocolate) but he gobbled these up. To tell you the truth I think he only liked them cause they were on lollipop sticks. Oh, and because chocolate was involved. I think next time I want to try s'mores pops. That's right. I said s'mores. On a stick. Now those could be deadly. I mean, chocolate covered marshmallows sprinkled with graham cracker crumbs?? No, scratch that. Chocolate covered toasted marshmallows sprinkled with graham cracker crumbs. Oh yeah. Now we're talking.

Anyhoo, let's move on before I start to completely salivate all over my keyboard. Aside from being outside as much as possible, and from mine and Brett's (long and tiring) work schedules, I also had a really good friend in town for a visit. My wonderful friend, Leana, was on the island for about a week. She lives up North and I rarely get to see her, so whenever I do get the chance it's quite the treat. I was super happy to find out that her brother has moved back to the Victoria area and because of that Leana will be making more visits!! Yay! Now I'll be able to see her more than once a year! Every time she's here we always go out for afternoon tea and pub eats, as well as venture out to explore Oak Bay (her favourite area). This visit was no different. We enjoyed some yummy 2-for-1 fish and chips at the Penny Farthing, window shopped around Oak Bay, played Marble Run with the Munchkin, enjoyed some sun on the patio, and had some great conversations. I can't wait for her next visit!

Because the weekend was so full, I had missed out on Fibrations that took place on Sunday. I'm really hoping that it was a success and that it'll happen again next year. So far, from what I've heard and read, it was a success and a ton of fun. So sad that I missed out! I think in order to compensate for missing this event I should indulge myself in some yarny goodness once my yarn diet is over. Just to clarify: August was the month of my yarn diet, and I've been really good and have been abstaining from making any yarn purchases. But for those of you who know me and are friends with me on Ravelry and have seen me update my stash page a few times this month (ahem, people like Natalie and Jennifer!!), I'm still receiving yarn purchased/swapped last month. Those yarns were not purchased during the month of August!

So I think once September rolls around I should treat myself to some yummy yarn...ooohhh...let the yarny daydreams begin! 'Til then, I should really get off my butt and do some knitting (something I wasn't able to do much of over the weekend), since this coming weekend will be even more busy!

Happy knitting! ♥