The British Invasion: Part VI - St. Ives, St. Michael's Mount, and Land's End

On the coach in Cornwall, my mind kept reciting the following poem over and over again:

As I was going to St Ives
I met a man with seven wives
Each wife had seven sacks
Each sack had seven cats
Each cat had seven kits
Kits, cats, sacks, wives
How many were going to St Ives?

The answer is a bus-load, because St. Ives was exactly where we were headed next. St. Ives is an artist colony, and a picturesque town. Yet somehow, I didn't feel compelled to take many photos. Yes, the light there had a different quality, I suppose, than the other places we had been, but the scenery didn't grab my attention. ( The sign in the loo did, though. )

Beer Bread

I got this recipe from my friend Michael, who makes it all the time. I just made some for the second time, today. It is a pleasant, simple recipe, and it smells divine in the oven. It is not a tall, poofy loaf of bread, but a denser type, more like banana bread.

This bread is delicious with butter and jam. Mmmm.....

1/3 cup sugar (I use raw sugar)
3 cups whole wheat flour (I've also made it with 2.5 cups whole wheat flour and .5 cups quinoa flour)
1.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp salt
1 standard-sized bottle of beer (12 oz)

Heat oven to 350.

Mix all the dry ingredients together, and when well-blended, mix in the beer. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place for about 30-40 minutes and it starts to raise.

Scrape it into a lightly-greased loaf pan and bake about 50 minutes or until it sounds hollow when you knock on the top.

Allow it to cool before you slice it.

Death Bird

Sparrows hold the power of death,
but only of a little one.
If you don't keep your window shut,
a sparrow might fly right in.
If one flies through your window,
then someone's gonna die.
Maybe it will be just you.
But If it's not, then I
say catch that bird and kill it.
Don't waste time, don't let it go.
Squeeze it tight, and shake it
Until it's dead. You know,
that's what happened to Cock Robin.
Lugete, o Veneres Cupidinesque.