Back To School!

Tomorrow is "Back to School" for my sister. No...she is not 40 years younger than me and in grade school...she is a teacher...high school mathematics...and an excellent one. Every time I go to the store and there are CBHS students standing out front wanting money for one sports group or another...I always ask..."Who's the best math teacher at the high school...they always say Mrs. Laufenberg...she's excellent.

She comes by it quite naturally...both my parents were educators...many of my aunts and uncles on both sides of the family were educators...and I have a slew of cousins that are teachers in some form...whether it's public education...church...or industry...they teach others. Even I was a teacher for about 16 years.

My father...who used to be principal of the elementary school here in Cocoa Beach for 35+ years...called me yesterday and asked me if we wanted to have a "Back to School" supper for my sister. "Why not", I said...so tonight everyone is going to come to my house for Chicken Alfredo on Linguine, fresh asparagus, some couscous my dad made and a new cake recipe I tried out...thanks to one of the women's magazines I got at the grocery store yesterday...more about that later...

The picture above...it's our centerpiece for the evening. The flowers I had on the table were dropping petals...so I knew I needed something. I was headed back to the store to get my sis the requested asparagus and stopped at the local Family Dollar and found this cute little coffee mug with apples on it (perfect for back to school)...I got her mechanical pencils...dry erase markers...and of course...what every teacher needs...4 RED pens. I found some green tissue paper and when I got home I put this little centerpiece together. (For those of you who like to throw little gifts and/or decorations together for little or no cost...the cup was $1...2 pkg of dry erase markers $4...Mechanical Pencils $1...Red Pens $2...tissue paper $1...Centerpiece/Gift for my sis...less than $10.) And if I do say so myself...downright cute in the middle of the dinner table!

Now for the dessert...it's from the magazine "All You"...August 1, 2008. It's on page 102. It's called...drum roll please...

"Banana-Coconut Upside-Down Cake"

Made similar to a pineapple upside-down cake only instead of pineapples with a cherry in the middle it's bananas cooked in butter and brown sugar with coconut...I didn't follow the recipe exactly...it has a recipe for the topping and for the cake...I just used a butter cake from Betty Crocker...but I can't wait to finish supper so I can have a piece...it looks really scrumptous...next time you are at the grocery store...see if you can find the magazine. I'm guessing it's going to be really great.

Time for company...the doorbell just rang!

Happy back to school for all teachers and students!

AFTER SUPPER: The cake was great!