Star Wars Identities

This has been waiting a while to make it on the blog. Star Wars Identities was a blast! As one of only two cities in Canada to have the exhibit, it was a must-see. We went in the morning in an attempt to avoid a cramped crowd and we were successful. There weren't too many people but a good number, mostly families with small children. When you arrive, they scan your ticket, give you a blue bracelet similar to the livestrong ones but with a fancy computer chip inside, and you also get a headset that you have to wear throughout the whole of the exhibit. As you enter there is a video to watch which was pretty cool. It was about what makes a person unique: the choices in their life, the outcome of the decisions made, the influences, and the ambitions each one of us has. All of those qualities combine to make each of us unique; our identities.

Once the video ended we were free to enter the exhibit and along the way there were 10 stations that we had to complete in order to form our character. Some stations had a variety of choices and some had a simple interactive activity. Despite the arrangement of the station, there was always an area to place the chip of the bracelet on. It would store the information of which area you selected and would combine all your choices at the end of the exhibit to show your character in full. I looked really cool.

This station was a little ways into the exhibit but it shows you how some of the stations were set up.

Identities was such a great experience, I wasn't ever big on Star Wars (I didn't dislike it though!) but after this I certainly was a fan. We got to see the costumes used in the films, the models used, the concept art, film clips to go along with certain stations, and so much more! It was great. Prepare for a flood of photos from the exhibit...

There was podracer. A giant pod racer. Very cool. 

There was a father and son at this point and the father had his son take his photo with Leia (Q and I were right there and he didn't ask us to do it). Then got upset with the kid because he apparently moved so the photo wasn't clear. "Take it again, I know it's blurry, I saw you move!" This kid was probably 6 years old. One day he will understand and perhaps resent his Dad a bit.

This is Momma and her beau when they went to Identities. They chose to be good.

We chose the Dark Side. Everyone that was at the final station before us didn't give in to the Dark Side. All the little kids wanted to be heroes. It was cute. We couldn't be cute.

This is Q, Dark, badass, and a sweet name.

And this is me. Told you I looked cool.

 I hope you feel like watching the films now, I sure do! Unfortunately the exhibit is over in Edmonton but if you're really keen you could head over to Vancouver! I think that's Identities second and final Canadian stop. Check out the Identities website for more info.

May the Force be with you...

xoxo

Banana Bread

Q loves banana bread and for a while there he'd say that he wanted some. Real bad. One night while he was out at class I made sure to bake him a loaf. I found a recipe and here it is for you too:

Banana Bread

2 c.               all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp.      baking powder
1/2 tsp.         baking soda
1/2 tsp.         ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp.         salt
1/8 tsp.         ground ginger
1/4 tsp.         ground nutmeg
2                   eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 c.        mashed bananas (4-5 medium sized bananas)
1 c.              sugar
1/2 c.           oil or melted butter
1/4 c.          walnuts

- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Grease bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of 9x5x3 loaf pan; set aside.
- In a large bowl combine: flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and ginger.
- Make a well in centre of flour mixture; set aside.
- In a medium bowl combine: eggs, bananas, sugar, and oil (or butter).
- Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir until moistened; batter should be lumpy.
- Fold in walnuts. Spoon batter into pan.
- Bake for 55 - 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean (if necessary, cover loosely with foil for last 15 minutes to prevent over browning).
- Cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Removed from pan and cool completely on rack.
- Wrap and store overnight before slicing. *once it cooled, Q dove right in :)

I didn't use the foil and I think it came out great. The crust was really good, not too soft and not too crunchy/rock hard. Plus it looked like the San Andreas Fault.

Once I tidied the kitchen, I went to put my new recipe in the recipe box and discovered I already had a banana bread recipe from my Momma (totally forgot to check the recipe box first). Sorry Momma! Next time, it's going to be your recipe.

xoxo