Started out a sunny spring day with Brunch With the Beatles. "The Beatles at the BBC" - their live recordings made for various BBC shows on the radio in 1963 and 1964 - was the theme today. The songs heard included "Chains," "I Feel Fine," "You Really Got a Hold On Me," "'Till There Was You," and "Do You Want To Know A Secret?" I made Velvet Spring Spice Pancakes (made with melted butter spread rather than canola oil) as I listened.
Called Mom around 11. She was enjoying some quiet time after my two older nephews Skylar and Collyn's overnight visit. Evidently, not only did Keefe stick around, but he found more than enough things to do - he was barely home the whole week. He did get to spend some time with his nephews, though, much to Mom's amusement. Sounds like Dad is feeling better, too. Mom said he's still coughing a little, but nothing like last week. Rose must be feeling better as well - Mom mentioned that she and Anny were going to take their boys to the Cape May County Zoo later in the day.
I read the remaining two books I took out on the 80s as I ran Olivia Newton John's Greatest Hits Volume 2 after the Beatles show ended. The more interesting of the two, The Eighties, seems to have been written for British teens at the end of the decade. It actually gives a very interesting overview of the teen culture of the time, something I didn't really notice then except for on TV and in John Hughes movies, and certainly not the English version. I do remember hearing about the New Romantic movement (mainly because Mom loved the ruffled flowing shirts and big pants that were popular with that group), and hip-hop actually made it here sooner than to many parts of the country, thanks to our proximity to many of the largest cities in the US.
Other 80s fads passed South Jersey and my family by or barely registered. The whole "preppy/yuppie" thing was not largely well-received in an area whose year-round population was mostly fishermen, teachers, shop owners, dock workers, and Coast Guard officers. There was a Benetton on the Washington Street Mall in Cape May during the 80s, but that's as far as preppy went. Don't remember a lot of heavy metal enthusiasts, either (with the exception of fellow New Jerseyan Bon Jovi). I heard about break dancing, but the only time I ever tried it was one afternoon in kindergarten. The teachers had the kids attempt some moves inside when it rained during recess and we were really bored.
Headed to work around 1:30. While it was just as busy today as it has been all weekend, the nice weather (and the fact that it isn't going to suddenly go away now that we're well into April) must have finally registered with people. Almost everyone was in a far better mood than they have been. I was in and out with no major problems.
I defrosted chicken legs on Thursday, intending to make them then, but I ran out of time. I finally decided to slow cook 'em. I tossed them in the pot with molasses, chicken broth, water, onions, and the last of the pizza sauce. I must have overdid the water - there was yellow broth mess all over the top of the stove when I came home. It didn't seem to affect the legs. They were delicious, so soft they fell off the bone. I had a tasty meal with a Romaine lettuce salad.
I decided to try Alton Brown's banana bread recipe after dinner. I replaced the oat flour with whole wheat flour (I don't have any oat flour), cut the sugar in half, replaced half that sugar with fruit juice concentrate, and used two egg whites instead of two whole eggs. I think I must have put too much water in; it took twice as long to cook as it should have. The batter seemed a little sweet; we'll see what it's like when it cools.
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