Tag: banana

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Here a Banana, There a Banana…………

Do you ever buy bananas and fail to eat them all before they start to get just a little too ripe for you? I think we all do. I imagine banana bread was invented just for that reason.

My problem is that I have a very narrow “banana window” to deal with. In the store I always pick out the banana bunch with the most green peels. I have to wait a day or two for them to be ripe enough that they suit me. Then I barely get 2 to 3 eaten and they are too ripe for me. I like just the certain sweet spot where they are sweet, firm and ready to eat. Since, as you might guess, I hate to waste money I will eat at least 1 banana when it is a hair too ripe. However, I often end up with 2 or 3 left over, no matter how few I purchase.

Of course, it happened again and although I love banana bread I felt like trying something else. I found a recipe for banana coffee cake and I love coffee cake!

Banana Coffee Cake

(Recipe from the blog, A Latte Food)

  • 3-4 medium or large bananas
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 6 Tbsp butter, cold.
  • Preheat the oven to 350. Grease two 8×4 pans.
  1.  In a small bowl, mash bananas, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and ground cinnamon.
  2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
  3. Add in eggs and beat until mixed.
  4. To the wet ingredients, sift in flour, baking soda, and salt.
  5. Stir until just combined. Add in sour cream and stir.
  6. Pour in mashed bananas, and mix until combined.
Crumb Topping
  1. Combine cinnamon, flour, and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter, and mix until the topping looks like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle coating evenly over the batter in both pans.
  2. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs stuck to it.
  3. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Move to a wire cooling rack.

  • Note;This came out beautifully. I had 3 large bananas that I used. The baking time was right on the money for me. If you would like to try it but don’t have the time when your bananas are begging for some baking, just pop them in the freezer to keep until you’re ready. That works really well.

Quick without looking guess, in your head, how many times I said  the word “banana”.

Ok, got it in your head? Look below for the answer.

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13! That’s a whole lot of banana talking right there.

Warning: Handy Tips Coming Ahead!

Did you notice as you read through the recipe that you are to use a pastry cutter to do the crumb topping? Of course, I use a pastry cutter for that and all other pastry such as pie crusts. This is so the butter doesn’t get too warm if you used your hands. You also get more uniformity using the pastry cutter.

I have another use for the pastry cutter and I learned it from my Mom. She always used a pastry cutter to chop up eggs for egg salad. It works like a dream! You should try it some time.

Above you see the unassuming lint roller. I have pets so I keep one in my bedroom, one in the dining-room and one in the car (for those last-minute occasions).

For 3 days I went on a cleaning frenzy here at my house! The lint roller is part of my cleaning tool box. My most favorite use for it is to clean the cloth lampshades in my living-room. The lampshades get, as you might imagine, a lot of dust on them and, in my case and probably other homes, some pet hair too. The lint roller is just the tool to clean them! I used to take them off the lamps and put them in the shower for a wash. That is more time-consuming and you have to wait for them to dry before putting them back where they belong. The lint roller allows you to work in place, is quick and I believe gets them cleaner.

Project Time

I was reading one of my magazines and saw how someone had made a lazy Susan for their table with a vintage dart board. Of course, I had to make one. The only thing is I didn’t have a dart board any more. You know how you get rid of things and then see a neat idea where you could have used it! Geesh, I hate that!

I made up my mind that I would look on eBay or wait until yard sale and flea market season and look for one then. Just about then I went into my 3 day cleaning frenzy. I was dusting and sweeping in my craft room when I happened to pick up  one of my vintage toys I have displayed there. It was a Chinese checker game. Remember those? Yep, that light bulb when on over my head just like you see in the cartoons and here is the result.

 The game that lit the light bulb.

 I had lazy susan bearings that were already on a wooden disk for cake decorating but you can purchase them also. I used Gorilla Glue to attach the metal plate that contains the bearings to the game.

 Bearings

  VIOLA!

It is my hope you found some inspiration here. Have a wonderful upcoming weekend! See you next week.

 

 

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It’s Me!

I’m back! Here’s the scoop. I was on a grand adventure to Alaska, The Last Frontier, with my oldest son, Jess. We were gone 11 days which included travel time. I didn’t want to say online that I was going to be gone so long. Everyone would then know my house was empty. Well, nearly empty. I was lucky enough to have my grandson, Dakota, and his girlfriend, Shawntai, stay to take care of the dogs. They have to work though so the house was empty quite a bit.

Anyway, it was wonderful! I had never been on a cruise before and have always wanted to go to Alaska. I don’t really know why but I have. We were on the Star Princess for 7 days and on land at Denali and McKinley lodges for 3 days. The scenery was awesome. We visited, while on the ship, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Anchorage. If I had to pick out some highlights I would say that meeting people from all over the world on board the ship, seeing Denali, visiting the Husky Homestead (owned by Jeff King who is a four-time Iditarod winner), and flying in a seaplane over glaciers were just a few.

                                                                          The photo doesn’t do Denali justice.  She is grand, beautiful and I saw her! Only 30% of the people who go to Alaska get to see the peak.

Now, onto regular business.

I have recently joined a thing called Ipsy. You get 5 cosmetic samples per month for $10. I enjoy checking out the products as I am a makeup junky. This month I received a foundation primer, a blush, 2 facial masks, mascara, a nail polish and a cosmetic bag. Some of the items are not sample size. The nail polish this month and the blush were full size products. All of the items are from companies that are well-known. I used to do something similar through QVC but it was at least twice as expensive. If you are interested you can check it out at www.ipsy.com. You fill out preferences on colors and things about your skin care and skin tone, etc. so that they have an idea of the products that you might enjoy receiving. It is very easy to join and you can quit at any time.

The fruit stands are open and brimming with fresh fruits and vegetables in our area. On a recent trip I bought some red sweet peppers and wanted to do something slightly different with them. We were also having an Indian Summer heat wave here and I wanted to use my Crockpot rather than turn on the oven. In in my search I found the following recipe and it was a winner! I will definitely make it again.

Mexican Stuffed Peppers (Recipe courtesy of Chef Savvy blog)

  • 5-6 (depending on size) tri-color bell peppers, tops cut off and seeds and ribs removed
  • 1 pound lean ground beef or turkey, uncooked
  • 1 cup rice, cooked (mexican, brown rice, or white rice)
  • 1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
  • 1 cup red enchilada sauce
  • ¾ cup shredded Mexican cheese, plus more for topping, if desired
  • ½ tablespoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Spray the bottom of a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Place the peppers inside.
  • In a large bowl combine ground beef or turkey, rice, black beans, corn, enchilada sauce, cheese, seasoning and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
  • Place the filling into the cavity of each pepper.
  • Cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 4-6 hours or until the meat is cooked through.
  • Serve immediately with some of the optional toppings, if desired. Goes great with a side salad!

    Optional Toppings

    1. cilantro
    2. sour cream
    3. shredded Mexican cheese
    4. salsa
    5. enchilada sauce
    6. avocado
    7. lime wedges                                                                                                                       Usually, I do try to follow a recipe exactly the first time I make it and then tweak it later. However, when you find yourself without a couple of ingredients or maybe you don’t like what is in the original recipe, then you need to make substitutions or changes. I used red peppers instead of the tricolor. I do like the tricolor and they make a pretty dish but as you remember, I bought red. They were also the long peppers so instead of cutting the tops off and filling them I cut them in half-length wise and filled them. When making enchiladas I make my own sauce. I was conserving energy and time the day I made these (yes, maybe lazy) I didn’t feel like making my sauce. I had a can of diced tomatoes with peppers that I used instead and it worked very well. Also, I didn’t have frozen corn and used a can of corn which I drained instead. The recipe was a success. We used salsa, sour cream and cheese as toppings.                                                                                                                                    This picture was taken just before I put the lid on the Crockpot and turned it on high for 2.5 hours.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  I very recently made another kitchen gadget purchase. This one I had been contemplating for a long time. Welcome to my kitchen, 6 quart NuWave Air Fryer! The purchase was made from BonTon. Here’s what was involved that helped make my decision to order it; a $10 birthday coupon, two $20 bonus cards (BonTon lets you double stack the reward cards) and free shipping! How could I not?                                                                                                                              So far I have only tried it once and that was just to make frozen french fries. It was so easy to use. The fries came out pretty good. I would say better than putting frozen fries in the oven but definitely not like deep-frying french fries. Of course, I wasn’t expecting that. There are many recipes to try.  Some examples are twice baked potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts, home fries, air baked eggs, buffalo wings and Cajun shrimp. Also included, is a divider so that you can make two different foods at once.                                In future posts I will let you know the other foods that I make in my NuWave. If you would like to read about this appliance you can go to mynuwavebrio.com.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     My birthday celebrations have extended beyond my birthday month into October which is why I refer to it as my “birthday season”. During the season my friend, Linda, made me an absolutely wonderful banana cream pie. She gave me permission to share the recipe with you.                                                                                                                                                                                            Banana Cream Pie with Cake Mix Crust (one of my two favorite pies)                                                                                                                                                                                1 pkg. yellow cake mix, divided                                                                                                1 large egg, lightly beaten                                                                                                           3 Tbsp. butter, softened and divided                                                                                    1 cup cold 2% milk                                                                                                                          1 pkg. (3.4oz) instant banana cream pudding mix                                                          1 medium banana, sliced                                                                                                              1 carton (8 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed and divided                                  1/3 cup creamy peanut butter                                                                                                  Additional sliced ripe banana to decorate.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch pie plate. Stir together 1 3/4 cups cake mix, the egg and 1 Tbsp. butter until combined. Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth dough forms.  Roll dough to fit pie plate. Flute edge. Prick bottom several times with a fork. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.                                                                    Whisk milk and pudding mix 2 minutes. Fold in banana slices and 1 cup whipped topping. Transfer to cooled crust. Top with the remaining whipped topping. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.                                                                            Meanwhile, mix remaining cake mix, peanut butter and remaining butter until crumbly. Transfer to a parchment paper lined rimmed baking pan. Bake until golden brown, 14 to 15 minutes, stirring once. Cool completely.      Top pie with the additional sliced banana and the crumb topping.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                That’s all for this week, folks! Be kind to each other over the next week. Spread kindness and compassion wherever you go!
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