One Banana, Two Banana

Hi everyone! I think I have collected some good tidbits for you this week and I am anxious to share them.

It inevitably happens that I buy a bunch of bananas and eat at least one a day and one or two get too ripe before I can get to them. Does anyone else have this issue?

You can make a multitude of things from overripe bananas. The most common is, I believe, banana bread (which I adore!). You can also make pancakes, muffins, smoothies, ice cream, french toast, waffles…………well, you get the idea. Some of the more unusual that I have seen include banana upside down cake, chocolate baked banana which you top with ice cream and who wouldn’t love that?!

The one I am going to share with you today is banana cookies. They came out perfectly. My grand daughter and daughter loved them! Sorry to my daughter’s fiancee who was supposed to get some but they were eaten before he got home from work!

Soft Banana Cookies

(www.lovefoodies.com)

1  1/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup butter softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup banana mashed

2 eggs beaten

2  1/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon combined

Combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat well to combine. Stir in the bananas. Slowly mix in dry ingredients and put in refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. After dough has chilled using a small scoop or a teaspoon drop dough on a prepared cookie sheet. Sprinkle cookies with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet and then on a cookie rack.

*I used Chinese Five Spice instead of cinnamon in the cookies and for the topping. It was delicious. Chinese Five Spice is a combination of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and various combinations of the five spice have other things such as fennel or licorice. I used parchment paper to prepare the cookie sheets. I set my timer for 6 minutes and checked the cookies and they were done already.

Tips

1. Warmer weather is coming and for me that brings on iced tea and iced coffee. This year I bought a cold brew coffee pot. It works well and I like the set up of it. There is just one thing – it is rather on the small side and I’m a thirsty girl! If you would like to make your own without a special pot here is the recipe.

Cold Brew Coffee

Steep 1 1/2 cups of coarsely ground coffee beans in 6 cups of water at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours. Pour the steeped coffee through a fine strainer lined with a coffee filter and then chill.

  

2. Have you ever wanted gardening advice. Master Gardeners is there to help. You can visit the American Horticultural Society website.  ahsgardening.org. Once there click on the heading at the top that says “Gardening Resources”. After that you click on the Master Gardeners’ link on the left. You then select your state. Click on the link to your state’s Master Gardeners website. For me it is Cornell Cooperative Extension.  There is a wealth of information and resources there for you to use. It is like having a master gardener friend.

3. My Mom always used leftover coffee to add an extra layer of flavor to gravy and it also gave it a richer darker flavor. I use that trick all the time. Recently, I saw an idea to  save your leftover coffee in ice cube trays for use with iced coffee or to add to recipes. I am definitely doing this!

4. I stumbled upon a great resource. You are able to find out what preventative health services are available for women without extra cost to you  at carewomendeserve.org

5. Did you know that you can freeze overripe bananas until you are ready to make your next smoothie or to bake a delicious treat? That is great news if you’re busy and don’t want to waste them! Pop them in a ziplock bag and into the freezer. Just thaw them when you’re ready.

6. Always look for promo codes or coupons online either before you shop and print them out at home or on your smartphone when you are in the store! Recently, I was in Kohl’s with my son. He was looking for a dress shirt and a tie. While he shopped I looked up Kohl’s coupons on my phone. He was able to save 15% off his total purchase! That certainly made him happy.

7. Another “always do” item is to check your credit card statements thoroughly. I have been missing deals that are printed on some of the statements for substantial savings on various goods and services. Some examples are 25% off of Papa John’s Pizza and 25 – 30% off of AMC, Cinemark and Regal movie e-tickets. Never let a deal slip away!

One of the really great things about doing this blog is the sharing aspect. In my last post I shared my daughter’s ice cream cake recipe. She thoughtfully gave it to me with pictures! My niece sent me something that I will share in my next post. I just love this!! Remember to share your tips and tricks in the comments. It’s a community!!!

See you next time!

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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