Tag: pastry cutter

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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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Now On To The Leftovers

I hope your Thanksgiving was great and that you were surrounded with positive people and of course, tons of food.

We had the best Thanksgiving in recent years. Now, I say this not because previous ones were bad in any way but mainly because I didn’t have any hiccups in the meal preparation and I even had time after dinner to play some cards which I really enjoy.

Last year the rolls were a little over done and the bottom of the pumpkin pie cake was burned. Those are two of my kids’ favorite things and I was happy this year both items came out as they should have. I also didn’t forget anything for the meal. No trip to the store at the last minute is a plus. Last year I forgot to take the family picture which I take every year and use in my Christmas cards. This year we took great pictures!

Now, we are onto the leftovers. Everyone loves leftovers from the Thanksgiving feast. I purposely make extra so that each person goes home with a plate to enjoy later. My brother, Doug, even comes to the dinner with his own containers to take some home. I told you, WE LOVE LEFTOVERS! Items from the dinner included, turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, butternut squash, green bean casserole, rolls, cranberry sauce, stuffing, corn, pumpkin pie cake, sweet potato pie,  and mixed berry pie.

Even after I had a couple of meals from my leftovers I still had some items in the refrigerator that needed to be put to use. I had an abundance of mashed potatoes and quite a bit of sweet potato casserole. I decided to make potato soup (I love soup!) with the mashed potatoes and I found a recipe for using leftover sweet potato casserole to make biscuits. I am sharing them below.

Leftover Mashed Potato Soup

  • 4 cups of mashed potatoes
  • 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Chives, bacon crumbles, and grated cheddar for garnish

In a stock pot  heat the olive oil and then add the chopped onion. Saute the onion until it was translucent. Next, add the mashed potatoes and the broth.  Then add salt and pepper to the pot. Simmer these on medium until the mixture is warm, the flavors have a chance to combine and many of the lumps of potatoes have been incorporated. Finally, use a submersion blender to get all of the lumps out and fully incorporate all of the mashed potatoes with the broth. Just for good measure I simmered the soup for a few more minutes with the lid on. I left the lid on because I didn’t want the liquid to reduce any further. After ladling the soup into bowls garnish with chives, bacon, and grated cheddar.

*Notes: This recipe was a combination of several that I found online. I just used the parts of recipes that sounded good to me. It was outstanding!

 

Sweet Potato Casserole Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 oz. (4 tablespoons) cold butter
1/8 cup milk
1 cup sweet potato casserole
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients. Add the cold butter which has been cut into chunks. Use a pastry cutter  to incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients. If you don’t have a pastry cutter,  use a fork. It can be done, it just isn’t as easy. Once this is done add the milk and the sweet potato casserole. Form a ball with your dough and using a rolling pin roll it out until the dough is 1/2 inch thick. Cut with a biscuit cutter or the top of a glass. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment or sprayed with pan spray. Bake in the oven for 9 to 11 minutes.
*Notes: This recipe was from the Pinterest board, Home Cooking Memories.
I followed the recipe exactly but set my timer for 7 minutes instead of 9-11. The first time I make a recipe I want to make sure I don’t over bake it. As it turned out, the biscuits were done perfectly in 7 minutes. The difference in baking time is most likely due to each oven being different.
As you will likely notice in the pictures, I put chopped pecans in my sweet potato casserole and they are a really nice addition to the biscuits. I will definitely make this again!
I want to add a little something about the parchment paper I use. I have for many years used parchment or baking paper that came in rolls like foil. Recently, a friend, Linda, told me that they now sell sheets of the paper. That is nice since if you have worked with this product before you know that it is a struggle to get the parchment paper that is in a roll to lay on the baking sheet without curling. When the paper is in sheets it lays nice and flat. That is so much more convenient! It can be quite expensive but I happened to stumble upon it one night with Linda at our local Dollar Tree store. They sell it in packages of 10 sheets for a dollar. That is a bargain!
Odd Item
This morning while washing dishes I was cleaning my spatula from breakfast with the dishcloth and it just snapped in half! I have only had it for a couple of months and I use it exclusively for making eggs. To say I was surprised is an understatement. I have decided I am going to write the company since it is a rather well known one and let them know what happened. I think it must be a design flaw.
I once wrote about a kind of large set of utensils (you know, large and small spatulas, ladle, slotted and solid spoons, etc.) They weren’t cheap.
I loved them except for one thing. Apparently, when I washed them, water would get into what must have been hollow handles and then when I would use them water would come running out. This happened several times and that water went right into whatever I was cooking. I tried draining them at every angle but it didn’t work. It was very unsanitary to say the least.
I wrote the company about this flaw. They totally surprised me by allowing me to pick out a new set from their website. I still have that set and they must have corrected the design flaw since it doesn’t happen with the new ones.
Just to be clear the small spatula I used for eggs and the other set are not made by the same company.
Christmas Idea
Wrapping paper can be quite expensive. There are alternatives to using traditional wrapping paper. When I was a kids I can remember my Mom saving the colored comics from the Sunday paper to use as wrapping paper for a child’s gift. For a person who loves to read, even the black and white pages make a great wrapping! Other items might include fabric scraps ( you can also use fabric scrapes to make bags just by stitching 3 sides together), maps, butcher paper, paper bags, pillow cases ( just add a drawstring or tie with a ribbon), or use part of the gift as wrapping such as a baby towel or blanket or a sheet. When using plain paper the sky is the limit to how you can embellish it. You can stamp on it, paint on it, autograph it, tie it with colorful twine or add a sprig of pine or a cinnamon stick. Use your imagination. Look in your drawers and your sewing basket!
Gift tags can also be re-imagined. One year I used an old deck of cards, cut the edges with pinking shears, punched a hole in one corner, used a black sharpie to write the name on it and a ribbon to attach it to the gift. Another year I used old photos from my Mom’s photos that were of landscapes, cars, and other items like that. They had no special meaning to me. I punched a hole in the corner and used twine to attach it to the gifts. The bonus was that my family loved they they were Grandma’s pictures!
Christmas Decor
This year I had seen an idea on Pinterest to use a ladder and decorate it like a tree with lights and all! I thought I would try it out. I bought lights, large ornaments, and a large gold bow for the top.
My one quandary was how to keep it anchored so the wind didn’t blow it over. The ladder was my Mom’s and is an aluminium one which is very light. I decided to use tent stakes, supplied by my daughter, Sara, and zip ties (gosh how I love zip ties!) I used two on each side. Well, it was windy yesterday and a couple of the stakes pulled right out of the ground. In desperation, I grabbed a brick and put it hidden out of sight on the bottom step! Necessity really is the mother of invention! I think it turned out nicely.

 

 

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