Mom's Banana Bread!

Yes...   I have been on a banana kick.  I get in a rut and it takes me a few dishes to get out of it!! Plus it's what I happen to have available in the kitchen and I have not been paying attention to my bananas recently, so they tend to get overripe before I can put them in a fruit salad or do anything else!! (and I do have a supply of frozen bananas in the freezer for smoothies - YUM!!)

So.......I have been seeing a lot of banana recipes on food blogs the past few weeks, and there is none better than this recipe of my Mom's.  The grated orange rind gives it a wonderful fresh taste, and I love the addition of the chopped dates. They end up so moist and sweet and are a wonderful surprise texture in the bread.  My mouth is watering while I am typing this!!  I leave the walnuts out as I am not a big chopped nut fan in quick breads, but by all means add them if you like them!

And don't forget that awesome topping.  The buttery cinnamon sugar crust that is created on the still slightly warm bread adds another flavor level.  Wow!  You can also just brush melted butter over the top and sprinkle a cinnamon-sugar mixture over the top if you forget to have the topping ready to go.  Yes that has been my emergency fix on many occasions!!  And you can leave it plain as well - this bread stands on its own just fine!

MOM'S BANANA BREAD RECIPE

BATTER:

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup dates, chopped
4 very ripe banana
zest of one orange
3/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional

TOPPING:

1 tbsp. butter, melted
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Cream butter well and add sugar gradually.  Add eggs, one at a time and mix well.

Sift dry ingredients and blend into creamed mixtured.  Add 4 mashed bananas, 3/4 c. chopped nuts (if desired), rind of 1 orange and dates.

Grease and flour a bread pan.  Bake at 350 degrees  for 50-60 minutes.  Leave in the pan for 10 minutes.

After removing from the pan and while the bread is still warm, spread the topping mixture over the top and let cool.  (Mom says wait 48 hours before cutting ).

God bless her - I am lucky if I can wait 1 hour!!  But on the rare occasion that I have waited 48 hours, the flavors are at their peak!

And this time I really waited...... but look who else was waiting......

Here is a great photo of the bread...... but see that out of focus blur in the background???

Amazing what you can see when you shift the focus on the camera!!!  

That is Roxy ready for her own piece of banana bread.  She is still waiting!!!

 This is truly the BEST banana bread ever!

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Banana Blueberry Lemon Muffins

I know... it's almost too good to be true to have all of those ingredients playing together in one recipe.  And they do so really well!!

I am not particularly found of "regular" bananas. I will eat them in fruit salad or throw them in a smoothie, but if I want a piece of fruit, it's never a banana I reach for.

However, I absolutely LOVE them in breads and muffins and any other baked concoction. Strange I know, but true! And I had quite a few very ripe bananas (that usually end up in the freezer for smoothies), big beautiful blueberries that I had picked up at Trader Joe's, and my ever faithful lemons!  So I was ready to tackle this recipe.  Banana Blueberry Lemon Muffins

It was super easy to put together and the results were great.  The banana was definitely the predominate flavor, but also led to the extreme moistness of the muffin.  The only change I made to the recipe was to put the lemon rind INTO the batter rather than on top.  Then I just topped the muffins with sparkling sugar!!

Is your mouth watering?? You can see the berries bursting!!

These two muffins made their way to my neighbor!!

And of course I had to sample one!!

It needed a LOT of sampling!! YUM!

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Still Foiling...

There clearly seems to be a method to my work -whether baking or crafting.  When I try something and am happy with the results, I get in a sort of rut and bake 10 things with lemon in a row, for example.  Or in this case , with my card making, I can't seem to stop foiling everything I can!!  I am so enjoying getting great results and am addicted~~

So I have needed to make a wedding card for some time. It's a good thing there is a grace period for such things as I am long overdue! I have a beautiful ornamental alphabet from Thyme Graphics.- Thyme's Alphabet - that I used as my inspiration.  As I said earlier, I knew I wanted to foil but was looking for the right image and the alphabet was perfect.  And the wedding colors were green and navy blue. Since I have not seen a navy blue foil, I used the royal blue in the background to let the green "shine".

I did a print and cut using SCAL and the Silver Bullet Professional.

SCAL print and cut showing the registration marks

I foiled the letters AFTER I did the print and cut as I have not used the print and cut feature a lot and was a little out of practice.  They came out great but it was good to know that foiling after a cut works fine too!  I love options!

The card base was is the Vintage Luster from Paper Temptress. The stamped sentiment is from JustRite Wedding Nested Sentiments , stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black.  The little roses were from my stash, I sprayed them with Dylusions spray mist in london blue and cut grass.  The sentiment tag has pop dots under it for added height.

I am still learning how to take good photos when using foiling. I love the PicMonkey program, but I still need to improve my skills!

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Foiling Fun!

I have made a commitment to do a better job of using what I have.  There... I put it in writing so now there are witnesses and my deeply embedded sense of guilt will hold me to it - oh how I hope!!

A couple of years ago I purchased a FoilMaster from Sherri at That's Scrap Inc  - the same place where I got my awesome Silver Bullet Pro.  I have no problem putting the Silver Bullet through its paces, but until recently, the poor FoilMaster has been the neglected child in my craft room. No more....

A recent revelation shared by other crafters gave me a renewed desire to put it to good use - I could not understand why my results were spotty and not as beautiful as theirs. WARNING - technical explanation to follow! Then I realized I had to make some adjustments to my laser printer so I would get a higher concentration of ink, thus giving the foil a better surface for adhesion,  Voila!!!  Success!!

The card is by no means perfect, but it's a start - a good start!!

 This is the mirrored image left in the foil after it adheres to the laser printed digi stamp.  The digi stamp is from Fred She Said - Dragonfly Flower Doodledallion.
Through June 2 she is having a special sale - 
20% off everything over $10 and 40% off everything over $20!!

Rainbow foil was set over the digi image with red foil over a black laser printed frame.
The text was done in white so the foil would not adhere to it.

The finished product!!  

I cannot wait to do more foiling - love the effect!

Hope you do too!!

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Memorial Day Muffins

I have clearly been on a muffin kick for some time now.  I am not sure what it is - but I love them!  They are easy to make, have an infinite amount of possibilities, and deliver almost instant gratification!  And of course they make the kitchen smell divine!!

So when I was at Trader Joe's the other day, I just about gasped out loud when I saw their jumbo blueberries (still have to create something yummy with them!) and containers of delectably ripe raspberries. Needless to say I grabbed about every fresh fruit in the aisle and left a happy girl!  I see a fruit salad in the making later today :)

But first, the raspberries needed my most immediate attention as we know they last only so long - or should I say not so long  - in the refrigerator!!  So when a recipe was posted using lemon, raspberries and the unexpected ingredient of cornmeal - I was too curious not to give it a try!

And to make it even better, Truvia baking blend was the recommended sweetener. I have used before and really love it. So that made this even more of a must try for me!

Raspberry Lemon Cornmeal Muffins

Adapted from My Baking Addiction

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup Truvia Baking Blend
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. lemon zest
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 x large eggs, separated
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups raspberries, rinsed and drained well

Glaze:
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
3 Tbsp. Truvia baking blend
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar

Preheat over to 435.  Lightly coat  a muffin tin with a non stick spray (I love the Everbake from King Arthur)

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cornmeal, Truvia, baking powder, cinnamon, salt adnnd lemon zest until blended.

In a small bowl, whisk the buttermilk, egg yolks, and butter.  Slowly add the buttermilk mixture into the four mixture, stirring just until blended.

Whip the egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form..  Fold the whipped egg whites and raspberries into the batter until gently blended.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling about 3/4 full.  Bake muffins for 5 minutes at 425 and then reduce the oven temperature to 375 and continue baking 13-15 minutes, or until golden brown .
Place muffin pan on wire rack and cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

When just warm, dip the tops of the muffins into the glaze to give them a bit of a shine and tangy topping.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

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Another Positive/Negative Card Experiment!

I have had a long list of cards to be made longer than I want to admit.  Last weekend was my time to try to make as many as I could.

After making the positive/negative card from Dominic in an earlier post, I still clearly had that on my mind. This file from Paulo looked so detailed and pretty, but I wasn't sure what would be remain on the mat! Would it be enough of an image for a second card? Well, much to my delight it worked pretty well!!

For any of you who have cut Paulo's files, most are very detailed. Well, the Silver Bullet Pro accepted the challenger of this project and did a beautiful job.  I can always count on it!

Here are the very intricate pieces left behind.The beautiful paper is from Patricia at Paper Temptress

Look how thin and perfect this cut is???

Perfection.......right??

And here are the results.....

I love how they turned out.  The "thinking of you" tag was actually printed on my laser printer and foiled in gunmetal with my FoilMaster - another awesome machine from Sherri.

And speaking of Sherri and That's Scrap Inc and the Silver Bullet Professional...... in case you have not heard the GREAT news.....

Look who is NUMBER ONE?!?

And you can purchase it from Sherri at That's Scrap, Inc!

Congratulations Sherri for the 100 rating for customer service and the Gold Award.  Those of us who own your machine and love it are so thrilled for you!

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Minestrone Soup a la Farro!

Just a few weeks ago I didn't have a clue what farro was!  Imagine that?!?  In case you have been living in an unenlightened cave like I have, it is a grain with more protein and nutrition than quinoa - and personally I like it a LOT more.  It reminds me of  cross between brown rice, wild rice and barley.  It has a wonderful earthy nutty taste and is quite easy to use in place of barley or rice - as far as I can tell.

I have found several recipes I want to try, but tonight was time to use up some veggies that were going to see the trash soon if I didn't get creative!  So I found a recipe from Mario Batali for a farro minestrone soup and pretty much redid the whole thing with what I had on hand and I think the results were pretty good.  The soup was definitely thick and filling and I could easily have added more broth or water to make it "soupier"!  But I was happy with it thicker.  It made a very hearty meal!

ITALIAN FARRO SOUP

loosely adapted from Mario Batali's Minestra di Faro Lucchese

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3 medium shallots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1 cup farro (used Italian pearlized)
1 (12 oz) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup roughly chopped baby carrots
1 zucchini, chopped
1 yellow squash, chopped
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 Tsp. King Arthur borsari salt
4 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
2-3 Tbsp. fresh basil, cut into chiffonade
1 quart chicken stock (or broth)
Lemon pepper to taste
Garlic powder to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil on medium high heat until hot.Add the shallots, garlic, celery and baby carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until the leeks and celery are translucent (the carrots will finish cooking later).  Add the farro, beans, and tomato paste, mixing well.  Add the chicken stock (or broth), bring the liquid to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer the soup gently for about 30 minutes.

While the soup is cooking, in a saute pan, heat another 2 Tbsp olive oil.  Add the chopped zucchini and squash and cook until barely tender.  Add the seasonings to taste and let set until the soup is almost ready.

When the farro has cooked and plumped up absorbing a lot of the liquid, add the cooked squash for a few minutes to heat together. Add more broth if you want a thinner soup.  I like it on the thick side!

Serve in a soup bowl and garnish with basil ribbons and Parmesan cheese.

This is VERY healthy and super filling.

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Negative and Positive Cards!

It is no secret that I love the card designs that Dominic makes..  His files are perfect for the capabilities of the Silver Bullet Pro Cutter.  It takes the tough tasks and handles them with ease!

One of the really fun things about Dominic's files are that it is easy to use both the positive and negative image from the cut and make two cards out of one - and I love that especially since it usually takes me forever to come up with an idea!!

Here is the positive and negative image - perfect for TWO cards out of one cut!

I needed a birthday card for my daughter who will be thirty something next week so that was task one! I used his hydrangea pattern for the first time and I LOVE it.

The card front

Detailed leaves

Here is a perfect example of what a beautiful job the Silver Bullet Pro cutter does.  It amazes me every time I use it - I am in awe of the detail and precision with which it cuts.  And you can see the beauty of the Mica paper from Patricia at Paper Temptress

Finished card #1

And the bonus with Dominic's flower files are that the "scraps" left behind make another beautiful hydrangea!  I just cut a shadow layer out of the double sided adhesive from All That Jazz (this is the best double sided adhesive) and carefully placed it over the remnants and voila!... a new image!

The leftover (negative) "scraps!!

Carefully covered with a shadow layer of double adhesive paper.

The leftover petals on the adhesive layer

Then, since there was adhesive left open in between the petals, I just sprinkled Ritz glitter over the flower and it adhered so nicely..

Glitter added to cover the adhesive and make the petals POP!!

 All that was left to do was remove the remaining backing on this flower and you are left with an instant sticker!! How cool is that?

Carefully remove the adhesive backing for an instant sticker!

And then you take the new glittered "sticker" and adhere it to your card and with a few added details you have a second hydrangea card that looks totally different from the first one!

Finished card #2

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Happy Mother's Day Muffins!

Baked French Toast Muffins

Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients:
12 large or 18 mini Authentic Gourmet Croissants (from QVC)
1 1/2 cup coconut milk (or almond or regular milk)
1 cup International Delight Cinnabon creamer
6 large eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1  Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 Tsp. ground cinnamon

Waiting for the topping...

Streusel Topping:

1/4 cup cold butter
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup (minus 1 Tbsp.) brown sugar
1 Tbsp, maple sugar
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Streusel Topping for Muffins

Ready for the oven!

This recipe ended up being my Mother's Day gift to me!!!  I made them the night before, which I highly recommend, and baked them the next morning.  They baked just like a strata, raising a good 1/2" higher than the muffin pan and then settling back down after 5 minutes of cooling.  They were incredibly moist, flavorful and just plain yummy!!  There are so many ways to serve them.  A little powdered sugar on top is a simple addition.  Even though you certainly can serve them with butter and maple syrup, I found they only needed a drizzle of maple syrup for the perfect French Toast flavor as the croissants were bursting with butter!  And even a simple glaze, vanilla, maple or cinnamon, would be wonderful and definitely elevate them to a supreme richness. I really liked the simplicity of the maple syrup - not to mention the ease of cooking. It's a great way to satisfy a French toast craving without having to stand over a hot griddle.  These are going to be a staple for all sorts of occasions - including when I just want to feel pampered!
(and an added bonus is they reheat beautifully in the microwave too....if you are lucky to have any leftovers!)

With a bit of maple syrup......... YUMMMMMM!!!

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