BROWN SUGAR BANANA BREAD

As you all well know, the last thing I need is another cookbook, but this one, I swear to you, beckoned to me.  It had all of the elements that make up the type of book I want: based in the South (we all know what great cooks those Southern women are), a color picture to represent every recipe, and the recipes are from a BAKERY in Savannah.  Yes, a bakery!  Do you understand my need for having this one?  I thought you would.  It’s called The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook, and it will leave you drooling. When I first picked it up and started flipping through it I told myself that I’d get it from the library and write out the recipes that I wanted to try.  Twenty seven recipes later I figured it would save me a lot of time just to buy it.  Clearly it will get a lot of use.

Today, eyeing bananas about to go bad, I decided to give a recipe a test run with this Brown Sugar Banana Bread.  I am very picky about my banana bread, so figured this would be the real test of a good cookbook.  It was delicious.  Easy to make, very moist, and the brown sugar does amazing things to this loaf that white sugar just could not do.  I varied the recipe a bit in that while I mashed two of the bananas, I diced the third.  I like chunks of banana in my banana bread and this was a real winning combination.

BROWN SUGAR BANANA BREAD

From The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook

Yields One (1) 9-inch loaf

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

1 teaspoon ground mace

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1¼ cups pecans, toasted then chopped

1 ½ cups well-mashed, ripe bananas (about 3 medium sized)

¼ cup sour cream

2 large eggs

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 teaspoon of vanilla

2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar

Lightly grease a 9” x 5” loaf pan vegetable oil spray. Line the bottom with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, mace, cinnamon and pecans. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together the mashed bananas, sour cream, eggs, butter, and vanilla with a wooden spoon.

Fold the banana mixture into the flour mix until just combined.

Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan, spreading evenly across the top.  Sprinkle the two tablespoons of dark brown sugar over the top.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until loaf is golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool loaf in its pan for 5 to 10 minutes; then transfer to a wire rack.

Stay tuned for more recipes from this wonderful book.  The hardest part is going to be trying to decide which one to make next.

This post is linked to:

Foodie Friday

Sweets for a Saturday

Tantalizingly Tangy Meatloaf

 Perhaps it’s because I have such a fondness for cheeseburgers (dare I mention that it is my favorite food?), that I also have a fondness for meatloaf.  There is something so wonderfully comforting about both the making and eating that I am continually on the quest for new recipes.  For something seemingly so simple, there are a lot of variations.  The one I tried today contained an ingredient that I have to admit I’ve never used in meatloaf before, pineapple, but the results were delicious.  The meatloaf was moist and flavorful, and not overly seasoned to allow the sweet and tangy glaze to act as the perfect complement.  I scooped up what fell into the pan to use atop the meat like a relish.  Succulent!

Tantalizingly Tangy Meatloaf

Based on a recipe from allrecipes.com

1 pound ground chuck

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

1 large egg

Garlic powder to taste

1 dash Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup ketchup

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 small can crushed pineapple

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° F.  In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, garlic powder and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well, and pat into a 9x5 inch loaf pan.  Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.  (You’re not finished, stick with me here.)

Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan, stir together the ketchup, brown sugar and pineapple. Cook over medium heat until a lot of the liquid has evaporated.* Pour glaze over the partially baked meatloaf and bake an additional 30 minutes.

Remove from pan to a cutting board using a spatula (or two).  Allow to “rest” for 5-7 minutes before slicing.

*The original recipe called for pineapple preserves. I found them to be quite elusive, so chose to make it this way instead.  Essentially you want a thick-ish glaze for the meatloaf, so you can cook it down until it becomes a consistency that suits you.

This post is linked to:

On the Menu Monday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Foodie Friday

Foodie Friday at Simple Living

Sunday's Best Party

 For more wonderful meatloaf recipes, check out this book:

An Easter Table for Four

I haven’t had a lot of time to think much about Easter dinner this year, so am ever so grateful that my mother is having Easter brunch.  Still, I couldn’t let the holiday slip by without setting a cute little table made a bit easier when I unpacked the box that contained these chicken egg cups.  Honestly things have been in storage for so long that it’s like Christmas every time I open a box!

Not only was I happy to set the table, I’m happy to have this table.  I raised my boys at this table, and then it went into the basement when we moved and stayed there for 16 years.  I have always loved it, but when I first did it had blue legs and skirt with pine chairs that matched the top.  Mother, dad, and I all took chairs to paint, and then I painted the skirt and legs, and refinished the top of the table that was really showing some wear.  Doesn’t it look great?

Remember this rug?  You should, you all helped me choose it, and I couldn’t be happier.

This post is linked to:

Wild Wednesday

Tablescape Thursday
Seasonal Sunday

Sunday's Best

Quick and Easy Lemon-Filled Ebelskivers

I just made myself a marvelous breakfast this morning.  It was quick, easy, and delicious, and you can make it too.  What did I make?  Lemon-filled Ebelskivers, the Danish pancakes, thanks to my much used, much beloved Ebelskiver Pan.  If you don’t have one of these pans, you need to buy one.  Now.  You simply cannot be without one because there are so many wonderful varieties of these tasty little puffs, both sweet and savory, that you are going to want to make these all of the time.  They are so easy, so novel, and so delicious.

The secret to making these so fast is to use Bisquick.  I halved the pancake recipe on the side of the box, adding a few extra ingredients of my own.  Sure, I could have made the authentic Ebelskiver recipe by measuring out the dry ingredients, then the wet, separating eggs, beating the egg whites to soft peaks, and folding everything together, but honestly, who has the time?

Quick and Easy Lemon-Filled Ebelskivers

1 cup Bisquick

½ cup 2% milk

1 large egg

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Few gratings of fresh nutmeg

Lemon Curd

Whisk first six ingredients together in a batter bowl, or transfer to anything with a spout.  Put a little butter in each well of the Ebelskiver pan and heat over a medium flame.  When butter is melted (I swish mine around with a silicone brush to make sure the well is evenly coated), pour batter into each well, then dot each with about ½ teaspoon of lemon curd, jarred or homemade.  When batter is set, using a chopstick (no need for one of those expensive Ebelskiver flipping tools) flip it over and brown on the other side, 2-3 minutes.  Turn out onto plate and repeat with remaining batter and lemon curd.  Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy.

For more delicious Ebelskiver recipes, this book is a must have:

This post is linked to:

Foodie Friday

Sweets for a Saturday

The Big Reveal

I first acquainted you with my room decorating project in this post.  Since that time I’ve painted, ordered blinds, reworked draperies, and dug through boxes of treasures that represent a variety of aspects of my life with my husband and family.  

Here is what I started out with (no, that right window is not crooked).

Here it is now.  

I have yet to bring my plants from my former house, and still need a few more accessories, but for the most part I am enormously pleased!  Trust me when I tell you that the photos do not do this room justice.  It’s a great beginning to my whole house decorating project. 

My son pulled together all of the accessories to make a great arrangement atop the media center.

My cozy reading corner.

A basket collected on one of our travels.

My beloved Nancy Drews.

I changed my mind on the trunk, switching from the original rather simple version to this sunburst, darker trunk with legs. A furry bear footstool lurks in the background.

This is the picture that started it all. I swear I’m going to hang it one day.

My mother made these drapes for me years ago for a guest room. They worked out perfectly here.

Travel souvenirs.

More travel souvenirs.

A didgeridoo purchased in London is propped next to an African mask.

My dad’s pocket trumpet.

A camera my dad bought in Berlin near the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag building (Hitler's Headquarters) in 1945, perched on top of a portion of my complete collection of Agatha Christie novels.

A septarian nodule dating back to my college days as a geology major.

Now on to the kitchen, bedroom, and bathrooms!

This post is linked to:

Mosaic Monday
Metamorphosis Monday

Countdown to Easter

It’s been a busy couple of months, so Easter, unfortunately, is pretty much going to pass me by as far as baking and decorating.  Thank goodness for my not-so-able-bodied-but-still-a-trooper 85-year-old mother who has agreed to continue her tradition of Easter brunch.  Last Easter we were in a complete daze after being struck by the Good Friday tornado.  This Easter I’m still in a daze, but a happy one, busily decorating a new house.

No matter how busy, I still enjoy putting Easter baskets together for my sons.  Now in their twenties, they never stopped loving these fun baskets that I manage to create year after year.  Sometimes it gets to be a real challenge coming up with just the right vessel, so when I found this soft Batman basket I knew it was perfect for my Batman-loving son.

What are you making for Easter?

This post is linked to:
Seasonal Sundays