Banana Bread!

So after the GM Diet, I had so many leftover ripe bananas, I decided to pawn them off on Jim, since he eats one a day for lunch, but he had just bought some and wasn't having it, (Plus they really were too ripe to do much with). He regifted them back to me and suggested that I make him some banana bread instead. The word "Spoiled" comes to mind...

I used one of my abfab recipes from the More from Magnolia Bakery Cookbook. It's a must for Bakeryphiles.


Alyssa Torey, the owner and author says,"Honestly, I was never a big banana bread fan until the idea of adding coconut came to me one afternoon and inspired this recipe, which turned out wonderfully."

You will need:

3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c canola oil
1 1/2 c sugar
3 large eggs, room temp, well beaten
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups ripe banana, mashed ( I used 4)
3/4 c sour cream
1 1/2 cups pecans, toasted and chopped (See note*)
3/4 c sweetened shredded coconut

*Note; To toast the pecans, place on a baking sheet in a 350* oven, for 15 minutes, until light brown and fragrant.


Preheat Oven to 350*

Grease and flour your pans. I used a silicone 6 mini loaf pan, and it worked well. You can also use muffin tins, a 10 inch tube pan, or whatever you fancy.

In a bowl sift together the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda, and set aside.


In a large bowl or mixer, beat together oil and sugar until well mixed, add eggs and vanilla and beat well.


Add bananas and sour cream.


Add the dry ingredients, one cup at a time, until just combined.


Stir in pecans and coconut.


Pour batter into pans.


Depending on the size of you pan baking will take anywhere from 30-60 minutes. A full loaf pan will take the longest. My mini loaves took about 40. Just keep checking until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or with dry crumbs.


Let cool for about an hour and serve with nummers butter, or spray butter (which is what we used.)


So I took two loaves over to Jim's for him and his roommate Lee, and we all devoured them, except that Lee isn't too fond of coconut, so he just had one bite.

I Heart "Heart" Salad

For Valentine's Day, I planned a great meal in my head. I knew that I wouldn't be able to see Brian until AFTER the 14th, so I kept the recipe in there and acted upon it later. The center of the Valentine Meal was the Salad, which I dubbed Heart Salad based on the ingredients.

You will need;



Hearts of Romaine Lettuce (either chopped yourself , or in a bag; I went the easy route)
"Fancy" Lettuce
Jar of Artichoke Hearts
Jar of Hearts of Palm
Can of Beets
Candied Pecans (I used Trader Joe's, but you can candy them yourself if you want)
Red Wine Vinegar Dressing

I started by draining the can of beets and using a paring knife, carving them into hearts. You can use a small heart shaped cookie cutter, which are very easy to find this time of year, or you can be all fancy schmancy and try to carve them yourself.




It took patience and a steady hand, but eventually I carved them all. Next I drained each jar of "hearts" and cut them into bite size peices.



Next fill a bowl with the hearts of romaine and "fancy" lettuce. What I call "fancy" lettuce is basically radicchio, arugula, baby spinach and the like.



For the dressing I used a premade Red Wine Vinaigrette and fixed it up with some garlic, oregano, lemon juice , a bit of the oil marinade from the artichoke hearts and a bit more red wine vinegar.

Throw everything in the salad bowl and drizzle with the dressing.



Serve with your sweetie.

<3