Banana Bread

As you can maybe tell from some of my recipes I love adding 'extras' to recipes. I love going through the cupboard when I'm cooking or baking and just tossing things into the mix. I find banana bread the perfect base to add 'extras' to, not only is it fun but it usually turns out really good. This morning I whipped up a batch of basic banana bread batter and tossed in chopped up dates, chocolate chips and coconut. And a little rum extract, too. I think bananas and rum have a relationship quite like macaroni and cheese or peanut butter and jelly, they just go together.
Banana bread is also a great way to use up that stash of over a dozen frozen bananas in the freezer...oh, or is that just our freezer? Zoe and I only like bananas at a certain stage, and once their past that point they are bound for the freezer.
So, I thought I'd post my base recipe for banana bread and maybe you'll be inspired to make your own banana bread a la you!

Banana Bread
Makes 1 loaf

3-4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup to 1 cup brown sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Grease a 4x8" loaf pan, or any baking vessel you want. I've done it in square pans, round pans, and even glass tupperware containers.
In a large bowl mix together the bananas and butter with a wooden spoon. Stir in the the sugar, egg, vanilla and spices.
Sprinkle the baking soda over the mixture and stir.
Add the flour last, and mix just until there are no white clumps.
Now add in your extras, the sky is the limit. Here is some 5 second brainstorming of possible ideas:

• swirl in some peanut butter
• coconut
• dried fruit
• pineapple
• chocolate chips
• peanut butter chips
• flax, ground or whole
• rum extract, heck even a few tablespoons of actual rum!

I could go on all day!

Stir in your extras, gently and spread the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 50 minutes. Check it, and bake for longer is needed. Banana bread sometimes takes forever to bake. Be patient, but don't burn it. 

Have a great Monday!

2 in 1

I feel like my 'Good Thing' each week keeps ending up getting posted on Saturday instead of Friday, but I'm just going with it, better late then never!
This week I have two things to recommend...
1. If you haven't checked it out already head over to my cousin Nathalie's blog, she is in Switzerland on a grand adventure. The photos are beautiful, the kids are cute and it makes her feel not so far away. I have really been enjoying following it! 
2. This one is kinda weird but I'm sharing it because it might become your new favorite breakfast too! For this to work you have to like both oatmeal and peanut butter (if you don't just skip this part). Next time you make oatmeal stir in a spoonful of peanut butter, as well as a drizzle of maple syrup and voila! you've got a strange but very delicious concoction! I've eaten it two days in a row...and I foresee it being made again in my near future! What do you like on your oatmeal? I've been known to put on tons of things all at once (think yogurt/granola/fruit/milk/syrup/raisins), the more the merrier right?
Hope you all have a great weekend!

Crafts and Cockroaches

The little girls that I take care of LOVE doing crafts. As soon as they see me their first question is "Revanna, do you have a craft for us to do today?" We do crafts every afternoon, but I am not complaining because I also LOVE doing crafts!
Today I brought them over to the apartment and Zoe and I had a crafty afternoon with them. We made these neat little tote bags with them.
They turned out so cute!

 That is a princess with very long hair and a butterfly with a very long tail. Kids make the best art!
They also got to visit the cockroaches. These two are not only not grossed out by these creatures but the  aren't scared of them either. They both held one with big smiles on their faces!

 I guess you've got to get them young!
If you have any crafty ideas for 4 year olds I am always looking for suggestions!

Something to make Monday a little more delicious

All weekend I had been planning making chocolate truffles, three times I pulled out the ingredients and three times I put them away a few hours later. Well, this morning it really happened. It was a good way to start the week, a little sweetness to help fight the chill (-44 with a windchill today!).

Now, these aren't 'real' truffles, actual truffles contain just chocolate and cream, but these are still fun and delicious. And they whip up very quickly!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
10 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped (or chocolate chips)
1/2 cup peanut butter
icing sugar and/or cocoa

Cream the cream cheese in a mixer on medium speed.
Melt the chocolate using the double boiler method (a bowl on top of a pot of boiling water) or in the microwave. Stir the peanut butter into the chocolate.
Now mix together the chocolate and cream cheese. I did this by turning the mixer on low and drizzling the chocolate mixture in. But you could also just stir it in. Mix until there are no streaks of white cream cheese.
Spread into a 8x8 pan and place in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours (it only took about an hour for me).
Scoop teaspoon sized pieces of truffle out of the pan and quickly roll them into balls between your palms, work quickly because the chocolate will start to melt. Place the truffles back into the fridge while  you get the coatings.
Put some icing sugar and/or cocoa into separate bowls. Take a truffle and give it a tumble in the coating of your choice, remove it to a clean plate and continue till they are all coated.
Keep the truffles in the fridge/freezer.

They are pretty rich, or so I told Zoe, but then I proceeded to eat three in a row...peanut butter and chocolate is one of my favorites.

On a completely other note, it was light when I left work today!! It looks a little dark in the picture, but I assure you it was quite light. It was definitely a highlight on this very cold day.

Hope you stayed warm where ever you were today!

Brrr

It is cold here. The wind is blowing to -35C and it is sunny without a cloud in sight.
The morning started out snowy and grey and the day begged to be spent inside wearing elastic waisted pants and keeping warm with hot drinks. Then suddenly the sun appeared and despite the cold the day switched, and I felt the urge to go outside and play in the sun!
So I did.

The stinging cheeks were so worth it.

I hope whether your weekend is about cuddling up inside or playing outside, you are having fun while doing it!

Zoe's quilt

A few posts ago I mentioned Zoe was making a quilt, well, last week she finished it! It was record time and it looks amazing! Her corners are impeccable!

 Beautiful quilt, Zoe!

A recipe and a cute photo!

Lately I have been having lots of good memories of childhood, whether it songs I heard when I was a kid, crafts I did, or old photos, it's put me in a warm nostalgic mood. The recipe I'm sharing today is one my Mama used to make, and it was one of my favorites! It's a white bean and escarole (or spinach) soup. Maybe this is where my love of white beans first began! 
It is a very simple soup and therefore each ingredients really shines. I highly recommend it for these cold days of winter.
The original recipe calls for escarole (a bitter green, similar to kale and swiss chard) but I like it with spinach, which is much easier to find!

White Bean and Spinach Soup
adapted from Molly Katzen

2 cups cooked white beans (canned or 1 cup uncooked, simmered in water for 1 1/2-2 hours)
1 tablespoon oil and butter
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
black pepper
5 cups stock/water (if you cooked your own beans you can use some of the leftover cooking water)
1/2 pound chopped spinach

In a pot, melt the butter and oil. Saute the onion and garlic for 3-5 minutes. Add the celery, carrot, bay leaf and salt and pepper. Saute another 5 minutes.
Add the stock/water. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes.
Add the beans and spinach, cook on low heat for another 15 minutes. Season to taste.
Simple and delicious!

Here is one of those nostalgic photos...

That's me on the left, my dad in the middle and Zoe on the right! We were quite the ragamuffins!

This one's full of good ideas!

It's a good idea to have this guy around...

Happy 24th Birthday Zach!
I know a public announcement is not your favorite thing, but you are a great human, I count myself lucky to be your one and only sister and darn it, I'll tell the world!

Jakob and His Quilt

A few months ago I made this quilt for my Cousin's baby in Germany. It finally arrived this week, Zach sent it via boat and it took about 2 months!
I received this picture today...

This is Jakob and his new quilt! What a cutie!

Mushroom Bourguignon

It looks like Monday is going to be recipe day! Today I am making a recipe from my new favorite cookbook/old favorite blog. I got this cookbook last month and have already enjoyed many recipes out of it! Its the Smitten Kitchen blog's cookbook. It is awesome and delicious.

The recipe for today first appeared on her blog in 2009, and was made by my friend Tracy in PEI around the same time. I rediscovered it last month in the cookbook and am already making it for the second time this season (rare for me!). The recipe is for mushroom bourguignon, the vegetarian version of beef bourguignon. Very good and perfect for the winter months.
Here is the link to the recipe on the Smitten Kitchen blog and here are my side notes...
Mushrooms: I have yet to use portabello mushrooms as the recipe calls for, I've used a combination of cremini and white button mushrooms. And I just quarter them because I like chunky mushrooms.
Red Wine: If you have it use, it makes it extra rich and yummy, but if you don't usually have red wine kicking around just use extra stock/broth.
Pearl Onions: I haven't found these yet, but honestly I haven't looked that hard. I am just as happy to add a bit of extra white onion in. But if you want the real deal, I think there may be pearl onions in the frozen section of grocery stores.
Noodles: I love egg noodles with this, I usually cook them in boiling water and then saute them with a lot of butter when the mushrooms are ready. If you have some parsley or dill in the fridge, chop a bit up and sprinkle it in with the noodles too.
Gluten-Free (known as G-Free in our house): Substitute the flour in the bourguignon for rice flour and serve on rice noodles (but don't forget to saute them in butter!).
Just a 'few' changes!
Enjoy!

A Good Idea...

Zoe suggested that we collect awesome things that we do/experience throughout 2013 and put them in a jar to be opened New Years 2014. I thought this was the greatest idea. We grabbed two mason jars, got a collection of scrap papers and put them in an obvious place to (hopefully) remind us to keep it up for the year.
We got pretty excited as we did this and wrote our first 'awesome' thing of 2013. I got a little giddy thinking of all the amazing things that this year could bring. Ah, the possibilities are endless! If I think of all the stuff that has happened in 2012 I can't imagine what 2013 will be like.
I think this jar is also a great reminder to find good things in any situation and be grateful for those moments of joy, amidst the craziness of our lives.
It's not too late (it never is) to start a jar for yourself or family. It will be pretty neat to see what your year looked like condensed into awesome moments come 2014.

The Crafty Room

..and by room, I mean entire apartment!
On any given day our kitchen/dining room looks like this:

Zoe and I both love to sew/quilt. She's currently working on a quilt, maybe I'll share some pictures when she's done!
The dining room table is perfect for duelling sewing machines!

Fact: The Bernina sewing machine I use is my Mama's and she got it when she graduated high school! It's still in fine form and just goes to show that quality lasts.
I hadn't quilted all of December (a travesty) and was really looking forward to this week when I knew I would have time to play around with scraps and new patterns.
Check this out, this block uses strips of scrap fabric and I think it's amazing!

I probably should have taken the picture not on the 'kitty' ironing board, but that's where the magic happens!
Imagine an entire quilt made of these blocks. WOW.
In another effort to weed out my huge pile of fabric I made a few quilt tops that I will make into baby blankets for donation. I love quilting full size quilts, but I love-love making baby quilts! These quilts are pretty scrappy and crazy colored but make me smile!

That's what I've been up to these days, as well as a few knitting projects and hand sewing. I swear I could sew/knit all day everyday!

Happy New Year!

Hello Everyone! Long time no post...sorry about that. A few of you I've seen have asked why there was such a lack of posts recently, and my answer was I got busy (etc.) but really I think I was a little uninspired. But here we are at the start of new year and I've got things to tell you and recipes to share. I've missed you guys!
So, I did a little renovation of the blog (what do you think?) and have decided to give myself more of  a structure to my post topics. I did a bit of brainstorming with my Roomie/Bestie Zoe and came up with a few ideas. Here are some topics that I will post about weekly on their allotted day (yes, I am getting very organized!):

• Recipes
• Good Ideas (books, places, restaurants, movies etc that I think are awesome!)
• The Craft Room (where I would share what I'm currently sewing/quilting/knitting)

Feel free to leave a comment about anything else you would like to add to the list! Seriously, I will try my best to accommodate you! Want more interviews? Videos? Facts?  Ask and I'll try and fit it in.

Phew, that feels better! Thank you for being patient with me, it'll be worth it!