The last of the bananas...

went into this amazing Banana Oatmeal Bread. I promise, this is the last of the banana recipes for a bit...I've used them up! This is yet another recipe from Amy at The Mother Load, and you can find it here. I was hesitant about this bread because I just could not imagine it. It seemed so different. Well, it was terrific. This makes a light, fluffy, and, yet, substantial bread. It is not too sweet, it is not too bland. It was really, really terrific.

Banana Oatmeal Bread

1/2 - 3/4 cup water [I used 3/4 cup.]

1 1/4 cups mashed banana

3 T vegetable oil

2 T sugar

1 1/2 t salt

1 3/4 cups oats

3 cups bread flour

2 1/2 t yeast

Layer in bread machine pan according to manufacturer's recommendation. Bake on the sweet, basic or rapid cycle. [I only used the dough cycle.] Makes a large loaf (2 lbs).

The recipe says it will make one large (two pound) loaf, but I decided to split it into two loaves (not evenly, darn it!) and that worked out better for me. I used my bread machine for the dough and then transferred it to loaf pans because I prefer the shape of the loaves from a loaf pan far more than from a bread machine. The dough came out of the bread machine VERY sticky, so I did end up using extra flour to knead it. Other than that, I stuck to the recipe exactly.

Let me know if you try it, I'd love to know how it turns out.

Banana Crumb Muffins

We eat a lot of bananas at our house. Not only are they inexpensive, but they are really good for you. Invariably, however, we have a few bananas left from each bunch that go beyond perfect ripeness to over-ripened and then no one will eat them. As a result, I am always looking for good recipes using bananas. I made this recipe for the first time before Christmas and, frankly, the results were horrible. I decided the problem must have been with the fact that I used frozen bananas, thawed, and that something weird must happen to them when you do that. (If anyone knows, please let me know!) Anyway, the recipe looked so wonderful that I had to try it again and I am so glad I did.

This recipe comes from Amy at the Mother Load and you can find it here. But, of course, I wrote it up for you...I just think it is easier that way!

Banana Crumb Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 t baking soda

1 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

3 bananas, mashed

3/4 cups white sugar* (we weren't paying attention and actually used 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup white sugar...it turned out fine!)

1 eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 cup butter, melted

Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/8 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 t ground cinnamon

1 T butter

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease ten muffin cups or line with muffin papers. (I got eleven muffins out of mine.)

In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. (My helpful tip here is to use ice cream scoop or a #20 scoop from a restaurant supply to fill your muffin tins...it makes it so much easier to get uniform muffins or cupcakes!)

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Cut the butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of muffins comes out clean.

Look at that crackled, crumb topping. It is so good. These muffins were terrific, so obviously the problem last time was the banana. I will definitely be making these again. They've received a universal thumbs-up.

So, there you have it...incredibly moist, yummy Banana Crumb Muffins. The Crumb Topping can be used on all kinds of muffins, so don't lose that recipe. Plus, it can be stored in the freezer if you don't use it all up.

Guest Cook presents: Truly Excellent Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today we have a guest cook presenting a recipe that I got from my mom years and years ago. The great thing about this chocolate chip cookie recipe is that it contains ground oats, so you can pretend it is good for you! Really, what else can you want? Chocolate Chip goodness combined with a feeling of virtue!

Truly Excellent Chocolate Chip Cookies
by Buttercup

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla (oh, please! be generous with your vanilla- a Tablespoon at least!)
2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups oatmeal (ground finely; will be about 1 3/4 cups)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
12 oz chocolate chips

Whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In separate bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add in the flour mixture and mix. Add your chocolate chips last.

Roll walnut-sized balls (or use your scooper!) and place on ungreased cookie sheet about two inches apart and back for 10-12 minutes. (10 minutes gets you chewy cookies and 12 minutes gets crisper cookies.)

There you have it...Truly Excellent Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Guest Cook note: Buttercup says you need to serve them with milk!

My favorite Banana Bread recipe...

So, I love banana bread and, over the years, I've tried a lot of different recipes. I always come back to this recipe, though, because it is the best one ever. I originally go this recipe from my MIL, but I've modified it quite a bit, to get it just right.

I hope you'll try it and tell me what you think:

Banana Bread with Cinnamon

2 cups ripe bananas - mashed (I use my potato masher)
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar - firmly packed
3 eggs
2 Tbs vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Tbs cinnamon
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease two loaf pans and set aside. In one bowl, mix bananas, eggs, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to banana mixture and mix. Pour into two loaf pans and bake for 40 minutes or until dark golden brown.

Notes: The recipe originally called for nuts, but I don't like nuts, so I leave them out. Since I don't remember how much I have I guess you'd put in about 1/2 cup to a 1 cup of chopped walnuts. Also, the original recipe called for canola oil instead of applesauce, so if you don't have applesauce, just put in 1/2 cup of canola oil instead.

So, what happens when 80 inches of snow meets an ambient temperature of, say, 40 degrees?

It melts! Quickly! It comes off the roof in torrents and, to make things extra fun, it floods your basement because it is melting so quickly there is no place for it to go. So, here I sit at 1:00 a.m. in a furious battle to stem the flow of water from spread across my basement floor. Valiant has finally been sent to bed under duress. He waged battle outside with Superman for two hours, but he's got to get to bed. Superman is asleep on the couch behind me, hoping that I'll report that the flow has diminished. Every towel in our home has been used and is in the rotation from floor to mop up water to washer to spin out excess to dryer to get a little bit dry and back to floor again. It is never ending...grrrr.... and I am just waiting for towels to dry so we can do yet another switch. This is what grown-ups do for fun...I remember when being up at 1:00 a.m. meant I was out dancing, or going for a bit to eat after a movie, or taking a drive along the coast.

Instead of snow, let's talk about coffee cake!

I'm not talking about snow...I'm not! I'm not going to mention that we got 8 inches yesterday and it is still snowing... I'm not going to mention that my car (a Suburban, for goodness sakes!) got STUCK in the grocery store parking lot this morning and the manager had to hook me up to his truck to pull me out. (Nor will I mention that I wasn't the only one stuck and that he was just driving around the parking lot pulling people out!) I just can't talk about the never-ending snow anymore, so don't ask me!

So, let's talk about something fun, instead. Every Saturday night we host Game Night, where the neighbors and their kids are invited to come in and sit down, play some games, talk and laugh, and generally have a very inexpensive good time. We've played Pictionary, Five Crowns, Quiddler, and Trivial Pursuit. We immediately got rid of Trivial Pursuit. Why? Because with all the useless information we collectively had, we couldn't get the darned answers! And we were even concentrating! So, bye-bye, Trivial Pursuit...

Anyway, an important part of Game Night is snacking. I make our friends be our guinea pigs for new recipes or just treat them to old favorites. This past Game Night, however, fell on our dear friend's birthday, so I wanted a good treat. I was after something that wasn't too sweet, because, Lord knows, we are all sweeted out. I also needed flexibility because I wasn't sure how many people would show up. (Lots of people love S, so I needed to be ready for a crowd!) Finally, S's daughter has allergies, so lots of possibilties had to be eliminated.

I finally settled on this Fast Coffee Cake from Amy at The Mother Load and it was awesome!

Fast Coffee Cake

1 package vanilla instant pudding*
1 package yellow cake mix
½ cup oil
4 eggs
1 cup orange juice

Mix these ingredients together and then swirl the following through the cake batter 1/3 c. sugar, 4 t. cinnamon, 4 t. sesame seeds (optional). Bake for 50-60 minutes at 350 degrees in a well-greased and floured bundt pan. Allow cake to cool for 45-60 minutes in pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

*She didn't clarify, but I use the small one.

UPDATED** I leave out the sesame seeds and instead of swirling the sugar and cinnamon in, I put half the cake mix in the pan, then pour the sugar/cinnamon in all around, then put in the other half of the cake mix. It turns out beautifully.


How easy is that?! Isn't it terrific and it presents so beautifully. Depending upon how many people you serve, you can slice a bundt cake very thinly or have big, huge slices. Best of all, it can be really inexpensive. I wait until cake mixes are on sale for $1 and the Albertson's pudding mix was $.50 and I always have everything else on hand. What can I say, I'm trying to be frugal.

Superman takes treat to his team every Friday and this one is a hit. You should definitely try it.

The Real Rules

I receive this email every once in awhile. As I read the Rules again, I thought how true they were and how we, as adults, have a duty to make certain our children understand them. These are the rules of adulthood. Aren't we supposed to be raising capable individuals who are contributing members of society? Why are we protecting them from life's lessons into adulthood? How old will be old enough to take over the reins of their lives?

While often attributed to Bill Gates, the following "rules" are actually the work of Charles J. Sykes, the author of "Dumbing Down our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves, but can't Read, Write or Add" and "A Nation of Victims: The Decay of American Character" and form the meat of the book, "50 Rules Kids Won't Learn in School; Real-World Antidotes to Feel Good Education".

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up,it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Being organized did not come naturally to me!

For all of you who think that being organized comes naturally to me, you have to read my post to my sister at 365 Things You Didn't Know About Me. There is photographic evidence of my messy past! To amuse you even further, I am reminded of the story of the burglary my family experienced when I was a teenager. Upon entering my room, the police were stunned by how much damage the burglars had done, to which my parents replied, "Oh, no, they didn't touch this room. " True story, cross my heart! (Tell them, Dad!)