Banana Crumb Muffins

I love bananas.  Seriously love them.  Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I can't eat them fast enough.  That means we get to have lots of good things like these Banana Crumb Muffins.

Banana Crumb Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 3/4 all-purpose + 3/4 whole wheat 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.   Anyway, the kids say these are even better than Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins and that is high praise, indeed!

Scalloped Potatoes

I recently went through my recipe folder and culled many of the recipes into either "I'll never try this" and "I need to try this".  I've committed to myself to try one or two new recipes each week. 

This evening, I nabbed this recipe for scalloped potatoes.   (The pictures had to be taken after the meal, the kids just couldn't wait!)  Anyway, I was intrigued by the fact that the author noted that she found this recipe when she was looking for some way to use her old potatoes.  I have old potatoes that definitely need to be used, so this was right up my alley.

We haven't had a lot of scalloped potatoes in our house, because I don't do that Betty Crocker stuff and never thought to find a recipe for them.  What that means is that I can't compare them to a lot of other scalloped potatoes, but I can tell you that my kids loved them.  Seriously loved them.  They were really easy to make, clean up was a breeze, and they were a good way to use up these old potatoes.

Scalloped Potatoes
(source:  unknown blogger)
Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients:
4 cups sliced potatoes
2 cups scalded milk
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt (next time, I'd up this)
1/8 teaspoon pepper (I'd up this, too)
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese (I didn't measure, I just sprinkled)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a small bowl or cup, mix together flour, salt, and pepper.  Set aside

In buttered 2-quart baking dish (I used 8 x 8 pyrex dish), place layer of 1/3 of the potatoes.  Sprinkle with 1/2 the flour mixture, then add another layer of the potatoes, followed by the other half of the flour mixture, and top with remaining potato slices.

Dot with the butter and then pour the hot milk over the potatoes.  Cover and bake at 375F for 45 minutes.  Uncover and sprinkle the cheddar cheese and back for 15 more minutes or until scalloped potatoes are tender and cheese has melted.   Serve.


Quick, easy, and good...what else can you want in a recipe?

Monday Musings - Are we still spunky?

 ad·ven·tur·ous/adˈvenCHərəs/Adjective

1. Willing to take risks or to try out new methods, ideas, or experiences.

2. Involving new ideas or methods.

If you're American (naturalized or otherwise) and not of Native American descent, you come from immigrant stock.   That is a inarguable fact.   (No, this is not an immigration post, so just bear with me, please!)  We are a new country populated with people who came here from somewhere else; our people were adventurous.

Sometime, from somewhere, your people had the gumption to leave Ireland or England or Germany or Indonesia or Africa or Italy or Greece or some other country for the unknown (also known as America).  Some of them gave up everything to come here, right down to their family name.  Depending upon when in our history they embarked on their journey, they left family they knew they would never see or talk to again.  Letters would be few and far between.  They got on ships with faith, hope, and determination and no real idea of what they'd be facing at the other end.  They were willing to risk virtually everything with no real assurance that they'd succeed.  Can you even imagine? 

Even in recent times, immigration has been a constant in our nation--adventurers still exist.  Asian families coming from war-torn countries, struggling to find success in our country.  European families fleeing oppressive governments, following the promise of democracy.  Families from Latin and South America searching for economic stability.

Even my adorable sister-in-law left Indonesia more than ten years ago to live in the U.S.  She left her family and friends behind to start a new life in the US, one in which she ended up meeting and marrying my brother.  I wonder if her loved ones criticized her decision to move to the U.S.
I've been thinking a lot about such things over that past eight months.  Many people have criticized Superman and me for making the decision we did we let them know Superman would be living overseas.  We are deliberately separating our family as he pursues this opportunity to improve his professional credentials, making him more employable, and, therefore, improving our family's stability.  We understand this decision wouldn't be doable for many families (or many couples), but for us, for now, it works. 

But the criticism of our decision gave me pause.  What are we doing that is so terrible, so alien?   Obviously, we don't think we're doing anything bad.   In fact, I think what we're doing is in our DNA; we're doing what our ancestors did.  (Did you know that one of my direct ancestors is said to have been the first white man to see Yellowstone Falls?)  Our ancestors picked up and left their homes to create lives that were far from the familiar.   They stepped off the traditional path in pursuit of something different.  Sometimes, the men would go ahead and begin the makings of a rudimentary home before sending for their families.  Sometimes, the entire family would go at once.  It is what our people have always done.  Yet, we're perceived as doing something so unusual.

If you live anywhere in the western part of the U.S., someone in your family was an adventurer or you wouldn't be here.  This land was settled just a few generations ago:  First the Spaniards, the The Gold Rush brought men flocking to California and their women followed them.  The city I live in now was incorporated in 1881, years after being settled by Canadian trappers.  Only 130 years ago.  Think about that...we're talking about DNA from great-grandparents and grandparents.  These were very spunky people. Not very far back at all.

We don't talk about our ancestors as heroes or adventurers or consumed with wanderlust.  We've taken our spunky forebears for granted and forgotten that we all have a bit of the unusual running through our veins.  We strangle ourselves with conformity and escape with extreme sports, addictions, and consumption.

I guess Superman and I still think of ourselves as spunky and our raising our children to not be afraid to forge their own paths.  Yes, this separation has been challenging, but it just doesn't seem so horrible to our family.  Dare I say?  It feels like an adventure.

So, I'll put it to you.  Are we still a spunky people or is wanderlust now a recessive trait?  Maybe you have it, feel it, but have found more socially acceptable ways to express that wanderlust like, say, extreme sports?   I'd love to know what you're thoughts are.

Food for Thought

"Breakdowns can create breakthroughs. Things fall apart so things can fall together."

-Anonymous

Have you ever looked back at hard times only to realize just how much that hard time helped you become a better person?

Honey Oatmeal Bread (aka Colonial Oatmeal Bread)

I like the One Hour Bread recipe that La Fuji Mama posted a while back.  It works so well for French toast and grilled cheese, but we've gotten used to hearty whole wheat bread for sandwiches and toast.  In my constant search for the "best ever" whole wheat bread, I'm always on the lookout for intriguing bread recipes.  This recipe for Honey Oatmeal Bread that Belle of the Kitchen added to the Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen Blog definitely fit the bill.  Honey, oatmeal and whole wheat.  It has some seriously healthy ingredients.  Seriously, how could I not try a recipe that had belonged to the blogger's father?  It had Daddy-cred, you know?

At first blush, the recipe looks complicated, right up until I read the part at the very end of the recipe that said you could use your bread maker.  At that point, I stopped worrying if I wasn't adding the ingredients into the bowl properly and just went for it.  (I can't do worse that a bread maker, right?)

Anyway, this bread was delicious.  It had a substantial crust that was oh so flakey.  It was hearty without being too dense.  The kids immediately thought of it as an accompaniment to a stew or the bread for a warm sandwich.  I'm going to make the recipe again, using it to make those sandwich thins.

Honey Oatmeal Bread
from Belle of the Kitchen

Ingredients:
4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 cups honey
4 Tablespoons butter
2 1/4 cups water
1 Tablespoon salt
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 whole egg

Preparation:

In medium bowl (or in saucepan), heat the butter and honey until the butter is melted.

Add the water; the mixture should be warm (120-130 degrees).  Stir in the yeast and let sit until bubbly, about 10 minutes.  (Making the sponge.)

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine salt, sponge (the yeast mixture), 2 cups of whole wheat flour and 1 cups of all-purpose flour.  With mixer on low, gradually blend liquid into dry ingredients until just blended.  Increase the speed to medium, mix for two minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.

Gradually beat in the egg and one cup of whole what flour to make a thick batter.  Continue beating for two minutes.  Stir in oats, 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of all-purpose flour.  Knead til smooth and elastic.  (Use more flour if the dough is too sticky...I added 1/2 cup more of all purpose.)

Place in greased bowl and cover.   Let rise in warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.  Punch dough down.  Turn onto floured surface; cover with the bowl and let rise for 15 minutes.  Shape into loaves and let rise for 1 hour in greased 9 x 5 loaf pans.

Bake at 350F for 35 to 40 minutes. 

(You can make the dough in a bread machine, using bread flour instead of all-purpose flour.  Use the dough mode setting for the largest size loaf.  Follow the recipe's directions for the second rise and baking.)

Shoot Me! 26 of 52

Right before I headed off to Seattle to bring my husband home, i was running errands like crazy and trying my absolute best to keep the secrets I carried around in my excited brain.  The kids and I drove the car through a car wash.  ($3 Thursday!) Why get my car cleaned before it was going to be splattered with bug guts, you ask?  Well, you'd have to know Superman, but I knew he was already going to be upset because my engine was, well, dirty.  Yep, Superman is one of those guys...the kind that keep their engines clean and revel in the compliments of the guy at the oil change place:  "Wow, you've got a mighty clean rig!"  in response to the view under the hood.  These type of men don't usually notice the outside of the car, but I was hoping Superman would take comfort in the shiny exterior of my "rig" and forgive me for not being man enough to wash the engine.

We even had the requisite "tri-color" foam that my kids think is absolutely vital to a clean car!

Anyway, I told the kids that a carwash was the perfect "shoot me" back drop.  So, here I am...grungy, hair pulled back with a clip and more excited about the next day than I've been in long time.  Can you tell?


Buttercup had no idea that she'd be seeing her daddy the very next day!

Neither did my boy Valiant!

Oh, I was so excited. And Superman would have a semi-clean car to distract him from his dirty engine.  It was definitely a good day!

Halfway through the year!  I've done 26 of 52 entries for Shoot Me!  I can't believe I've made it this far.  I can't say that I've actually enjoyed it.  I know that sounds weird, but seriously, I still haven't gotten used to taking pictures of myself.  I know Superman loves seeing pictures of me included with those of his family, though, and that helps me do it.  Maybe by the end of the year I'll be better at it.

Head over to Carin's place and join the others in the Shoot Me party.  (Her picture this week is sooo cool...you'll be totally impressed!)  So many of the participants have gotten so creative.  It encourages me to keep at it.

P.S.  I was right...Superman was horrified at how dirty his "rig" was, but he appreciated my efforts to impress him.

Dad is waaay more fun!

One of the things Valiant wanted to do with his dad was to build a small catapult.  (Okay, not really.  Valiant wanted to build a castle-storming-sized catapult, but met up with reality!)

This is what they whipped up one afternoon.  They had a blast.  Authentic down to the rope creating the tension, they were shooting that tennis ball across the cul de sac. Sounds like a great father-kid type of activity, doesn't it?  

I agreed.  Really, I did.  Right up until fire was added to the equation.

What?!  You thought I was kidding?  Nope.  They decided that using a burning tennis ball would be far more "cool" than just using a plan old tennis ball.

So, if the tennis ball was to be burned, of course we had to wait until dark to make it super cool, right?  Defeated, I elected myself as the official camera person and recorded it for posterity.  I'm glad I did.  Otherwise, we would have missed the "natives" dancing around the fire! 

There you have it!  Proof positive that Dad is WAY more fun.  He lets the kids burn stuff!

Semi Whole Wheat Waffles...

My friend Darcy Lee writes two blogs:  In This Season and Darcy's Kitchen Kapers .  If you haven't already discovered her, you should stop by for a visit.  She's just so gracious and I guarantee she'll have some good food for you to eat.  Just be sure to come by after work, as she's recently reentered the workplace and become an empty nester to boot!

Anyway, I shared Darcy Lee's original Whole Wheat Pancake and Waffle Recipe with you a while back (here).  It is really, really good and if you want a whole-wheat recipe, I still say you should try it.  Having said that, while Superman was home, I was looking to make waffles that were just a bit lighter, so I played with Darcy Lee's recipe and came up with the recipe below.  They turned out so well, that I stopped Superman from taking a bite and took a picture in the middle of breakfast!:

Semi-Whole Wheat Waffles
adapted from Darcy Lee's Kitchen Kapers

Makes 4 four-square waffles

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon soda
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup melted butter - cooled
2 eggs

Directions:

Plug in waffle iron to pre-heat.  Pre-heat oven to 225F

Mix together all dry ingredients:  flours, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and soda.  Set aside.

Combine cooled melted butter, buttermilk, and eggs.  Add all dry ingredients and mix just until all dry ingredients are incorporated.

Brush butter on waffle iron and pour batter onto heated, buttered waffle iron.  Cook according to the directions of your machine.

Place cooked waffle on oven safe plate, cover with a towel and place in oven.  Cook the remaining batter, adding finished waffles to the plate under the towel to keep warm and moist.  Serve with butter and syrup!

(Thanks again, Darcy Lee, this recipe is amazing!)