Bottom of Barrel Baking & a Very Real Photo Tutorial

We've had a little collection growing in the freezer. I wanted to start baking with a few earlier this summer, but I thought the oven was broken. I say 'thought' because one day it didn't work, then 10 bananas later I realized it did 'miraculously' work. So, today I had enough of staring at black bananas in the freezer, and of digging into the chocolate chip bag whenever I needed a chocolate fix. They both had to go.

I googled, "Banana Chocolate Chip" and printed 3 recipes - cake, muffins and bread. I thought I might get to all today, then realized that I was quite low on staple ingredients, so the bread won out.

I love beautiful photo tutorials that you find all over the blogosphere. Crisp, stylized photos of step-by-step instructions for recipes and crafts and such. So, here is my version of a 'real' low-staged tutorial. I just grabbed the camera and tried to capture the process. Above is that shot that shows you everything you'll want to gather if you want to follow along. I've got photos of Grady opening every drawer and pulling out dangerous items I need to move. I settled on sharing this one as it appears he is helping by making sure we are using a clean cup. Actually, he's used to getting treats in these cups, so I'm sure that's what he's checking out. As you can kinda see, you'll need 1/2 cup butter, softened, 1.5 cups sugar, a tbsp. vanilla, 3 large very ripe bananas, mashed, 1/3 cup sour cream, 1/3 cup buttermilk (I had to make it by mixing 1 tbsp. vinegar with 1 cup milk), 2.5 cups unsifted cake flour (somehow I had this on hand) 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/4 tsp. baking powder and 1.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Oh, and 2 eggs.

Preheat oven to 350. The recipe said to lightly grease a 10" tube pan or use 5 greased & floured mini loaf pans. Here's what I could ocme up with.

In large bowl, cream together butter & sugar until light & fluffy. Stir in eggs one at a time, beating each time. Stir in vanilla. Mix in mashed bananas. I should note here that it bugs me when a photo tutorial skips one of the more interesting steps. Slicing the frozen skins and mashing the bananas was fun, but my camera was already too close for comfort in this project, so I left it alone during that process.

Next step - avoid tripping over open washer & tricycle in the middle of the kitchen on your way to combine the flour, salt, baking soda & powder.

Note that sugar and salt need to be added to shopping list.

Also, vanilla. (Here is a lovely shot of my catch-all garbage bag in the sink as I work.)

After stirring in the flour mixture into the sugar/banana slop, take the time to test the chocolate chips before folding them into the mixture. There may be 3 or 4 shots of this on my camera.

Pour batter into prepared pans. I only ended up using 2 of my bread pans.

Now, pop 'em in the oven for 35 - 45 minutes. Then, check to see what son has been doing this whole time...

""Nothing to see here, Mom - bye, bye!"

OK, I hear daughter stirring...

"Hey! What took you so long?!"

Oh! Bananas!

Back to see what son is up to now...

Ok, he's fine.

Now to clean while we wait, and to supervise...

Uh, oh... this won't be pretty.

Anna doesn't get all the fuss.

Helping to put the spinner back on the bike I notice a little artwork.

Now to check on the breads. Here they are at 35 minutes. Somewhat golden, but not popping back up to the touch. Knife test -sloppy.

A few more minutes, not really sure just kept checking and voila!

The lovely underside...

This next shot is blurry as I'm rushing it to my mouth!

And, of course we have to clean the pan.

Now, fast forward a few hours.

I'm on the phone and I hear a bang!

Followed by that cry that says, you oughta check out what that bang was.

Oh, dear!

He was horrified. I'm sure just because he thought he wouldn't be able to eat it now. I was just surprised he wasn't quiet about the whole thing and just stuffing his face.

The photo might make it look as though the floors are clean, but they. are. not.

Did that stop us from enjoying a treat?

Are you kidding?

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

My boss was telling me how she's trying to make a new soup every week, and I thought that would be a nice little project for my Fridays at home - make a soup to enjoy over the weekend. I've had a butternut squash sitting on the counter for a while now waiting to be enjoyed, so I googled "butternut squash soup" and the first recipe I found was perfect, since I happened to have all the ingredients despite not being to a grocery store in at least 2 weeks.

Here is what I found: http://www.finedinings.com/Butternutsquashsoup.htm

I substituted dried thyme for fresh and I added the bacon (Matt's breakfast leftovers) because it just seemed like there wasn't enough fat in it already! I like my little "star" effect, but my "cream drawing" skills leave a lot to be desired. Oh, well - it didn't look like this for long.

The recipe said it would make 6 - 8 servings. Well, then, I'm a pig! I made myself leave about a cup to enjoy the next day. Mmmmmmmm...it's sooooo goooood.

Baking With "Grammie"

Grady & I spent Saturday at Grammie's baking for the holidays! He was so good about entertaining himself and "talking" to us as we worked, along with a few naps in between and a good couple licks from the dog (who may or may not have been a little jealous!)


Thank you, Laurie, for sharing your recipes and helping me get prepared! I so enjoyed spending the whole day in "Blakey's Bakery" with you. It feels so good to have homemade gifts already prepared and ready to 'dress up' when needed.

We made chocolate and peanut butter fudge, and...

22 mini bread loaves - Zucchini, Pumpkin & Lemon!


14 logs of cookie dough - "$250 Cookies" (oatmeal, chocolates, nuts) and
Pecan Sandies - shared here...

2 sticks butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup oil
1 cup oats
1/2 cup fine chopped nuts
1 tsp. vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

Cream butter & sugar until fluffy. Stir in egg, then oil. Mix well. Then mix in oats, nuts & vanillal. Stir in flour/baking soda/salt.

Drop on ungreased sheet by teaspoon ful. Bake in 350 degree oven for 10 min. Cool on cookie sheet - pat with fork before completely cool.

What's for dinner?

My friend Penny just turned me on to this website CopyKat Recipes where you can find recipes created to mimic popular restaurant dishes.

Perhaps in my current busty shape I could pull off Hooters chicken wings, with some coleslaw ala KFC on the side!

WANTED: Pecan Pie Recipe

OK, I need a good Pecan Pie Recipe. The two I've ever made have come out flat and runny. They taste good, but I'm looking for a nice thick gooey pie.

Any suggestions?

Berries & Cream Pie

I experimented yesterday to make a berry, berry pie.

Bake ready-made 9" deep dish crust.

Combine about 4 tbsp. flour, 3 scoops sugar, pinch nutmeg & cinnamon, added to 1 bag fresh frozen mixed berries (blackb, raspb, strawb, blueb), about 4 tbsp. lemon juice. Mash and cooked over med.high

Cream together 1 pkg. neufchatel (sp?) cheese with a few scoops of sugar and a tsp. almond extract.

Let everything cool. Layer cream-cheese first, then top with berry mixture. Chill.

I sliced a few rectangles and a circle out of puff pastry and baked them, then topped the pie laying them out like a sun. Very Yummy! Matt liked it heated up, too.

Blueberry Satin Smooth Cream Pie

Matt's been asking me to pick up fresh blueberries and cherries. "This is when you should buy lots of them. I could eat them all the time when they're fresh like this. And, cherries, too...I love those cherries!"

So, last night, I bought lots of blueberries (2.99 a pint) and decided I'd make a pie. I've never made blueberry pie. I thought I'd just add some sugar and flour and see what happened. Luckily, I flipped through The Good Housekeeping Cookbook, 1963 and found the recipe below.

But, I also bought a big bag of cherries. So, when it came time for dessert, Matt had been snacking on those and passed on the blueberry pie!!! Oh, well, I indulged in 2 pieces!

Blueberry Satin Smooth Cream Pie

Bake one 9-inch pie shell as directed on package.
(Deep dish works well.)Cool completely.

(Sprinkle shell with confectioner's sugar to prevent sogginess.)

Prepare 1 pkg. vanilla pudding & pie mix with 2 cups of milk as directed on package, but add 2 tbps. butter and 1/4 tsp. vanilla or lemon extract.

Pour into bowl, cover surface with wax paper and refrigerate until cold. (If time is short, omit wax paper, chill 5 min. and pour into shell.)

Once cold, beat with a spoon until smooth. (funny, I forgot to do this, no wonder my silk-smooth pie was lumpy - but yummy!!)

For Blueberry topping:

Combine 1 tbsp. cornstarch (I used 2 tbs. flour) and 2 tbsp. sugar. (I added a pinch each of nutmeg & cinnamon.)

In saucepan, add 1 cup blueberries, sugar mixture, 1 tbsp grated lemon rind & 1 tbsp. lemon juice
(I didn't have a lemon and ended up using 3 tbsp. lemon juice to moisten mix)

Cook over low heat, mashing and stirring until it thickens and liquid is more clear. Then, add another cup of blueberries, cool slightly.

Carefully spoon over cooled cream filling in pie shell (mine was thick, so I smeared it as best I could, and left space on the sides to fill-in with piped whipped cream after). Refrigerate until served. Garnish with fresh blueberries.