Cool Site

I heard about this site on our local radio station this morning (KDKA). Even though the weather is so easily accessable anymore, it's a fun way to find out on this site too.


http://www.doineedanumbrella.com/

Banana Crunch Muffins

I have found that it's really hard to come up with creative recipes using bananas. At least ones that my kids will eat. Searching my recipes and the internet usually gets me the usual Banana cake, banana splits, banana smoothies. This time I decided to search Food Network. I found this recipe by Barefoot Contessa, one of my favorite people on Food Network! The site even includes a clip from her show letting you see how she makes the recipe, which I find immensely helpful. These muffins took less time than I thought and came out beautifully.

Banana Crunch Muffins

3 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

2 tsps. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 salt (I omitted since I used salted butter)

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 extra large eggs (I used large eggs)

3/4 cup whole milk (I used skim)

2 tsps. vanilla extract

1 cup mashed bananas (2 bananas)

1 cup medium diced bananas (1 banana)

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup granola (I used Just Bunches cereal ground up a bit and 1/4 cup oats)

1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

Dried Banana chips, granola, or shredded coconut, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin pans with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Line with cupcake liners.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into bowl of an electric mixer. Add the cooled butter and blend on slow speed. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas in a bowl. Add the mixture to the flour and butter mixture in the electric mixer bowl. Mix on low, scrapeing the sides as needed. Do not over mix.

Fold in sliced bananas, walnuts, granola, and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each cup to the top. Top each muffin with dried banana chips, granola or coconut, if desired.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until tops are brown and toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Makes about 18 muffins.

"As for butter versus margarine, I trust cows more than chemists."
-Joan Gussow

Better Than ? Chocolate Cake

I know what you are thinking and yeah, that is what this cake usually is called. But since I have little ones, I can't say that! So for now, it's Better than fill in a fun family activity here chocolate cake :) Anyway you call it, this cake is good! Lots of chocolate and very easy to make, it is fun to throw together and you can add or alter any of the additions to the basic cake to make it what you like. For me, I added different chips and left out the pecans. Everyone here liked the results. I hope you enjoy this one!

Better than ? Chocolate Cake

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain devil's food cake mix

1 package (6 ounces or 1 cup) semi sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup pecans

1 package (3.9 ounces) chocolate instant pudding mix

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

4 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Frosting of your choice

Spray and flour one tube pan. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place 2 tablespoons of cake mix, chocolate chips and pecans in a small bowl. Stir together and set aside.

Place remaining cake mix, the chocolate pudding, sour cream, oil, water, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Beat on low speed for 1 minute, scraping sides as needed. Increase speed to medium and beat 2 to 3 minutes more, scraping sides as needed. Batter should be well blended. Fold in chocolate chip mixture and mix until well distributed. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing top with spatula.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until the top springs back when touched. Remove pan and let cool 15 minutes. Using a butter knife, run it along the outer rim of the cake, separating it from the pan. Invert the cake onto a cooling rack then invert onto a plate when cooled completely. Frost and decorate as desired.

"Anybody who believes that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach flunked geography."
-Robert Byrne, quoted in 1,911 Best Things Anybody Ever Said, 1988

Cowboy Cookies

Things are finally getting back to a semi normal routine with the kids settling into school and routines getting set. After all the stress from the starting school, the kids wanted nothing more than to snuggle up and watch a movie last weekend. We decided on the movie Up (which is fantastic, even for adults!) and as we were watching it, the kids wanted something sweet to eat. So I baked these cookies. We nearly made ourselves sick eating them! They are so good, full of wonderful chunks of chocolate and oats, my favorite. The recipe makes 4 to 5 dozen so you may want to cut it in half, unless you really love cookies like I do!

Cowboy Cookies

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup peanut butter (I used Dark Chocolate peanut butter)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups quick cooking oats

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips or chunks (I used chunks)

1 cup coarsely chopped peanuts or pecans (I omitted these and substituted white chocolate chips)

Lightly grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and peanut butter with granulated sugar and brown sugar, until creamy. Beat in vanilla and eggs until smooth. Stir in the flour mixture then oats, chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop cookie dough by tablespoonful onto a prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned on edges.

Cool completely and store in tightly sealed container.

From: Southernfood.about.com

Carl Fredricksen: Hey, let's play a game. It's called "see who can be quiet the longest."
Russell: Cool! My mom loves that game!
-from the movie "Up"

Glazed Lemon Pound Cake

This is one of my all time favorite recipes. A friend of mine gave it to me and every time I make it, I think of her. The cake is so easy. And it's so good. Sweet, tart and moist, it would be perfect for a get together of any kind.

Glazed Lemon Pound Cake

4 eggs

1 package of 2 layer cake mix, without the pudding

1 3.75 ounce package instant lemon pudding mix

1/3 cup oil (I use applesauce instead for less calories)

3/4 cup water

Beat eggs until thick and lemon colored. Add the cake mix, pudding mix, oil (or applesauce), and water. Beat at medium speed for 5 minutes. Pour into an ungreased bundt pan or 10 inch tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. Cool before removing from pan.

Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup lemon juice

In a saucepan, combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, stirring as it boils. Using a toothpick, poke holes over top and sides of warm cake. Pour warm glaze over the cake, using a plate underneath to catch drips. Decorate with lemon slices, if desired.

"When someone asks if you'd like cake or pie, why not say you want cake and pie?"
-Lisa Loeb

Outrageous Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Wow. I made it. I feel a bit like Chevy Chase on Christmas Vacation at the end of the movie when he says, "I did it". Two and a half weeks of a house full of company, orientations for school, doctors appointments, karate lessons, and trips to zoos and amusement parks and a house renovation (we are adding a front porch). We even went through a possible adoption situation on top of all that. It didn't turn out :( but it worked out for the best (the kids were acting out too much to bring them into a family with other kids). I'd be lying my pants off if I said I wasn't a bit relieved when it was all over. Sad in a big way too with missing my brother and especially his kids, but happy to get the house back in order, the kids off to school, and some sanity in my schedule.
To vent some of the stress from our end of summer blast of fun, I baked cookies from a new recipe last night. Talk about your stress relievers; these cookies turned out better than I had hoped! I adapted them from a Martha Stewart recipe, changing some of the ingredients to what I had on hand. If you decide to try these (and I hope you do, they are to die for!), make sure you only bake them for the time recommended, just when they start to crack on the outside and are still soft. Store them in a sealed container and they will stay soft for 2 to 3 days.

Outrageous Chocolate Chunk Cookies

1 cup (8 oz.) semi sweet chocolate chips

4 tablespoons butter (I used salted but unsalted works too)

2/3 cup all purpose flour, spooned and leveled

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt (I used 1/4 tsp. due to using salted butter)

2 large eggs

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 package of semi sweet chocolate chips (I also threw in 1/2 cup white chips and 1/4 cup Reese's mini peanut butter pieces)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Heat semi sweet chips and butter in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave at 20 second intervals, mixing as needed, until melted. Remove and cool slightly.

In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and beat in the melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chips.

Drop dough in rounded tablespoons on baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets for about 10 minutes then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Audrey: Do you sleep with your brother? Do you know how sick and twisted that is?
Ellen: Well, I'm sleeping with your father. Don't be so dramatic.
-Christmas Vacation (1989)

Be Right Back.....

Just letting everyone know that I probably won't be able to blog for the next few weeks. My brother is coming home on leave (Navy) from Cuba and will be shipping out back to the war early September, so this will be our last visit for a long while. He is also bringing my niece and nephew so my kids are all beside themselves about getting to see their cousins, who live several hours away.

So, needless to say, with a houseful of company and school starting August 30th, I'm one crazy woman! If I get a chance to sit down, I'll attempt to blog. But I'm hoping that if I don't get a chance until school starts, I will at least have some great recipes to share. My brother loves to cook and I'm sure he has some good ones up his sleeve!

I'll still be reading everyone's blogs so I hope to at least stay in touch.

Enjoy the rest of summer! Soon, we'll all be talking about the fall foliage!