Banana Nut Bread.

The weather is cool and rainy. I am wearing jeans, but just barely, after eating this delicious banana bread. I got the recipe from a bread recipe booklet called, Quick and Delicious Breads by Johna Blinn, that I got at Value Village for 99 cents. I have a feeling I will be making a few of these recipes in the coming months. (I also scored both my fall and winter coats at their big 50% off sale, but that's another story.) This is an old favourite and this recipe was pretty standard. Of course, because I am the Queen of Substitution, my banana bread will never taste the same twice. It may not even contain bananas. I added 2tbsp of molasses because I was out of vanilla, and used ground up trail mix instead of walnuts. I used yogurt instead of sour cream. I also didn't bother separating the nuts and sugar mixture and pouring on top as it suggested in the recipe. Yes, I said 'suggested'. I am not a big rule follower in the kitchen; The fewer bowls to wash, the better, I say. Here is the recipe that I sort of used as a guide, but didn't really follow at all, now that I look at it more closely :

Vanilla Banana Bread
Makes one 9 inch loaf
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
10 tblsps butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 cup mashed ripe bananas, (2 or 3)
1/2 c dairy sour cream

There is a big long explanation that I won't bother to transcribe here. The scoop with quick breads is: Dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in another. Pour wet into dry and don't over mix. Pour into greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees. The pan that I used here took an hour to bake. See if you can wait until the next day to eat, banana bread always has more flavour the next day. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving weekend medley

This is a child's tuque and scarf I knitted a couple of years ago. It was my first and last knitting project. I like knitting and I hope to get back into it this fall and winter. Somehow it's one of those things I put to the side in place of other, faster gratifications. This project was entirely knit in garter stitch which was funny because that was the only stitch I knew how to do. It made the knitting quite tedious and the toque a little baggy. I have since learned to purl and can now rib and make things stretchy. Gauge is still a bit of a mystery but I imagine the only thing for that is practice. I was lucky enough to receive a big box of yarn and a bunch of different sized needles from a fellow freecycler, so I have everything I need to pick up and knit again. All I need is the proper motivation. It is my hope that posting my one success will inspire me again. I also have crochet needles. Hmmm. Anyone a knitter? What are you making? Any tips for the novice??

In other news, I am growing out my hair. I used to be addicted to highlights and most of my family thinks that I am a natural blond because I wore it that way for so many years. In the last year and a half or so I have been growing out my natural color for a few reasons: a) I have no idea what it really looks like beyond a few inches of roots, although now I am beginning to see that I am what the french call chatain or a dark reddish blond. It's not nearly as bad as I feared and I do have natural highlights which are quite nice. b) my natural hair is so much softer and touchable than the bleached out hair and my natural curl comes out a lot better and c) highlights are expensive and it's one of those unnecessary expenses that I have been trying to pare down in an effort to be more budget conscious and frugal minded. On another note, my husband has told me he really likes my natural hair a lot better. So, there you go! It is a little dry on the ends from the last remaining bleach, so I gave it a bit of a trim and did a home hot oil treatment. I used olive oil and two steamy towels. You heat up a small damp towel in your microwave until steamy. While that is going, you distribute the oil through your hair until all the ends are well covered. Then you wrap it in the steamy towel. Not too steamy, of course, or you'll burn your head. Use common sense, please! While the second towel is heating, you get a hot oil treatment. Switch out the towels a few times then shampoo your hair and condition. Wow, what a difference!
Do you have any home beauty treatments you'd like to share? Recipes? Please leave a comment.
Happy Thanksgiving, Canada! I will try to post again before I go back to work.

Cookies and Cocoa

The weather has cooled off considerably around here and we have officially packed away all of the short sleeved shirts and unpacked the sweaters. With everyone out and about in school and at work we have already had the first round of cold and sniffles go through our house. That's when I decided to break out the chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate, using my home made chocolate syrup. This cookie recipe, that a co worker found on the Internet, apparently has an urban legend behind it, of which I had no prior knowledge. All I know is these cookies are darn good. They have a crispy outer edge with a soft chewy inside and when warm, the chocolate and coffee flavour remind me of a gourmet coffee shop cookie. I would gladly pay a dollar each for a cookie this good, although probably not $250 like the urban legend claims.

Neiman Marcus $250 Cookie Recipe

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

3 tbsp white sugar

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 c flour

1/2 tsp bking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp instant espresso powder

1 1/2 c semi sweet chocolate chips

Notes: We added mini marshmallows at work (just because we could, heh heh) and they were fantastic. At home, I added walnuts because that is what I had on hand. Next time, I will add something like pecans or chopped almonds. I also substituted drip coffee and it was still good, though the espresso powder did have better flavour. I wanted to see if I could make them with more frugal ingredients at home and the cookie tin was still emptied in record time.

Enjoy your cool weather delights!