What We've Made Recently

Here are the goods I've been baking and making in my kitchen for the past few weeks:
My husband brought some containers of strawberries home and I had planned to make strawberry bread for the longest time. I finally did and it was a lot darker than I knew it would be (maybe the extra vanilla and strawberry extract I added?) but it was so delicious!
I sliced some for us and it was devoured by our seven year old and the two oldest grandlittles, Emily and Caden. The recipe made two loaves so I sent slices for my niece's best friend and her mother and sent some home with my DIL for her husband:)

Strawberry Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh strawberries
3 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cups chopped pecans

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter and flour two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.
2. Slice strawberries, and place in medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle lightly with sugar, and set aside while preparing bread mixture.
3. Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in large bowl: mix well. Blend oil and eggs into strawberries. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, blending until dry ingredients are just moistened. Stir in pecans. Divide batter into pans.
4. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until tester inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn loaves out, and cool completely.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2010 Allrecipes.com

Vegetarian-if-you-eat-eggs- Tortillas

My DIL and I were getting all kinds of help in the kitchen from Emily (4) and Caden (2) while we held Hailey (8 months) and with all our help. . . managed a great lunch.
We heated tortillas on a griddle and topped them with sharp cheddar cheese, caramelized onions and garlic, topped that with a fried egg, added some butterhead lettuce leaves and shook some hot sauce on the top. We wrapped them burrito style and they were so good!
We also had Brandy's (DIL) sloppy joe's from the night before and they were WONDerful.

Today, Nana & Papa surprised us with bags full of produce and a darling visit. We talked at the table and emptied a whole pot of coffee. I fried some potatoes with Vidalia onions and cooked cabbage in the WOK and put them all together for lunch. I added garlic powder, onion powder, parsley, salt and pepper to the potatoes and sprinkled parmesan cheese shavings over at the last.

Summer days are setting in so I will share from what I make as we carry along. . . smiles.

Baking and Bananas!

Dear Creative Chefs,

My kitchen has been a place of great activity since I wrote to you last and should be so for another day or two. One might think we were starting a “banana bakery” by the looks of things. Yellow bunches with brown spots line an entire wall of counter space and call to be peeled, cut, smashed, and more!

The other day, my husband came home with a huge box of these bananas that he considered a great treasure for only $2.49! When he told me the price he paid, I must admit to expecting a bunch of black and rotting fruits. Imagine my delight at discovering beautifully ripened bananas with a yellow skin similar to sun beams from a late afternoon sky!

If you want to browse through some interesting web sites on bananas and possibly find some nice recipes --- visit this webpage:

http://galileo.spaceports.com/~banana99/

Please visit knowing I haven’t checked out all the sites on here and have no idea what the content might be. I did find the one on Australian Bananas adorable:)

Be prepared for frustrating pop ups as I’m finding more and more need to battle lately!

The Lord provided a way to share all of the calories! Hand mixed lovein the breads and from scratch puddings I’ve made so far were available to give! There has been something to serve to my precious friend of 15 years who has been out of the US and then out of this state for some time now. Our visiting was done with a cup of coffee in one hand and a chunk of banana nut bread in the other!

There was pudding to serve ---not only to my thrilled kids (we don’t eat things like this often:) but my nieces and nephews as well.

Blake’s mom has been sick with the flu for 2 weeks and it was so nice to fill containers with the banana pudding they love so much and deliver to them. The recipe came from their nanny of many, many years. She started out when my husband was a little thing:)

Having so much to offer from my kitchen and seeing how happy it made those gracing our door reminded me of the need for prepared hospitality! I have enjoyed collecting make ahead coffee cakes for the freezer (that I lost the recipe to and could just cry over it!) quick and sweet breads, casseroles that go from freezer to oven and more. So much has been going on in our lives that these gifts for serving Christ by loving others haven’t been available. I am making a note in my book to start this beautiful tradition back and it will start with banana bread! It is just a delight to have something ready for any kind of unexpected angel!

The two recipes I used for bread came from allrecipes.com. I have my cookbooks easily accessible and hope to use more from them this year but it is nice when in a hurry to have one with reviews!

Banana Bread I
This is our family favorite. (notes from allrecipes site)
Prep Time: approx. 15 minutes.
Cook Time: approx. 1 Hour .
Ready in: approx. 1 Hour

15 Minutes. Makes 2 - 7x3 inch loaves (16 servings).
Printed from Allrecipes, Submitted by Nikki

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1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 bananas, mashed

Directions
1 Grease and flour two 7x3 inch loaf pans. Preheat oven
to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2 In one bowl, whisk together flour, soda, salt, and
sugar. Mix in slightly beaten eggs, melted butter, and
mashed bananas. Stir in nuts if desired. Pour into prepared pans.
3 Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour, or
until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Janet's Rich Banana Bread

This is the moistest banana bread that I have ever
tasted. It's also very easy to make! (notes from allrecipes site)

Prep Time: approx. 10
Minutes. Cook Time: approx. 1 Hour . Ready in: approx. 1 Hour
10 Minutes. Makes 1 - 9x5 inch loaf (15 servings).
Printed from Allrecipes, Submitted by Virginia

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1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 medium bananas, sliced

Directions
1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a
9x5 inch loaf pan.
2 In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter and
sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix well. Combine the flour,
baking soda and salt, stir into the butter mixture until
smooth. Finally, fold in the sour cream, walnuts and bananas.
Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3 Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 60 minutes,
or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf
comes out clean. Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before
removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

I made 4 loaves of bread between these two recipes and 4 (13X9X2) pans of banana pudding between the following two recipes:

Miss Dovey’s Banana Pudding Recipe

Miss Dovey is in her 80’s and she started preparing this recipe from her mother’s instructions when she was 8 years old! I have yet to make it quite like hers but I’m getting closer each time I try:)

I’ll write it as I wrote it while this dear woman was making this in my kitchen as I watched.

6 eggs. Separate the whites and put them aside.

You just mix these yolks with 2 cans of milk and anything that will hold about a cup of sugar…don’t matter what it is. Stir these until they good and mixed and… oh, yeah, don’t forgit the vuhnilluh flavorin’ …a spoon or so.

When it’s good and mixed, put it in a pot on the stove at high heat until boiling … makin’ sure to never miss a stir. The stirring has to keep going without one step away from it. Once it reaches boiling like “this here” you turn down the heat a bit and keep stirring like I told you.

When it gits “like this” … (*thickens*)… take off from stove and put in a pan you already put a layer of nilla wafers in and a layer of sliced bananas over those. (Cookies, sliced bananas, then pudding mixure) and just keep layering these until you are done.

Get your oven good and hot while you are mixing up your egg whites with a teaspoon of sugar. When it is whipped up nice, spread it on top of your pudding and bake until it’s good and brown.

Banana Pudding

From: “Southern Cooking” by Mrs. S.R. Dull (a book "Grandmother Willoughby" owned)

2 dozen vanilla wafers

6 bananas

1 pint sweet milk

3 eggs

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Pinch of salt

First make a boiled custard of the milk, sugar and yolks of eggs. To this add vanilla and salt. Into a pudding dish put a layer of the wafers, then a layer of sliced bananas. Over this put a portion of the custard. Repeat untl all is used; usually three layers of each is required, having bananas and sauce on top. Make meringue of the three egg whites, using three extra Tablespoons of sugar; put on top and bake in moderate oven until brown, about 10 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

As with any of the recipes I will share in these letters from my kitchen (unless there are some tried and true by others and/or very special to make exceptions to this ruleJ) --- all recipes shared here have been tried by my hand and turned out well. The banana breads and puddings went in a matter of hours!

One last “gift” I’ll share is something to make you feel nurtured after all the kitchen work!

Enjoy the following creative use of your bananas (and other fresh fruits!)

Bananas are great “grab-and-it” treats because all one has to do is peel, eat, and throw away the natural wrapper. This sweet fruit can be included in recipes from bread to meats. Another delectable way to find full use in bananas is in natural beauty treatments! In the book, “Natural Beauty For All Seasons” by Janice Cox, I found out that since bananas are rich in potassium, Vitamins A, B, and C --- they “help replenish moisture and shine”.

Even though I have written that I wouldn’t share a recipe until it was tried and true by me… I’m making an exception since this isn’t to eat! I am going to whip this up tonight and try it on my hair so if you want to wait to see if I post a horrible review of the experience before trying it yourself… feel free! :)

Banana Hair Conditioner

(from the above mentioned book!)

1 mashed banana

1 Tablespoon honey

Mix together the banana and honey until smooth and creamy. Wet your hair with warm water and massage the conditioner into your hair and scalp. Wrap your hair in plastic wrap or use a towel around your head, and let the mixture condition your hair for 20 minutes. Rinse your hair well, and shampoo and condition as usual. You will notice that your hair seems thicker and your shampoo will really lather.

Yield: 2-3 ounces, enough for 1 treatment.

Love,

Sandy

©2004 Sandy Willoughby

No Bake Cookies

"I am still convinced that a good, simple, homemade cookie is preferable to all the store-bought cookies one can find."
James Beard

Lauren and I wanted something sweet today but we didn't want to spend a lot of time or make a lot of mess. She was putting together a tuna casserole for dinner and I was batch cooking chicken. We remembered how good these no bake cookies were when her friend spent the night (thanks for the idea, Raven!) so we had a batch scooped into rows on the counter in minutes!

No Bake Cookies V

Rated: 5 out of 5 by 346 members

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour

Ready In: 1 Hour 10 Minutes
Yields: 36 servings

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup margarine 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
3 cups quick cooking oats

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, cocoa, milk and margarine. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, salt, peanut butter and oats.
2. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Allow cookies to cool for at least 1 hour. Store in an airtight container.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2008 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com 10/7/2008

A Clean & Orderly Kitchen

I have been working all day on my kitchen. So much work goes on in that room and it is the first area you walk into upon entering our home. It was due for a mighty make over!

My 14 year old daughter and I started in the morning and worked in sections. We would take everything off of one set of shelves, vacuum and give a good scrub and replace only the items we wanted kept there.

We kept the dishwasher running and I hand washed dishes throughout the day. There were jars, containers , and much more in need of a good washing.

We tackled two sets of white shelves (hand made by my husband) and two sets of stainless steel shelves he anchored in place a few years ago. After those, we rolled up our sleeves and we aimed for the pots and pan bar. My husband designed and built a heavy wooden beam right under the ceiling between our kitchen and dining room. He added rows of silver hooks and I have a place for two rolling pins on the front, my cast iron collection hangs all on the left and the stainless steel pots & pans are on the right. ALL of these came down piece by piece. I washed and seasoned each cast iron piece and made sure the others were clean as well. My teen girl used cleaner to get what she could clean and everything went back up. We may have to get aggressive where some stains remain after a pressure cooker shot hot grease all over it some time ago. We cleaned it immediately when it happened and I’ve tried to scrub it clean since but it just hit with such force… all of it hasn’t been easy to remove.

Cabinets, counters, and drawers all followed and every appliance was polished cleaned and rearranged. It is so nice to have spices all in one place again, baking supplies together, measuring cups and spoons nestled like babies in blankets!

Storage containers are all wiped down, every piece has a place and there is a place for everything… well, almost. There is still that junk drawer… but I won’t let that steal my joy.

I’m ready for the coming menu now and look forward to putting my now clean kitchen to use in serving those the Lord has blessed me to serve.

May His presence fill this constant used Kitchen and the humble home it lives in.

Sunday

"Life, within doors, has few pleasanter prospects than a neatly arranged and well-provisioned breakfast table."
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)




Our son and his girlfriend came home to each of their families this weekend and met back up this morning here for breakfast. It was a place and way to spend some time together since we might not see them again until Christmas.

We had little ones crawling and playing with a firetruck in one room, running and jumping in another, and helping me in the kitchen. It was nice to hear everyone talking, laughing and spending time in one place.

I got the coffee cake in the oven first since it took the longest to make and then started the pancakes and two pans of bacon. Coffee was kept on the stove so all the cups could keep being refilled and the scrambled eggs with cheese were done last.

My sister ended up stopping by on her way to see her daughter here in town and she flipped pancakes on the cast iron, stove-top grill plate while I finished the other foods. My DIL, son's gf, and daughter all served the plates out as stack after stack of pancakes were made ready. {Smile}
They guys talked and did whatever they were doing in the dining and living room while all the kitchen activity was happening.

The name for the pancakes was unusual but they had high reviews and I wanted to make sure all my buttermilk was used up today while it was fresh! Here are the recipes:

Truck-Stop Buttermilk Pancakes
Submitted by: BOBOBEARZOE
Rated: 5 out of 5 by 290 members Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 5 Minutes Ready In: 15 Minutes
Yields: 12 servings

INGREDIENTS:
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
6 tablespoons butter, melted
5 cups buttermilk
5 cups all-purpose flour 5 teaspoons baking powder
5 teaspoons baking soda
1 pinch salt (optional)
5 tablespoons sugar

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, butter and buttermilk. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar; stir into the wet ingredients just until blended. Adjust the thickness of the batter to your liking by adding more flour or buttermilk if necessary.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side. Continue with remaining batter.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2008 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com 9/28/2008

Blueberry Buttermilk Coffeecake
Submitted by: BATA
Rated: 5 out of 5 by 116 members Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Cook Time: 45 Minutes Ready In: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
Yields: 12 servings

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter
1 1/3 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups buttermilk
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups blueberries

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup white sugar
6 tablespoons butter, softened

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. Sift together 4 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter and 1 1/3 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing just until incorporated. Sir in blueberries. Pour batter into prepared pan. In a small bowl, combine 2/3 cup flour and 2/3 cup sugar. cut in 6 tablespoons butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over top of batter.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2008 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com 9/28/2008