Bananas.......Yummmmm

Welcome back to the blogging world Pachey! Like I have stated previously, I haven't been cooking or baking much. Tonight, after the wee one went to bed, I decided to remedy that. I actually baked! Alert the media.

I had about five pathetic looking bananas and I didn't want them to go to waste. What do you typically do with overripe bananas? In my house, I make banana bread. Why mess with tradition right? However, I did mess with tradition. When I mentioned to my husband that I was going to make banana bread, he very kindly told me that I should look for a new recipe. He isn't fond of my old one apparently.

Off to trusty allrecipes.com. I typed in banana bread and used the very first recipe that came up. I only made one addition, which was the tasty and yummy addition of some chocolate chips. I personally think that chocolate chips and banana go together very well.

This recipe came together quickly, which is a positive in my house. You just never know when the baby is going to wake up. I also liked that it used up all five of my browning bananas. I had all the other ingredients on hand since they are regular baking staples.

This bread was delicious! Very moist and super chocolately with the addition of my chips. I had two pieces. After all, I have officially lost all my baby weight and I can afford to have a few extra calories in my diet. Yummmmm!

Banana Banana Bread
from: http://www.allrecipes.com/

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/3 cup mashed overripe bananas

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and banana until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Pour batter into pan.

3. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

* Note: I added the chocolate chips after the banana mix and flour mix were added. I did not stir very much because I didn't want to make the bread tough.

Back in the Saddle

I have been cooking lately, I assure you. I have just been making things that I have blogged about before. For example, last weekend I made Spaghetti Salad. Twice actually. I have already blogged about that. I also have made brownies recently (all of which I have blogged about). It's not really inspiring to write about nor read about things that I have already posted. So, here I am. I made a new recipe yesterday. Amazing!

I have a few zucchini from my garden. Stop. I must talk about this for a moment. Our weather this year has been bizarre to say the least. As a result, my garden stinks. Actually, it sucks. I got three zucchini from my three plants and a few tomatoes so far. That is it. I did get some peas and beans earlier in the season but they were so few to comment about. And about a dozen strawberries. Next year, I plan to do some things differently in my garden. I am only going to plant things I love. I will try peppers and cucumbers again, but I am going to move them to where they might do better.

Okay back to my thought. I had some zucchini to use, so I grated two of them into 2-cup portions and froze them. The third I used to make zucchini bread. My husband adores zucchini bread. However, he begged me to make his mom's recipe. While I love his mom's recipe, I have already posted about it. So, alas, I used another one that I have. It's from Martha Stewart. Sssssh, don't tell Jason. He thinks I made his mom's. The fact that he can't tell the difference is funny to me.

I love my Kitchenaid silicone bakeware. I have a loaf pan and it's always fun to pop your loaf out when it's done baking. The edges have gotten some use (you can see in the picture below). One day I will get more bakeware. Maybe for Christmas. Hint hint!

This zucchini bread is very easy and tasty. It could be modified to be more Weight Watchers friendly, but that isn't something I am worried about these days. More on that later. It has ingredients that you would have on hand in your pantry. The blend of spices really adds to the bread. Using grated zucchini with the skin on gives the bread a ton of moisture too.

So, no Weight Watchers for me. I had to actually discontinue my membership back in May. Why you ask? I am pregnant. They usually kick pregnant people out of Weight Watchers. This isn't to say that you can't still watch what you are eating while pregnant. I am certainly doing this. So far, I haven't gained any weight because I am a little "fluffy" to begin with. Yes, I probably should have lost another 20 pounds before getting pregnant, but whatever.

Back to food. This bread is delicious. With the addition of vegetables, it makes it slightly more healthy than eating a piece of chocolate cake with Crisco frosting. It also is much more rich because of brown sugar instead of all white. I also substituted canola oil for the vegetable oil. I do this in all my recipes since it's healthier than most other oils.

So, enjoy a piece (a small one) after dinner. Or with a cup of tea for breakfast. I did.

Zucchini Spice Bread
from: Martha Stewart's Every Day Food Magazine

1 3/4 cup grated zucchini, skins on
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoons nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon cloves
3/4 teaspoon salt

1. In a large bowl, combine sugars, oil, vanilla and eggs. Mix well. In a small bowl, combine flour, soda, powder and spices. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Fold in zucchini.

2. Pour into a 9x5x3-inch pan and bake for 45-55 minutes at 350 degrees.

Cornbread!

The title says it all. It doesn't need to say anymore because this cornbread was out of this world! Someone recommended it to me a few weeks ago (someone off the Nest, TYVM) and I am so glad I tried it. You will NOT be disappointed, I promise you. Plus, it makes tons, so you will have plenty left over to eat for dinner another night.

I splurge and buy really good quality cornmeal. I personally like Bob's Red Mill. I am not sure if it's widely available nationwide, but if you are on the West Coast, you can buy it at most grocery stores. I suggest investing in something other than a store brand cornmeal. I like mine stone ground and organic. I might be fooling myself, but I really think it tastes better.

I love love love how moist this cornbread is. If you can't stand overly sweet or underly sweet cornbread, this is the one for you! It's not too sweet and not too bland.

As always, it's easy to put together, which is a nice treat. I seem to be looking for more easy recipes as school and work get busier. Easy + Tasty = Happy Pachey

I had two pieces along side my Mexican Beans and Rice. They were the perfect pairing. You could have this cornbread with chili, soup, or any other dish that strikes your fancy. Shoot, it's healthy enough to eat for breakfast if you really wanted to.

Homesteader Cornbread

from: http://www.allrecipes.com/

1 1/2 cups cornmeal
2 1/2 cups milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a small bowl, combine cornmeal and milk; let stand for 5 minutes. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix in the cornmeal mixture, eggs and oil until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean.

Heating Pad

Yes, you read that right, I said heating pad. What does a heating pad have to do with cooking? Well my friends, it's a nifty tool in the kitchen. I saw this on "Good Eats" so I can't take the credit, but if you ever make yeast bread or rolls, it's a perfect technique to use to make the dough rise. Really! I have tried it twice now and it works beautifully.

Since I have been out of the cooking/baking loop for a couple of weeks, I wanted to make a special dinner. I have had this recipe stuck up on the fridge for a while now, so I thought, now's the time! I had all day to prepare dinner, so it was the perfect addition to my lazy Saturday cooking.

This is a light recipe, which is always nice. Easy, which is even better. Tasty, which is the best. The title says they are Bakery Dinner Rolls. Although mine didn't turn out quite as poofy as ones in the bakery, and the egg yolk wash turned them a strange color, they were still tasty.

The only thing I would do differently is to add a little more salt to the recipe next time.

I used my mixer to knead the dough. I slapped on the dough hook and let the mixer do all the work. So, in the recipe, where is says to knead, if you are so inclined, you can let your mixer do the work too!

Now, here's the crucial part. When the recipe says to let the dough rise, place the bowl or pan directly on top of a heating pad set on low heat. Really, it works wonders. It takes all the guessing out of whether or not you have the right temperature. Try it, you will be pleasantly surprised.

I am off to eat dinner and enjoy a warm roll. Pay no attention to the color (man behind the curtain). They were delicious. Cooking Light never steers me wrong.

Before the second rise.

After the second rise with the egg yolk wash. They look a little funny, which is probably why they turned out funny looking too.


Bakery Dinner Rolls
from: Cooking Light November 2008


2 tablespoons sugar
1 package dry yeast (about 2.25 teaspoons)
2/3 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
7.9 oz. all purpose flour (about 1.75 cups) divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
cooking spray
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten


1. Dissolve sugar and yeast in 2/3 cup warm water in a small bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Stir in butter.


2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 6.75 oz (about 1.5 cups) flour and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add yeast mixture to flour mixture; stir until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 4 minutes); add enough of the remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85 degrees), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. Press two fingers into the dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough. Punch dough down; cover and let rest for 5 minutes.


3. Divide dough into 12 equal portions, shaping each into a ball. Place 1 dough ball in each of 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 20 minutes or until doubled in size.


4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


5. Gently brush dough with egg yolk. Bake for 13 minutes or until browned. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 2 minutes. Remove rolls from pan. Serve warm or cool completely on wire rack.

Okay, so they look a little bizarre. They tasted good though. That is why you see three missing from this picture, tee hee.

An Uprising, Deux

If you read my blog (who am I kidding, no one actually reads this thing) you will notice that I made cinnamon rolls last weekend. Since I had extra yeast, I decided to try my hand at making rolls. I found the recipe on http://www.allrecipes.com/, my go-to place for a good recipe. I wanted rolls, but didn't have shortening to make them, so I found an alternate recipe using butter. To go alongside our herbed chicken, I thought the herbed rolls sounded delish! So, I went and gave the chives in my garden a haircut. I don't have fresh parsley, so I subbed it with dried parsley, dill, and some Italian seasoning.

I got to use my mixer! It's always a treat when I get to. So, off to make herbed rolls. I started these at about 3:30 with the intention to have them with our dinner, some time between 6:00 and 7:00.

The best part of making this was watching the yeast dissolve. I know, I am a weirdo. It is really fun to watch the bubbles, although it's slightly creepy that it's alive. If you ever need to get some aggression or anger out, kneading dough is a good way. Not that I really have any anger.........

Here is a fun trick for you: If you don't have a very warm place for your dough or rolls to rise, I stoll this trick from Alton Brown: Place the bowl on top of a heating pad, set to low. It works like a charm!

Here are the rolls all ready to be baked, after their second uprising:

So, enjoy these rolls. And for those that don't want the herbs, you can always omit them and use a little bit more flour to make up for it.

BTW, they do need butter or margarine after taking them out of the oven. It definitely adds a little something to the rolls.

Fresh Herb Dinner Rolls

from: http://www.allrecipes.com/

1 package (.25 oz) active dry yeast

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 cup warm water (110 degrees)

1 cup milk, room temperature

2 eggs

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

6 cups bread flour

1 egg white

2 tablespoons water

1. In a small mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in 1 cup warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the yeast mixture with milk, eggs, salt, butter, parsley, chives, and 4 cups flour. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough has pulled together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and put in a warm place to rise until doubled in volume, about one hour.

3. Grease two 9x13 inch baking pans. Deflate the dough, and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 24 pieces. Shape each piece into a round ball and place into the prepared pans. Cover the rolls with a warm, damp cloth, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg white with 2 tablespoons of water; brush egg wash over top of rolls.

5. Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

An Uprising!

Who doesn't love hot cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven? If you can honestly answer no to that question, there may be something wrong with you.

I haven't had a lot of experience with yeast breads, however, I thought I would take a shot at cinnamon rolls. I figure, even if I mess them up, they would still taste pretty decent.

These weren't terribly hard to make. The only thing that was worrisome for me was where in the world I was going to roll out my dough. Let me explain: My kitchen is tiny. Very very tiny. See proof below:

See? So, instead of rolling out the dough in my kitchen nook on our breakfast table, I decided to use the counter. I moved those canisters you see, and it worked out just fine!

I can honestly say that these were a success. They were easy, fun to make, and tasted really really good. I pulled the frosting recipe from another cinnamon roll finding on allrecipes, and the two recipes in combination were a hit! I normally don't like cream cheese frosting, but this wasn't overly cream cheesy (is that a word?).

See my progress in the pictures below.

Here is the dough all rolled out ready to rolled into the rolls. That's a lot of the word roll in one sentence. Doesn't the filling look yummy? I used the Makara cinnamon that Cinnabon sells.

All ready to go in the pan. Look how tiny they are!

Here they are halfway through rising. The picture looks funny because there is plastic wrap over them. I set the pan on top of my washing machine. It was the warmest place in the house since the sun comes through the window there. It ended up being the perfect place for them.

Here they are after completely rising.

Now it was into the fridge for a couple of hours until Jason got up to enjoy them also.

Cinnamon Rolls
from: http://www.allrecipes.com/

1 package (.25 oz) active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water (110 degrees)
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, room temperature
2.5 cups bread flour

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the sugar, salt, egg and 1 cup flour; stir well to combine. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.

3. Lightly grease an 8x8 square baking pan. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick rectangle. Smear the dough with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Roll up the dough along the long edge until it forms a roll. Slice the roll into 16 equal size pieces and place them in the pan with the cut side up.

4. Cover pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or cover and let rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, about 45 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake rolls until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Out of the oven. Yummmmm.

Cinnamon Roll Icing

1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons milk

1. Mix all ingredients together and spread over warm, not hot, cinnamon rolls.

Improvising

I had a dinner planned for Saturday and was really excited about it. When I looked more carefully at the recipes, I realized that I had forgotten to pick up some ingredients at the grocery store. My chili called for a 15 ounce can of tomato sauce, which I didn't have. I do quite a bit of cooking, yet I didn't have tomato sauce?!? I had spaghetti sauce, but knew that wouldn't be close enough. So, I improvised. In my pantry, I found a can of diced tomatoes. A few minutes in the food processor did the trick. It wasn't exactly sauce, but it was good enough.

So, I assembled my chili, and let it cook in the crockpot all day. Then, I went to make my jalapeno cornbread. Heaven help me, I had forgotten to buy buttermilk at the grocery store. I was going to use regular milk, but my innovative husband suggested some butter along with the regular milk. Guess what? It worked! Along with the butter, he suggested some cheese with the cornbread, so I added that as well.

The result was a tasty supper with some modifications. The chili could have used more spice. I should have chopped up a jalapeno from my garden and added it to the cooking chili. The cornbread was by far my favorite part though. It was moist, and had just enough cheese. I couldn't taste the jalapenos, but that's my fault. I didn't produce a very spicy crop of peppers this year.

Enjoy my improvisational meal (is that a word?) below. You probably are going to be more responsible than me though and make sure to have tomato sauce and buttermilk on hand.

Slow-Cooked Chili

from: Pillsbury One-Dish Meals Cookbook

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage (I suggest Hot)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 can (28 oz.) whole tomatoes, undrained, cut up

1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1 to 1.5 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 can (15 oz.) spicy chili beans, undrained

1 can (15 oz.) garbanzo beans, drained, rinsed

1. In large skillet, cook ground beef, sausage and onion until beef is browned and thoroughly cooked. Drain.

2. In crockpot, combine browned meat and onion with all remaining ingredients; mix well.

3. Cover; cook on low setting for 7 to 8 hours or until thoroughly heated.

Jalapeno Corn Bread

from: http://www.allrecipes.com/ with Pachey's modifications

1.5 cups cornmeal

1/2 cup flour

6 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

2 tablespoons butter melted

3/4 to 1 cup of milk

1/4 cup olive oil

3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In another bowl, whisk the eggs and oil. Melt the butter and add to a 1 cup measuring cup. Pour in milk until it fills the measuring cup. Add the milk/butter mix to the eggs and oil. Add to the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Stir in jalapenos and cheese. Pour into a greased 9-inch square baking pan.

2. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cut into squares or wedges. Serve warm.

Baking Fool

I have been a busy bee this weekend. Not only did I paint our entire pantry (I refinished that hardwood a couple of weeks ago), I went to Costco, the grocery store, Petco, weeded the gardens, cleaned the house, did about a billion loads of laundry, organized our computer room, and baked.

I baked a lot. Well, a lot for me at least.

I had three over-ripe bananas that I needed to use, and due to the bounty of my vegetable garden, had tons of zucchini. You know what that means?! Banana bread, and even better: Zucchini bread!

This is my mother in-law's recipe. Ssssh, don't tell her I posted it here. It's very good and rich because it's made with brown sugar rather than the traditional white sugar. When it's fully baked, I assure you it isn't burnt. It just browns up due to the sugar. I think this would be really tasty if you used raisins in the batter, but my husband forbid me. He can't seem to understand that sometimes, variating from the norm is OK! I didn't want to give him a heart attack by changing his mom's recipe. So, no raisins this time.

Now, I just need to get my very sore and tired butt off this chair so I can go enjoy some warm zucchini bread. Oh, and if anyones know what else I could do with zucchini, that would be great.

Zucchini Bread

from: Pachey's mother in-law Lynn

3 eggs

1 cup oil

2 cups packed brown sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups grated zucchini

3 teaspoons cinnamon

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoons baking soda

3 teaspoons baking powder

1. Mix eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl until creamy.

2. Mix all dry ingredients in a small bowl.

3. Slowly add dry ingredients to egg mixture and stir until combined.

4. Fold in zucchini.

5. Pour into two prepared loaf pans and bake at 325 degrees for an hour.

The picture below looks funny because someone (husband) snuck some bites off my piece before I noticed.

Chowda Chowda!

If you have ever seen that episode of the Simpsons where the use of the word chowder is argued, you will understand my title.

I don't like clam chowder. So what prompted me to make this? The picture looked good. Plus, there is no flour in this chowder. I think that's why I dislike clam chowder so much: it tastes like I am eating a big bowl of flour. Nasty!

This isn't exactly a summer food, but with the air conditioning on in our house, we can pretend like it's winter right? I was going to make rolls to go along with this, but someone mentioned BLT's and that sounded a lot better. BLT's it is! After all, I had a lot of bacon left over, and I didn't want it to go to waste.

This was tasty. Far tastier than eating a bowl of flour (blech). Plus, the addition of the BLT's was a nice addition. My husband, who doesn't care for tomatoes, had a BL rather than a BLT. Whatever. I will take his cast off tomatoes.

Corn and Clam Chowder

from: Pillsbury the Best of Classics Cookbook

2 slices bacon, cut up

3 medium potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (3 cups)

3/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

2 cups skim milk

2 cans (6.5 oz) minced clams, drained, reserving liquid

3/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 can (15 oz) cream-style corn

1 can (15 oz) whole kernel corn, drained

1. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until brown and crisp. With a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel to drain. Remove all but 1 tablespoon pan drippings from saucepan.

2. Add potatoes, onions and celery to drippings in saucepan; cook and stir 5 minutes. Add milk, reserved clam liquid, thyme and pepper; mix well. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

3. Carefully transfer 2 cups hot mixture to food processor bowl with metal blade or blender container; process until smooth. Return mixture to saucepan. Stir in cream-style corn, whole kernel corn and clams. Return to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 4 to 6 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally.

4. To serve, ladle chowder into individual soup bowls. Crumble reserved bacon; sprinkle over chowder.

Now, for the BLT's. I shouldn't have to explain how to make these, but for those who don't know.

Cook bacon, toast bread, slice lettuce and tomato. Slap mayonnaise on toasted bread, stack bacon, lettuce and tomato.

Cheesy Goodness

I wanted to serve something alongside my beef stew. I wanted to be a little more jazzy than just dumplings though, so I thought about biscuits. But not just any biscuits. I wanted something with a little more pizazz. So, I turned to my trusty recipe website: http://www.allrecipes.com/

I found a cheddar biscuit recipe that only took four ingredients. I had them all on hand, so what the heck?! The best part is that the recipe only makes five biscuit cups, so you won't have a ton of leftovers.

These turned out well. They have a crispy outside and a warm gooey inside. The only thing I would do differently would be to add some spices, like garlic powder, and maybe some parsley or other herbs.

These biscuit cups would go well with soup or chili or any other recipe that needs a bread side.

Cheddar Biscuit Cups

from: http://www.allrecipes.com/

1 cup self-rising flour *

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

In a small bowl, combine the flour and the cheese. Stir in milk and mayonnaise until just moistened. Fill five greased muffin cups two-thirds full. Fill empty muffin cups halfway with water. Bake at 425 degrees for 17-20 minutes or until golden brown.

If you don't have self-rising flour, use regular flour and add 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and half a teaspoon of salt.

Baking....Goooooood

Because it's the holidays, I tend to bake more than normal. I blame my husband for this. Every year, around Thanksgiving, he has to have his Spicy Chex Mix. He begs me to make it for him. I usually make a double or even a triple batch because, I admit it, the stuff is good. Very good. It's like crack. My prefered way to eat Spicy Chex Mix is with a spoon. Yes, a spoon. I don't subject myself to greasy, orange fingers this way. My husband finds this bizarre, and I am sure many of you out there probably will too.

Now, Chex Mix is not the only treat I bake around the holidays. Typically, I like to make Christmas cookies. I really don't feel up to baking cookies this year. For a reason why, read The Ancient Mixer and you will understand. So, instead, I will settle for some nice banana bread. What's not to love about fresh, warm from the oven banana bread? If you are feeling sassy, you can add some blueberries or even chocolate chips to the batter. One time, I even added shredded coconut. Good times. I can always count on Mrs. Betty Crocker to provide a yummy banana bread.

Curl up on the couch with a bowl of Spicy Chex Mix and watch the Saturday Night Live Christmas Special. By the time the Schweddy Balls skit rolls around, your tummy will be full and you will be laughing so hard your eyes will water. There is hardly anything better than that!

Spicy Chex Mix

from General Mills

6 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 and 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt

3/4 teaspoons garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1-2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce (add more if you want it really spicy)

3 cups Corn Chex

3 cups Rice Chex

3 cups Wheat Chex

1 cup nuts (peanuts are best!)

1 cup pretzels

1 cup cheese crackers (such as Cheez Its)

1. Heat oven to 250 degrees.

2. Melt butter in a large roasting pan in the oven. Stir in seasonings. Gradually stir in remaining ingredients until evenly coated.

3. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

Banana Bread

from Betty Crocker

2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons oil

3/4 cups milk

1 egg

2 to 3 medium ripened bananas, mashed

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 9x5x3 inch pan or two 8.5x4.5x3.5 inch loaf pans.

2. Measure all ingredients into large mixing bowl; beat on medium speed 1/2 minute, scraping side and bottom of bowl constantly.

3. Pour into pans. Bake 55 to 65 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.