Banana Cake Recipe

The cake turned out pretty well! Next time I wouldn't add so much sugar to the frosting, it turned out really rich. But it was pretty good! I also added extra lemon :)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed, ripe
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 1/8 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups icing sugar

Garnish
chopped walnuts

Directions
1Preheat oven to 275°.
2Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.
3In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with the lemon juice; set aside.
4In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
5In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy.
6Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla.
7Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk.
8Stir in banana mixture.
9Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for one hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
10Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist.
11For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth.
12Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
13Add icing sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed until frosting is smooth.
14Spread on cooled cake.
15Sprinkle chopped walnuts over top of the frosting, if desired. (I used blueberried and banana slices)

We took the cakes out of the oven too early, so it kind of sunk in the middle. Oh well, I liked it!

Sweet Stories from the Old Shelf

Cooking Whine III

Here are my thoughts about cooking with wine and etc.:
1. Food tastes really good cooked in wine.
2. Wine and other such beverages are against the Word of Wisdom.
3. Some people say the alcohol cooks out.
4. Some people say it doesn't.
5. Whether it does or doesn't I don't know if it is still keeping the spirit and the law of the commandment to use it, and I always feel a little uncomfortable doing it.
6. So I am not going to cook with it any more, but I will not have a problem eating what the other chefs in my home prepare for me, even if cooking wine is included!
7. Check out this website for substitutes: gourmetsleuth.com/alcoholsubstitutes.htm
8. I love you and I love food!

Books for Christmas

I had so much fun in my recent post on our Marshall's blog thinking of some of my favorite children's books. The Evans' here have a really great library of children's books, and it's really gotten me excited to keep building my own library. Then, I had an idea :)

How about for Christmas we all give each other books? We could do it a few ways- we can either have each person give everyone else a book, or we can draw names like last year but this time we give books. I was thinking that could be fun, and then we could do that every year. Mom and Dad, you could decide if you wanted to be included in that or not. Abraham could be included in that drawing, and if we did it every year, it would take . . . about ten years to do everyone. But by that time we would have more kiddies around.

It wouldn't take as long if Mom and Dad weren't involved, and I'm not sure how likely it is that Dad would read Treasure Island . . . ? But maybe Mom and Dad could be one person. They can decide. Andrew and Abe and I want to be 3 people so we can get more books :) But you get the idea. If we drew names a little early, we could be thinking of what books to get that person and find a good price on Amazon or something. But if we did it this early most people would forget. We can still wait a couple months, but I got excited :)

Another part of this thinking was that maybe the Evans cousins could do a book exchange, too. It has potential to be a little more expensive than a white elephant, but it doesn't have to be. If we decide now and get the word out, people can have that in mind when the scholastic book fair comes around.

I love books!

Cooking Wine

Well, our cooking wine vote ended up 1/2 and 1/2. I call upon Mom to do a little synopsis, listing the pros and cons. I don't even know what cooking wine is, how it's different, how people justify it or think it's wrong.

Thanks,

Bub

The Shining Moments

Laurel loves to read, and we're trying to give her some great book ideas for the summer. What do you recommend? In addition to fiction, she likes natural history, history, and all other good books. Do you have favorite classics or new books? P.S. Don't forget to vote on our polls!

I Yam

Dad and I discovered this tasty and really healthy burrito at au naturale here in Salt Lake. I decided that we could try to make it at home, and it worked! Here it is:

YAM AND BLACK BEAN BURRITOS

Ingredients:
1 lg. or 2 sm.-med. yams, peeled, cubed, boiled and mashed (you can mash them by hand or blender right in the pan after draining out the water)
1 can black beans, drained
Cooked brown or white rice
1 large onion and two bell peppers, sliced and sauteed in a little vegetable oil, then seasoned with about 1/2 t. ground cumin and 1 T chili powder, salt and pepper.
Wheat Tortillas

Optional:
Pico de Gallo
Tomatillo sauce
Chopped fresh cilantro

Serves about 4

Assemble burritos on wheat tortillas, and enjoy. These really don't need cheese or sour cream. A truly vegan dish. Wow!

The 1,2,3s Of A Hannah & Kit Snippet

January 2nd 2008
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