Recipes

Three bananas

Three overly-ripe bananas make for one happy husband and one happy son eating banana bread. No doubt, the chocolate glaze is the reason they enjoy it so much! Below is the recipe:

Banana Bread with Chocolate Glaze

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1-1/4 cups sugar (1/2 brown and 1/2 white, optional)
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt

Glaze:
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 325*. Beat together butter, sugar, eggs, sour cream, vanilla and bananas until blended. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, until blended. Do not overmix! Pour batter into a greased bundt pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a cake tester, inserted in center, comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in pan for 15 minutes then remove and cool. When cake is cool, drizzle top with chocolate glaze. To make glaze, melt chocolate chips and butter in microwave using 30% power (defrost). 

Blueberry Muffins

Last week, Mom, Nicole, and I decided to go blueberry picking at a local fruit farm.  So we loaded Jack into the car seat and drove off.  Upon arriving we waited for the little tractor which carries you to and from the blueberry field.  As we waited, dark clouds began to creep up, but we chose to ignore them.  You can figure out the rest.  After our bumpy trip to the field we began picking, and almost immediately, it began pouring.  But we weren't going to let a little rain stop us.  We picked two full buckets and returned home completely soaked. 
This little story is simply to give you a very yummy blueberry muffin recipe that we have always enjoyed making...

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup mashed blueberries
2 cups whole blueberries
1 tablespoon sugar mixed with 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease both muffin cups and tops of muffin tins around cups.  Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time.  Combine dry ingredients and add alternately with milk to butter mixture.  Stir in blueberries.  Fill muffin cups and sprinkle tops with sugar and nutmeg mixture.  Bake about 25 minutes.  Cool 30 minutes before removing from tins.

Lemonade

I thought you might enjoy this recipe for fresh-squeezed lemonade that I served at my luncheon.

Fresh Lemonade Syrup

3 c. sugar
1 c. boiling water
3 c. lemon juce (about 16 lemons)
2 T. grated lemon peel

In a 1-1/2 quart heat-proof container, dissolve sugar in boiling water. Cool. Add lemon juice and peel; mix well. Cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.  Yields 5-1/2 cups syrup (number of batches varies depending on concentration of lemonade). 

To prepare lemonade: For 1 serving, combine 1/4 to 1/3 cup syrup and 3/4 cup cold water in a glass; stir well.  For 8 servings, combine 2-2/3 cups syrup and 5 cups cold water in a 2 quart pitcher; stir well.

(This recipe was given to me by my friend, Jenny Detwiler)