Banana Bread You Won't Be Able To Leave Alone

On Saturday morning I had some bananas sitting on the counter that were so ripe they were just about ready to get up and walk away, so on the spur of the moment I made banana bread.

I didn't come up with this recipe - is it even possible to reinvent banana bread anymore? - but it is a really good one and I highly recommend it.

Ingredients (makes two loaves or one loaf and 30 mini muffins):

3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs, beaten
4 ripe bananas, mashed
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
chopped cashews or walnuts
chopped dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the butter and sugar together, add in the eggs and bananas, and stir well. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well. I used the electric beaters to get a really smooth batter. Stir in the vanilla.

Pour your batter into greased loaf pans or muffin pans. I used half of my batter for a loaf of bread, and the rest for mini muffins.

I wanted there to be some variety so I added in the nuts and cranberries at different times. The loaf didn't have anything extra in it though I did sprinkle some chopped cashews onto the top before it went into the oven. I poured out 12 plain mini muffins, then added some cashews to the remaining batter and poured out 12 more. I then added the dried cranberries and poured out the remaining muffins (about 6).

The muffins will bake faster, so only leave them in the oven for 15-20 minutes. The loaf took about twice as long. Use a toothpick or clean knife to test if the bread is done by sliding it into the center of the bread and seeing if it comes out with no batter residue left behind.

Remove your bread from the pans and let cool on a rack or plate. I find the bread is less soggy on the bottom if you flip it on its side or top while it's cooling.

How to serve it? With butter, jam, or all on its own. I spread almond butter on a slice this week, and I think I've found my new favourite indulgence!

The Doors are Decorated

I started to pull the Christmas decorations out of storage this weekend. The rule in our family has always been that nothing can go up until the first weekend of December. Lucky for me, December started on a Sunday this year.

We had a lot of running around to do - the bathroom tile we wanted was on sale, as was the sofa and loveseat I've been eyeing for a couple of months - so all I managed to put in place was the front door wreath. I used the same wreath from last year, but with a little extra fanciness added on. (I've tried to find a picture of it from last year, but apparently I didn't take any.)

I wrapped burlap around the frame, then glued on soft garland and pinecones I had gathered at my father-in-law's property.

This year I wove some green and gold ribbon through the garland to beef it up a bit. The ribbon has wired edges, so that made it easier to bend and arrange into little swoops. The final touch was a set of jingle bells that we bought at a gift market in Orillia. If anyone is visiting that area, you must stop by the Mariposa Market. Gifts, baked goods, candy, clothing...it's absolutely amazing.

I also hung up the powder room wreath yesterday, so Tom can start calling it the "Christmas Pooper" again.

Everything else is still in boxes and bins. I'm looking forward to unpacking it all so that I can have a little of this,

and this,

You can tell they're excited to be my little helpers, can't you?

This and That

I've really been slacking off lately. Is it the weather? This is what our place looked like on Saturday night. Brrr!

So there's been a whole lot of this going on.

I took a few minutes and sewed up a quick toy for Chloe. As you can see, she's not that particular - as long as she can hold it, she's happy. This is her happy.

We did get the basement painted - including the doors! - but I want to wait to show it when I have the decorating done. That's at a bit of a standstill thanks to slow shipping from Best Buy. And to me being stuck late at work when I just want to be home sewing pillows and hanging art.

 The colour is called Gossamer Blue (Benjamin Moore).

I got caught up on Friday Night Lights. Yeah, I'm a few years behind. But I loved it.

So did Sasha. 

And of course there's been some cooking.
Stuffed peppers, cornbread, and Asian chicken salad.
Not all on the same day.

And that's about it. I'm looking forward to the weekend where I have no plans to be anywhere. Except in my house. In my jammies. Sewing pillows and hanging art.


I hope all of my American readers are having a fantastic Thanksgiving, and this one's for you: