Going Banana's!!

If your Mom is like my Mom, then at some point when you were a kid you were probably called a little monkey. Well, I think my Mom may have been on to something because I absolutely love bananas! They're so much fun and so versatile, plus, there's the fun of "unwrapping" them like a little gift from nature :-) You can deep fry them, use them as the basis of a breakfast smoothy, use them chopped in fruit salad or as the basis for one of the best desserts - a banana split! And that is barely scratching the surface!! Picture Bubba in Forrest Gump talking about shrimp and you'll get the idea :-)

As I said, I really love bana... *knock knock* Hang on... I'm not sure who that can be 'cos I'm not expecting anyone.

I'm back. It was the Other One! She had her driver knock so that she didn't have to take a risk of chipping a nail on the door handle *sigh*. Oh well, it's kinda nice to have her back. She's been a bit scarce lately, something about a private jet and a week in the Bahama's (or some such place). I confess I wasn't paying much attention when she was warbling on about it a while back. I guess I suspected that it was the booze taking her on a fantasy trip... however, she was definitely gone and now she's back looking like she spent the week being primped and primed by a Hollywood glamour squad. From the top of her artfully highlighted 'do' to her perfectly pedicured toes and the 'honey bronze' skin tone in between, she certainly looked like she'd had a good time.

I'm just a little concerned because I just overheard her telling a very envious Miss Twinset that she brought back a little Christmas booze... To the novice reader, this may seem like nothing important, but let me tell you... I'll bet her plane came back loaded to the gills with illegally imported booze! As long as she doesn't store it in my garden shed again... Anyway - I digress!! Miss Twinset has been a little miffed that she wasn't invited to go, but I've set her the task of coming up with a drink to compliment our topic of the day. Should be interesting!
So, where was I? Oh yes, I was talking about how much I love the humble banana. Now... if I'm going to be picky, there is one downside to this great fruit. It can go rotten surprisingly quickly! I can assure you that there are many old wives tales about how to stop that from happening, but I've tried a few and the only one that really works is this... buy them semi-ripe and eat them fast!!

Ok, so you bought them green and before you'd had time to blink they ended up like exhibit A to our left over here. Eeeww!! Yes, most of us know that often the skin is like this (shudder) and the inside is still fine, but I can promise you that if you had felt how squishy this banana was - gulp - you would know that the inside was definitely not for eating. I tossed it at the Other One and she caught it! I'll have to pay to dry clean her suit, but it was well worth it!

All is not lost though and I promise that you don't need to throw them away. There is an elegant and delicious solution to the problem of what to do with a squishy banana (or 3). Banana bread! It's a very easy recipe and there's a really good chance that you'll end up leaving your bananas to go a bit over ripe on purpose :-)

Ingredients

125 g Margarine
125 ml ( ½ cup) White Sugar
3 Eggs
3 Bananas
3 ml ( ½ tsp) Vanilla Essence
400 ml (1⅔ cups) Flour
Pinch of Salt
Pinch of Bicarbonate of Soda
10 ml (2 tsp) Baking Powder
45 ml (3 tbsp) Milk

Method

1. Grease a loaf tin. Cream the margarine and sugar with a wooden spoon.

2. Add the unbeaten eggs one at a time and beat thoroughly. Mash the bananas with a fork and add to the mixture with the vanilla essence.

3. Sieve the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder and add to the mixture with the milk. Mix well.

4. Place the mixture in the tin and bake for half an hour at 180°C. Reduce heat to 140°C and bake for a further 30–45 minutes, or until nicely browned and baked through. To test if ready, push a skewer or knitting needle into the loaf. If this comes out clean, the cake is ready. If some of the cake mixture sticks to the skewer, the cake needs more baking time.

There's something very homely about the smell of baking banana bread! Sigh :-) I add a twist to the recipe though. Just before I put the tin in the oven to bake, I cover the top of the loaf with a layer of white sugar. This melts in the oven and just adds a bit of extra crunch to the finished loaf. You can see the 'crust' in this pic. Doesn't that look good? When the loaf has cooled off, remove it from the tin and store it. Mine is wrapped in tin foil to help keep it fresh - although if I'm perfectly honest, this loaf really won't last that long.

I'm from a monkey-ish family when it comes to banana bread!



Light and fluffy and full of banana goodness!



You can eat it plain, with butter, with jam or even use it as a base for trifle rather than a plain sponge. French toast... with cheese... Sorry - I'm getting caught up :-)

As you can see, I went the extra mile during research for this blog. It's a dirty job, but one I'm happy to do for you lovely readers!

I have to say that I'm impressed with Miss Twinset. She presented us with a bottle of banoffee vodka, thereby giving us something that is not only topical, but delicious with the added benefit of using up some of the booze they have stashed all over my house! If I can get the recipe out of her, I'll share it, but for now I think it's time for me to go enjoy all the fruity goodness going on in my kitchen.

Until next time...

Can You Believe It?

Eh herm. *cough*. I'm sorry to interrupt you all, but I'm not sure that you've noticed. Well, you might've done, but those two in the corner are certainly oblivious. Yesterday (Sunday) it was 10 weeks until Christmas morning! No. I'm not kidding. Yes. I'm quite sure!

The Tipsy Tarts have been storing up anything with an alcohol content for months in preparation. That means that somewhere there is a stock of wine, vodka, brandy and sherry (and possibly even paraffin) large enough to blow a side off of my house if one of them drops an armed cigarette holder at the wrong moment. Hopefully it's at The Other One's house. Heaven knows I've hunted everywhere around here and no sign of it, so keep your fingers crossed! I asked them if they knew what the 10 week countdown meant and the nearly incomprehensible slur that I received in reply was that it meant less time to hit the liquor outlet stores. I suppose it's my own fault for asking during Happy Hour (which runs from 9am to pass out on a Sunday in case you were wondering).

Actually, what it means is that you have a list of things to do between now and then!

• NOW is the time to bake your Christmas Cakes (you'll find the recipe in a previous blog)



• Take a good look at your Christmas card list and check that you've got addresses for all those that you want to post to.



• Check with your local post office what the costs are for mailing and what the deadlines are for your overseas cards



• Decide if you'll be designing your own card or buying cards from a local store. If you are designing / making your own, you'll need to get a move on!



• Design your email cards and get them ready for sending.



• Compile a list of everyone that you intend to give a gift to and decide on a budget for each person. Remember that you don't need to give a costly gift to everyone you know and that it's also OK to set a spend limit on gifts among friends!



• Speak to your family and decide who is hosting which meals during the Festive Season and also decide who is going to cook or clean or supply alcohol.

If I think about my Grans, I realise that both of them lived through the Second World War and that is why both of them used to say that it's about the people you spend the day with and the meaning behind the gifts you give. So... if you don't have a lot of money, don't be afraid to think outside the box. Make a voucher book offering to wash a friends car or cook someone a great meal. Be creative. It's not about the dollar value... it's about the thought you put into it!

Now... I have to love and leave you because there is a suspicious looking trail of glitter in my kitchen that I simply have to sweep up. Seems as if Ruby is really looking forward to the Sparkly Season ahead! Me too :-)

Until next time...

Orange You Glad You Did?

I don't know about you, but there are days that just scream "cake" at you.  OK, if you're me, then almost every day screams "cake" at you, but we're not only talking about me now are we?  Now - if you have a decent bakery nearby - it's a simple matter of trotting down there (to burn off calories in advance) and getting a slice or 10 of whatever takes your fancy.  However, if you're not so fortunate, you may be limited to the mass produced, overly cream filled and largely tasteless options served up by the local supermarket and that simply won't do.  I've tried it.  Trust me.

So what do you do when the urge to pull a Marie Antoinette strikes so hard that you can literally feel the pounds moving in on your hips?  Why, you bake of course!  Now, now.  I can feel the vacuum as you all recoiled from your screens in horror.  It's really not as complicated as it sounds.  In fact, I may even have told you the recipe before, but just in case...

First, decide how many eggs you want to use (depending on the size of the cake)

Weigh 6 eggs 

Flour, Sugar, Butter - all the same weight as the eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
1.5 - 2 teaspoons of baking powder


Cream sugar and butter together until smooth.  Sift flour and baking powder together into a bowl. Add eggs and flour to butter and sugar mix alternating.  Add vanilla essence.


At this point in time, you could just stick this into a dish / cake tin and bake it in a 180 degree C oven for 40 - 50 min and  you'd have a delicious vanilla sponge.  If what you want is a vanilla sponge :-)  


I have to tell you that when the urge hit me a few weeks ago, the day wasn't merely screaming "cake" at me, but it was being rather specific.  Orange cake with orange butter cream frosting to be precise!  So... once you have your cake batter ready, you add the grated zest of 1 - 2 oranges (to taste) using the proper tools.  A regular grater definitely won't do!  Also add the juice from 1 of the oranges.  Once you're sure the batter tastes sufficiently orangey, then put it into the prepared dish and bake.  


Word of warning to the wise... do NOT let the Tipsy Tarts taste the batter.  You need to keep in mind that their taste buds are finely tuned to distinguish between 80% proof vodka and 100% proof jet fuel and that they will end up adding all sorts of things until they can taste it and let me assure you that cayenne pepper and garlic in cake batter is never a good idea!  Nope.  Never!


Once the cake is out of the oven and cooled down, you make your butter cream icing and add orange zest and juice as before until it is all yummy and orangey.  Ice the cake generously (or to preference) and then?  ENJOY!!  I had mine with a cup of good coffee, chilling with my feet up and a good movie.  Believe me... you won't regret taking the time to make something delicious to indulge in!
 

The Tipsy Tarts argued that while cake may have been what my day was yelling at me, "cocktails" was what theirs was yelling at them. Hardly surprising if you consider that their motto in life is "Somewhere in the world it's martini time!" 

They had taken a few shots of vanilla vodka, fresh cranberry juice and a little sparkling lemonade and served it over ice on a few curls of lemon rind.  I was a little afraid to try it while I baked, but it certainly seemed to make them very happy!  Perhaps I'll see what they cook up this weekend?

Until next time...