Strawberry Banana Bread

Howdy!

The other day I found a Pinterest post about Blueberry Banana Bread that had a special ingredient in it - Greek yogurt!  I didn't have any blueberries, but I did have strawberries, so what did I make... Strawberry Banana Bread!  Honestly, I LOVE banana bread.  BUT, banana bread is my baking nemesis.  I have tried dozens of recipes.  Everything from old church lady recipes to modern test kitchen recipes.  It always comes out underdone in the center and usually burnt on the edges.  I HIGHLY recommend this bread.  It was easy and delicious!  AND, it came out perfectly!  This is definitely my go-to banana bread recipe from now on.  Thank you so much, Emily!!!!

The batter is delicious, too ;)

Never Enough Pincushions

Howdy!

As you know, I am a novice sewer, therefore am in the process of acquiring all the necessary, and unnecessary, supplies and tools for the craft.  Thanks to Mama I have much of the essential things, but I have found that I am constantly needing a pincushion!  

I found this tutorial by Kim at My Go-Go Life.  Since I am considering using the Cathedral Window pattern when I make a quilt for my parents (Mama's requested Christmas present lol), I decided pincushions would be a great way to practice :)  I highly recommend Kim's tutorial.  I didn't have a bit of problem following along and the results are gorgeous (and very functional), don't you think?  I filled mine with rice, since it's ultra cheap and I like pincushion it creates more than batting (plus no shedding).  I followed the tutorial to a tee on the first one (back button not being a shank-style button excepted), but on the second one I didn't do a seam on the backing (not the easiest place to fill the pincushion when using rice), instead I left a small hole on side for turning and filling and then used the same ladder stitch to close it up in the end.  I love both of them :)

If you make one, please share!  Also, Kim has a Flickr Group set up for sharing, as well, so that she can see.

Reversible Bag

Howdy!

Man, long time no blog!  My bad, y'all.  Life has this funny way of getting in the way.  Anyhoo, today I have a fun little bag for you.  It's actually a Reversible Bag by Novita, but I have no intention of flipping it because I added this cute embroidered pocket (which is the perfect size for my cellphone ;)).  I also added an identically sized pocket on the inside for my keys.

For the embroidery I printed the art I liked onto the paper side of freezer paper and ironed it to my fabric.  Then I simply stitched over it. I also poked extra holes with my needle as I went to perforate the paper well, because the next step is simply to pull off the paper when finished.  I did this on just one layer of my pocket fabric and then stitched a second layer to the back, so that the back on my embroidery was enclosed.  It's much neater and I don't have to worry about catching and undoing knots and such.

I didn't do the straps the same way as she did in the tutorial.  Honestly, I got going and forgot to look at the instructions and just did them the way it made sense to the at the time. lol. Her way is wonderful, too, but I thought you might want another option.

First, I pressed my seams and pinned the last 4" to be sewn (after all other steps), leaving one side raw.

The second side I pressed the edges under.

Then I pinned the raw edged straps inside the "finished" ones.

Next I sewed a nice double lined seam to add a professional finish and strength to my bag :)

If you make one I would love to see it!

Angel Food Cake with Chocolate Whipped Cream & Strawberries

Howdy!

Growing up strawberry shortcake was a huge treat (and my mother's favorite), especially when we did it with Angel Food Cake instead of sponge cake.  So when I ran across this recipe for Single Serving Angel Food Cake I knew exactly what was going to happen.  First I made up the dry mix:  1 c cake flour, 1 c powdered sugar, 1 tsp salt.  The original blog doesn't say anything about sifting, but since powdered sugar is always lumpy I sifted the flour and sugar together and then whisked the salt in well.  Then I placed it in a jar with a pretty label :)

Later that night I had a hankering for something sweet so I dipped into the jar.  First, beat 1 egg white with 1 Tbsp sugar and a drop of lemon juice until stiff.  Then, gently fold ¼ c of the dry mix into the egg white.  Place the batter in a greased and sugared ramekin (~2x2x2").  The sugaring is really important otherwise the cake (souffle) can't climbing and rise.  Bake your delicacy at 350* for 20 min (I used my toaster oven).  Cool in on it's side so that it doesn't collapse.

While it was baking I sliced some strawberries and macerated them in a sprinkle of sugar.  Then I whipped a some to DIE FOR chocolate whipped cream.  Place some heavy whipping cream with a drizzle of vanilla in a (preferably) cold bowl  and starting whipping the mess out of it.  Once it starts to thicken up add a tablespoon or two of cocoa powder, at least a teaspoon of cream of tartar (so that you can store the leftover without it turning into a runny mess), and a healthy helping of sugar (trust me it will take more than you think to cut the bite of the cocoa powder).  And until it is your desired stiffness - I tend to like mine really stiff.  You now have a chocolate whipped cream.  It will taste like a dark chocolate mousse pretty much if you don't have a heap of sugar and just enough to cut the bite.

Once my cake was cool I plated it up with some strawberries and chocolate whipped cream and DUG IN!  It was delicious and will definitely become a staple around here. :)  And it the jar of mix will make great gifts!  I have a label ready to go for you below.  Just right-click, save image, size it to your jar in Word or something similar, print, cut, stick, and your good to go!

Amish Cinnamon Bread

Howdy!

Hubby went back out to work this morning, so I was flipping through Pinterest trying to find a pancake recipe that I could have sworn that I pinned only to come up short >.<  But, I did come across this Amish Cinnamon Bread recipe from RedFly Creations and decided to give it a shot.  Granted, it wasn't for breakfast - that became a bowl of cereal.

I ended up baking this for about an hour instead of 45-50 minutes.  And I will definitely incorporate the cinnamon sugar differently next time.  But, it's still pretty good.  Especially with a little butter ;)

I'm thinking that as I goes stale that it might make some tasty French toast...

Amish Cinnamon Bread

(makes 2 loaves)

Batter:

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk or 2 cups milk plus 2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

Cinnamon/sugar mixture:

2/3 cups sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon 

Cream together butter, 2 cups of sugar, and eggs.  Add milk, flour, and baking soda.  Put 1/4 of batter into greased loaf pans.  Mix in separate bowl the 2/3 c sugar and cinnamon.  Sprinkle 3/4 of cinnamon mixture on top of the 1/2 batter in each pan.  Add remaining batter to pans; sprinkle with last of cinnamon topping.  Swirl with a knife.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 min.  or until toothpick tester come clean.  

Cool in pan for 20 minutes before removing from pan.

Brownie In A Cup

Sophie's Brownie In A Cup (much prettier)

Let's be honest, here... Pinterest is a naughty, naughty temptress.  There are all these marvelous pins linked to posts about foods that make you drool all over yourself (or is that just me?), which you then yourself have to re-pin (or is that, again, just me?).  So, then you have these uber full boards of delectable looking yummies just begging to be made.  It was one of these such yummies that I fell prey to making last, shameful, evening and this morning for breakfast - what a girl can indulge, right? ;)

But which one, you ask? I present to you:  Brownie In A Cup! A delectable single serving of sinfulness to be consumed on a whim.  Forgotten are the days of slaving away and waiting agonizing 30+ minutes for brownies.  Now you can have a brownie in less than five!  You don't even have to share if you don't want to ;)  But there is even to split with someone if you're feeling generous.

Below you can find the recipe with a couple of notes :)

Brownie in a Cup
1-2 servings

2 tbsp. oil

2 tbsp. water

1/4 tsp. vanilla

dash of salt

2 tbsp. cocoa

4 tbsp. sugar

4 tbsp. flour

Combine cocoa, sugar, and flour.  Mix well.

In the12 oz. mug you plan to eat your final product out of, add salt, water, oil, and vanilla. Whisk well.

Add dry to wet and mix it all up!

Microwave for 60-90 seconds.

In my microwave 75 seconds gave me a uniformly done brownie (first attempt) and with only  60 seconds a molten center was accomplished  {Ooo la la}.  Also note, Sophie didn't specify when to add the salt or to combine the other dry ingredients prior to adding them to the wet mixture.  So why did I?  Well, because my first brownie didn't come out perfectly.  :'(  It had slightly salty bites.  Oh!  Also, I highly recommend a fork for the mixing/whisking.  Tiny whisks work, but not as nicely.  I double checked lol.

Want a card for your recipe box?  Click below for 3x5 for 4x6 inch index card sizes :)

Brownie In A Cup 3x5

Brownie In A Cup 4x6