The Best Banana Bread

I have a weakness for good Banana Bread which I inherited from my mother.  She has made fabulous Banana Bread for as long as I can remember.  I came across a recipe on Pinterest that uses sour cream that sounded so good, I just had to give it a try.  I'm sure glad I did - it's fabulous!  Of course I had to share it.  :)
Source:  Your Homebased Mom

Sour Cream Banana Bread

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour bottom only of a loaf pan (or use 3 small loaf pans).  In large bowl, beat together sugar and oil.  Add eggs, bananas, sour cream and vanilla; blend well.  Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off.  Add flour, baking soda and salt; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.   Pour into prepared pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes (about 40 minutes for smaller loaf pan) or until toothpick inserted in center comes clean.  Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan.  Cool completely.  Wrap tightly and store in refrigerator.  Makes 1 loaf.

Christmas Story Advent

This year I decided to do something a little different to count down the days until Christmas.  I got together 24 children Christmas books (some new ones along with favorites we've collected over the years) and wrapped each one separately.  Each night we read a few verses relating to the birth of Christ and then let Winston pick a story to open and read for bed time.  He's loved this and so have I.  I thought I'd share a few of our favorites

The book pictured above "The Sweet Smell of Christmas" was a favorite of mine as a child.  All three of my boys have loved it too.  How can you not love a story that has yummy scratch and sniff pages?

What would Christmas be without a great nativity story with wonderful pictures and verse. 

This is one of the new books I bought this year.  It's about a camel named Humphrey who carried the treasures of the three kings and was able to meet and present the Christ child with his own gift - a wonderful and touching story.

This fun and silly alphabet book is Winston's favorite story this year.  It's full of darling pictures and a fun verse about a family's Christmas Eve with relatives from A to Z.

What would Christmas be without Phineas and Ferb.  This is a fun story about how these boys find the perfect Christmas Tree for their city.

What would Christmas be without this old classic - The Night Before Christmas.  We've owned this book since Zack and Bo were little and have read it every year on Christmas Eve - keeping the magic of Christmas alive.

I've so enjoyed our nightly story time.  This is a tradition we'll continue each year.

Christmas Egg Souffle

If you're looking for a great recipe for Christmas morning, I have one for you - Christmas Egg Souffle.  I love this stuff!  Cheesy eggs with a touch of green chilies - Mmmm!

It's super easy to make and can be baked ahead of time and heated back up (that is if you can wait to dig in).  I even make it for dinner sometimes - like tonight.   :)

Christmas Egg Souffle

Ingredients:

10 Eggs

2 cups cottage cheese (small curd)

1/2 tsp salt

1 4oz. can chopped green chilis

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 lb. Monterrey Jack Cheese, grated

1/2 cup melted butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 pan.  Beat eggs well.  Add cottage cheese, salt, chilis, flour and baking powder and mix well.  Stir in grated cheese and melted butter then pour into prepared pan.  Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean.  Enjoy!

O Christmas Tree

I love our Christmas tree.  It's a family tradition of ours to get a real tree each year and our tree this year is such a beautiful shape and color.  An added plus - it makes our house smell so nice and piney. 

Another tradition of ours is buying a special ornament each year for our boys.  We started this when Zack and Bo were little and it's been a fun thing each year to add to their collection not to mention I enjoy shopping around for each year's ornament.  I love looking at our decorated tree and reminiscing about all the ornaments we've accumulated over the years - it adds to my holiday magic.

Don't get me wrong, I do love to see others theme decorated trees and admire their beauty, but for me our smorgasbord Christmas is the most beautiful of Christmas trees.  

For Thanksgiving - Pumpkin Gingerbread

If you're looking for an amazing pumpkin bread recipe for Thanksgiving dinner, look no further - I have the perfect one to share with you.  I'll be taking a plate full of this super yummy bread to our family dinner this year.

It's loaded with spices - especially an abundance of ginger which makes taste buds very, very happy.  As an added bonus your house smells fabulous while it's baking.  Trust me, this one's a keeper - you'll thank me after taking your first bite.  :) 

From Allrecipes.com.

PUMPKIN GINGERBREAD

Ingredients

• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large mixing, combine sugar, oil and eggs; beat until smooth. Add water and beat until well blended. Stir in pumpkin, ginger, allspice cinnamon, and clove.
3. In medium bowl, combine flour, soda, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and blend just until all ingredients are mixed. Divide batter between prepared pans.
4. Bake in preheated oven until toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour.

Tip:  I also like to make this in the small loaf pans - you get 8 mini loaves and they only need to bake for 35-38 min.

Dancing Fall Leaves

I love days like today when the wind is blowing the fallen leaves in swirls across the lawns and roads.  The mixed fall colors are beautiful to see as they dance on by in the wind and the dry crinkley sound they make enchants me.

Driving down the road with the leaves swirling and dancing around me brings both feelings of enjoyment and expectation along with a feeling I can't quite explain but am always grateful to experience. - like a fond remembrance  Fall days like this are too few and far between.

As the leaves spin and tumble on by, it feels as if the world is restless - anxious for the coming winter season.  Fall is on it's way out and winter with it's cold snow will soon be here.

Traditional Pumpkin Pie

Fall baking is the best!  One of my favorites this time of year is pumpkin.  I LOVE pumpkin - pies, cookies, cakes, fudge, pancakes, etc...  You get the idea.  Today, I was craving some pumpkin pie.  I have two really good recipes I make every year.  The first one I love to make is Pumpkin Streusel Pie which I posted last November. 

My other favorite recipe is Traditional Pumpkin Pie.  Each year it's hard to choose between these two and I usually end up with a slice of each.  I discovered this recipe in a Taste of Home magazine years ago - it's also found here.  So for all the other pumpkin lovers out there, here's the recipe.  :)

Traditional Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
4 to 6 tablespoons cold water

Filling
6 eggs
1 can (29 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon each ground cloves, nutmeg and ginger
2 cups evaporated milk

Directions
In a large bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in shortening until crumbly. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Divide pastry in half. On a floured surface, roll out each portion to fit a 9-in. pie plate. Place pastry in plates; trim pastry to 1/2 in. beyond edge of plate. Flute edges.

For filling, beat eggs in a large bowl. Add the pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, cloves, nutmeg and ginger; beat just until combined. Gradually stir in milk. Pour into pastry shells.

Bake at 450° for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°; bake 40-45 minutes longer or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool pies on wire racks for 1 hour. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 2 pies (6-8 servings each).

A Tutu

Last week was our Super Tuesday activity for the women in our ward/neighborhood.  Even though I don't have a daughter, I couldn't resist signing up for the class to make a Tutu - I should have granddaughters someday, right? 

It turned out darling and was so easy to make. I wanted to share some pictures. Also, I found this website- Just We Moms - which has a great tutorial on how to make these.  You can make one that's all the same color or alternates two, three or a rainbow of colors. 

Here's a couple of pics of my tutu - they don't do it just though.  It's so much cuter in person - the red tulle is sparkly and catches the light as you spin it.  I only wish I had a daughter to put it on and watch her dance and spin around in it.  I'll just patiently wait for a granddaughter. :)