Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Supporting a cause and giving tribute to a survivor!

I am extremely honored and excited for this post. It is honestly a very short blog this time, even if I have been absent lately.  I do promise for some new recipes soon.  And already have one in mind~ the fresh grapefruits on my tree are awaiting their purpose.



However, please go to Frosting for a Cause were I am being featured as a guest blogger on this wonderful site where as they say "Together we are Baking a Difference".  This is a cause near and dear to my heart and I feel so honored to join 365 other bloggers from across the US and Canada with hopes of bringing awareness and a cure to the fight against cancer. It is with efforts and talents of wonderful people and organizations like Frosting for a Cause that adds hope and light to our future.

My tribute was to a dear friend and even as I type this I know many others who deserve the same tributes, wonderful brave women who have faced cancer as a survivor or women who lost the battle to this horrendous disease. Families faced with the emotions of seeing loved ones battle or living with memories of loved ones lost.  We must not forget that together we can make a difference.   

A great quote: 
Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little.  ~Edmund Burke

Every little bit adds up to the greater picture. And Frosting for a Cause is a wonderful example of what a difference can be made by being creative and doing what may seem little in the grand scheme of things-however it does have a mighty impact!

Please visit Frosting for a Cause to see my guest post and get the recipe for the delicious cookies pictured below:


Friday, March 4, 2011

Going Bananas

Have you ever had that moment (or moments) in your life where you just feel like you're quite possibly "going bananas"? I mean this in a relatively comical sense, as I will save going insane & crazy for another post. If anyone answers "NO" to this question, please send me a comment to explain how you keep such a calm existence. 

However,I still wouldn't be convinced, but that then could be misinterpreted to "jealousy". Ha!!

Now I believe I have a pretty good balance in my life, my children remind me daily of how lucky I am & also how quickly time goes by, for the most part my husband keeps me grounded & offers that strength I sometimes find I need & my parents have given me the many roots & values I've carried through my life. All of them including a handful of wonderful & true friends (you know who you are) have given encouragement & support for well just about everything. To all of the before mentioned I am forever thankful. So with all that said, one could ask "how could you be going bananas"? Remember, its used loosely, I'm not going crazy yet. . . Ask me in a week though!

I have felt rather busy, not overwhelmed, but out of my realm of every day comfort. I guess I could blame it on being at home for awhile & not having a job per-say however, it is not lazy. Cause believe me I was busy than. Being a mom, housewife, blogger, baker,writer really is a full time job. Yet the schedule is quite different. Now I'm a full time worker plus a full time mom, housewife & wishing I could find time to blog, bake and write. Maybe that's part of it "I'm going bananas" because I am missing my time to blog, bake and write. But as with everything new job, once I learn I will have that ease to add things into my time. Plus, when you're packing boxes to move one can go a little bananas... or maybe that will be the blog for "going crazy".

Whatever the day or reasoning for your funny and insane moments of going bananas I have a delicious recipe to share. I had originally wanted to share my mom's recipe for her banana bread, however it has disappeared. My mom is kind of a pinch here, dash there cook/baker, however she did write down here recipe the last time she made it, now just can't remember where she put it.  So the picture is of my mom's bread~ which I will share once it is found or she gets the measurements of each ingredient again.


The recipe is from this wonderful bed and breakfast in Arizona~ Aravaipa Farms Bed and Breakfast, one of my all time favorite places, a true escape from the crazy busy of everyday and just unwind and relax. The hostess is ultimately delightful and the meals are delicious. Upon your arrival you are welcomed with a picnic basket and the delights don't stop throughout your stay. Now, I have had a few bites of this bread and can say it is really amazing... but I am allergic to bananas so don't like to over do eating it, although I really have a hard time because it is so yummy. But my family loves it.  I believe it's been posted in a few magazines as I know the owner of the B&B has been included in different magazine articles and featured on Arizona Highways.  Her dishes, meals and B&B really are a true delight to the senses, hope you enjoy the bread.

Aravaipa Farms Morning Banana Cake

Ingredients:

2 1/3  cups  all-purpose flour
1  cup  pecan or walnut halves
1  cup  dried cranberries
1  teaspoon  baking powder
1  teaspoon  baking soda
1/4  teaspoon  salt
2 1/2  cups  sugar
1  cup  mashed ripe banana
2  teaspoons  vanilla
2  large eggs
1  cup  (1/2 lb.) melted butter or margarine
1  cup  buttermilk

Preparation:

1. Mix flour, pecans, cranberries, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, mix sugar, banana, vanilla, and eggs until well blended. Add butter and buttermilk; mix well.
3. Add flour mixture to bowl and stir until evenly moistened.
4. Butter and flour-dust a nonstick 10-inch decorative tube pan. Pour batter into pan.
5. Bake in a 350° oven until a long wood skewer, inserted in the thickest part, comes out clean, and cake pulls from pan sides, about 1 hour.
6. Cool cake in pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Lay a rack on top of pan. Holding pan and rack together, invert to release cake. Lift off pan. Serve cake warm or cool.


My mom's bread is equally hard to resist... it is just perfectly moist and she adds some delicious ingredients,  just have to resist~ one thing my family don't mind eating without sharing.  They love love banana bread.

So hopefully in a week or so I'm no longer going bananas and especially hoping to not have reason to blog about "going insane" and I can get some treats posted to share, I really do miss my blogs.  Hope everyone is doing good and not part of the "going bananas club".

It is the weekend you know, find some "you" time or what I like to say "baking time".