Banana Man has Quite an Appetite and Loves this Loaf

I laughed this morning as I found a piece of playdough on the floor that had been rolled up with a bit of parma ham and a few tomato seeds because I knew it had to have been my Jibs...Playing is good, eating is better.

The boy loves to eat. He gets very excited when he sees me in the kitchen. "Oh, look...Wow." He says. Quite often he outeats his big sister and occasionally even the Mama.

If you happened to read the birthday post, you will know that he loves and starts each day with a banana. I have tried probably dozens of recipes with bananas in them and so far this is one of my favourite and also one of the easiest. The other thing that I love about this one is the quantity of bananas in it. If you have an abundance of bananas that have past their prime (which never happens around here) or, if you are like me, and you buy them on the reduced rack already soft and speckled then freeze them for later, try this recipe out.

Try it plain or with a few little extras such as rum infused raisins, figs, nuts or chocolate.

Banana Bread with Options

1C plus 2T AP Flour

2t baking powder

1/2t baking soda

1/2t salt

1/2C sweet butter, melted

1/2C, scant, sugar

2 eggs

4 bananas, very ripe, mashed

1t vanilla

Good things to have on hand: 1/4C walnuts or pecans, 1/3C chopped figs, 1/2C Choco-chips, 1/3C raisins, 3oz dark rum, 2T cocoa powder.

9x5inch loaf pan, greased

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Preheat oven to 325*.

Put flour, baking powder, soda and salt in a medium bowl and mix.

In a large bowl mix sugar and butter, then add eggs one at a time beating between additions. Add mashed banana, vanilla and stir well.

Add flour mixture in thirds mixing well with each installment.

Scrape into loaf pan and bake 1-1/4hrs.

Cool. Slice it up.

When to add the extras:

Rummy Raisin Bread: Bring rum to a boil, soak raisins in rum for up to an hour if possible. Drain raisins and stir into the batter with the mashed banana.

Chocolate: Sub in 2T cocoa powder for 2T flour, stir Chocolate chips with banana mash.

Nut: Stir in nuts and figs with the banana mash.

Shoreham Market Pasta

Last Thursday I went, for the first time, to a little market held at Shoreham Public School. My brother has been telling me about it for a few weeks now and I decided to go. Though small, there were loads of fresh, mostly local fruits and vegetables for sale. (For steal practically, the prices were so low.)

Twelve dollars got me two boxes full of lettuces, eggplant, zucchini, peppers, oranges, carrots, ginger, bok choi, broccoli, onions and other things. At the recommendation of one vendor, I bought some okra, I think it was like .50 for a bag of it or something, and Jibs and Clara ate it raw from the bag. Clara thought it a bit slimy but Jibs loved it and shoved the whole thing in his mouth, stem and all, chewed vigorously and went on to an orange slice.

To further Jim's birthday celebrations, we went out last night and walked, checked out some book stores, got dinner and some coffee. My mum, kindly stayed with the kids so I made some dinner for them to share while we were gone.

Shoreham Market Pasta

2T Olive oil

1Eggplant, large dice

1 each green and yellow zucchini, large dice

1/2 red onion, large dice

1C cherry tomatoes, halved

1 yellow pepper, large dice

1 red pepper, large dice

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2C vegetable stock

1/2C red wine

Salt, pepper

2t Herb de Provence

Butter

1/4C Goat Cheese

1box penne

Toss all veg except garlic with olive oil, salt, pepper, and herb de provence on a baking sheet (with sides). Roast at 375* for 20mins or so until getting soft, stirring at 10 and 15mins. Add garlic, broth, and wine. Stir. Bake another 15 mins, again stirring a few times mid way, until sauce is reduced significantly and veg is soft and fragrant.

Cook pasta, drain and tip into a large bowl. Stir in the goat cheese and 1T butter, melt together.

Add veg and stir.

Top with extra crumbled goat cheese and pepper.

My beloved

Person dearest to my heart, and two other beloveds had birthdays today. Few things are more enjoyable to me in this world than being with these people; talking, sharing, laughing, singing, eating and then the inevitable sleep that ensues.

Sunday we celebrated with a meal dedicated to the culinary preferences of my Jimmy. With this as my guide the menu went as follows:

Lunch

~Mulled Cider

~Spinach Artichoke Dip with Bread to dunk

~Beef Burgundy

~Buttered Spaetzle

~Green salad with Pear, Roquefort and Pecans

~Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Evening Snack

~Apple Dumplings

~Coffee

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

Jim and I have an ongoing...um...discussion, of sorts, going as to whether or not doughnuts are a breakfast food or not. (I suppose anyone who knows us can guess which of us is on which side.) Some Saturday mornings, when they don't think I'm looking, Jim and Clara will to sneak out for such contraband.

Now, when the November issue of Everyday Food landed in my mail yesterday morning I was immediately drawn to the pumpkin section. These doughnut muffins have me reconsidering my doughnut for breakfast ban, mainly because they are just so good it hardly seems right to limit them.

Harvest Crunch

I'm quite sure I did not make enough of this perfectly crunchy, slightly salty, sort of sweet, snack. If you still have time, run to the bulk barn, grab some nuts and seeds, throw them in a bowl with butter, maple and some spices and you too will have a very harvest-crunchy kind of snack. And, if you're able, double it.

Harvest Crunch

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates

2T butter/olive oil

3T Maple syrup

1/2C pine nuts

1/2C chopped hazelnuts

1/2C halved almonds

1/2C raw pumpkin seeds

1/2C raw sunflower seeds

2T Brown sugar

1/2t kosher salt

1/4t paprika

1/8t cayenne

Heat oven to 350.

Melt butter and maple syrup together over med heat.

Toss nuts, sugar, seeds, salt and spices in a large bowl.

Toss, and then drizzle with melted butter and maple mixture.

Toss again and then spread evenly on a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Bake 8-10mins, stir, bake another 8-10mins.

Cool and store in a sealed container at room temp.

Our Thanksgiving

This weekend is one that I always look forward to. We are off to the lake. Thanksgiving at the cottage is a work weekend, supplemented with plenty of forest walking, food making, food eating, pumpkin carving and being with lovely people.

The thankful table.

So much pie, so little time.

Bringing the dock in is one of the less glamorous weekend events. October water is not for the faint of heart.

It will be the first year without Grampa (Papa Gordy) with us, the one who started this lovely tradition, and we sure will miss him.

Giving thanks for the enormous gift of having these two in my life!

Good bye for another year beautiful lake, we will dream of you until next year.

Corners of the Kitchen

A well loved page.

Grandpa's ingenuity

My cookbook holder remains one of my favourite things about this kitchen. My grandpa made if for my gramma as long ago as I can remember. He was so ingenious at making a small space work, and work hard. Having six children in a very small house definetly gave him lots of use of those skills.

I have so many fond memories of coming into this house and seeing my gramma here. She would be making butter tarts and date squares or apple pie right in this spot, her purity cookbook fallen open to the regular pages. Sometimes when I open the front door I still smell the pastry in the oven or the pickles on the stove top. I loved my gramma so it makes me happy to be in this kitchen, still baking from the same purity cookbook and putting it on the same stand.