Oatmeal Cookies

I don’t understand the green food thing for St. Patrick’s Day. Someone emailed me (and several other women who bake for a biweekly Tea at Stamford Hospital, sponsored by our local Hadassah group) and suggested that we could, if we wish, bake something and color it green because the next Tea will be a St. Patrick themed event.

Nope.

When I bake with my grandchildren I let them use food coloring and we frequently have lavender or cerise blue or fuchsia butter cookies or layer cake. I have lots of little bottles with lots of colors that they can mix together.

But they’re kids.

Green bagels, green cake and so on is just not happening here. I don’t remember when that whole thing started.

Green Ireland is an amazing country, one of the most gorgeous I’ve ever been to. Emerald Isle is a good name for it, so true, so lovely. It rains a lot there and then it stops and the grass and the leaves, the bushes and plants and everything else is incredibly beautiful. To me the green in nature conjures up hopeful signs of life. But green, fake-colored food? Nope.

I’ll be making:

Oatmeal Cookies

10 tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanila extract

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups quick oats

1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. In the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed, cream the butter and sugar together for a minute or so until creamy. Add the brown sugar and blend it in thoroughly. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract. Add the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt and beat until the ingredients are well blended. Stir in the oats and raisins. Drop mounded tablespoons of the mixture onto the cookie sheet, leaving some space between each lump of dough. Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Repeat with remaining dough.

Makes about 4 dozen

Mom’s Raisin Bran Apple Crisp

Wanna Sell Your House? Smell this!

Yesterday I baked a Banana Bread that I couldn’t eat because I’m allergic. But I always have leftover bananas around so I make Banana Bread a lot. I love the aroma. In fact, I mentioned yesterday that it is one of the best kitchen smells there is.

Which reminded me about when we were selling our old house. The real estate agent told us to make sure there were some good aromas coming out of the kitchen in order to entice prospective buyers.

So I got to thinking about the good smells that come out of a kitchen and what I could bake or make to make my kitchen be the one someone wanted to cook in and therefore buy my house. I even wrote one of my newspaper articles about house-selling aromas.

Choices I considered: fresh coffee, tomato sauce, fresh-baked yeast bread, anything with baking apples.

Well, fresh coffee is the easiest but you can’t have it going all day or it tastes and begins to smell bitter.

Yeast bread is my favorite, but I didn’t always have the time to bake one.

Tomato sauce may be among my favorites but the garlic could be off-putting to some.

So, apple it was. Baked apple. Apple pie. Apple Crisp. 

Fortunately we had some wonderful desserts during that time. We did sell the house too!

Here’s a recipe with an intoxicating aroma — my 

 Mom’s Raisin Bran Apple Crisp:

•  2 tablespoons butter

• 4-5 large, tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced

• 2 tablespoons sugar or honey

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• pinch or two of salt

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 3 tablespoons butter

• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

• 2 cups slightly crushed raisin bran cereal

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the 2 tablespoons butter and set aside to cool slightly. Combine the apples, 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, salt and melted butter and place in a baking dish. Cream the 1/3 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons butter with an electric beater until well combined. Beat in the flour. Add the raisin bran and work it into the creamed mixture gently, leaving the bran flakes more or less intact. Sprinkle this mixture on top of the apples. Cover the pan and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for 10-15 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.

Makes 8 servings

Is that a book in your pocket?

fridayreads:

Or are you just happy it’s Friday?

Reblog this post with a line about what you’re reading this week, and you’ll be entered to win wonderful books and prizes.

Why? Because FridayReads loves you!

Still reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides! Big book, busy week. #fridayreads

Crocuses and Deer

Cake looks sooo tempting!  Speaking of crocuses, it was disappointing to find out this morning that the deer visited overnight night and ate my bright yellow crocuses.  

Submitted by tribesadozen:

I used to plant tomatoes every year. They were fabulous, sweet and juicy right off the plant. Then the deer found them. Year after year. I kept trying. One year they ate the tomatoes and EVEN the yellow flowers. That’s when I gave up. I get all my summer tomatoes from the farmer’s market now.

So I know how you feel. Guess the deer are hopeful about spring too. 

Ronnie

www.ronniefein.com

Simple Banana Bread

Why do I buy bananas? I’m allergic to them as I said yesterday. It’s almost as if watching someone else eat them gives me pleasure vicariously.

My husband says he likes bananas but whenever I buy a bunch, firm and bright yellow and green at the tip, just before the starch turns to sweet and the sugar level goes up, they sit on the plate waiting for anyone.

Anyone? Anyone?

So I wind up making Banana Bread. Very often the Banana Bread goes to patients and caregivers at our local hospital for a biweekly Tea that our local Hadassah gives. Or my grandchildren eat it.

Smart kids.

If you’ve never had a Banana Bread baking in your kitchen you are missing one of the best home aromas of all time. It’s right up there with coffee, tomato sauce and yeast bread.

And of course, it tastes pretty good too. Here’s a recipe for you to try:

Banana Bread

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable shortening

4-5 medium bananas, very ripe

4 large eggs

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-cup bundt pan. Mix the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Place the sugar and shortening in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well blended. Add the bananas and beat them in. Add the eggs and beat them in. Add the flour mixture and beat the ingredients until well blended. Stir in the vanilla extract. Bake for about an hour or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes Invert onto a cake rack to cool completely.

Makes 12-16 servings

Banana Cream Pie

The old Chiquita Banana song was so catchy I remember it all these years later:

I’m Chiquita Banana and I’ve come to say

Bananas have to ripen in a certain way

When they are fleck’d with brown and have a golden hue

Bananas taste the best and are the best for you

Okay, I did get some help from the internet. I only remembered the first two lines. I also remember that that commercial taught a lot of people about when bananas are the sweetest (when their starch has started turning to sugar — the brown spots) and how not to store them:

But bananas love the climate of the very, very tropical equator,

So you should never put bananas in the refrigerator

Bananas are one of my favorite foods. Unfortunately I am allergic and haven’t eaten one for at least 20 years. My husband Ed said that by then I had eaten my lifetime fill. Before the allergy I would eat a banana at least once a day. When I was pregnant with my first child I would make a Banana Cream Pie on a Sunday and then cut it into 7 wedges. I ate one wedge every day until Sunday came around again and I would make another pie. I was thin in those days, so the extra calories did me no harm, and my daughter Meredith came out just fine! 

I confess it wasn’t the best pregnancy diet. But that was long ago and at least I have the memory of those Banana Cream Pies, so fabulously rich and creamy and that I can never eat again. 

And today is National Banana Cream Pie Day!

So, for those who have no gastronomic issues with bananas and love a great dessert, here’s a good recipe for Banana Cream Pie sob sob :(

Banana Cream Pie

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2-1/2 cups milk
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 bananas
• 1 fully baked 9-inch pie crust
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Place the 1/2 cup sugar, flour and salt into a saucepan. Stir in enough milk to make a loose paste and place the pan over medium heat. Gradually add the remaining milk and cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture is as thick as yogurt. Beat the egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually add about one cup of the hot milk mixture to them. Mix well, then return the egg mixture to the pan. Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes (do not boil). Remove the pan from the heat. Cool slightly. Stir in the vanilla extract. Slice the bananas about 1/2-inch thick and place them in a single layer inside the pie crust. Sprinkle with the lemon juice. Spoon the cooled, cooked custard over the bananas. Refrigerate for about 2 hours or until chilled thoroughly. Whip the cream with the teaspoon of sugar until thick. Spread the whipped cream on top of the pie.

Makes 8 servings

Chocolate Cake

Wasn’t it just New Year’s Eve? Wasn’t it just the new millennium? The new century?

Is everyone’s life going as fast as mine is?

It’s already March. We’ve come through a long, cold, snowy winter where I live, a rainy, blustery, drenching winter elsewhere. I don’t even know if we’re through with all that stuff. But the word March sounds hopeful. At least to me. It’s the beginning of a month that ends with spring, crocuses, warmer temperatures, sunshine.

March 1st is also the start of National Ghost Writer’s Week, paying homage to those who write, often magnificently, for people who can’t, but they don’t get the writing credit. The people who can’t write get all the credit.

I actually know someone who’s a ghost writer. So, in his honor I give you a recipe for Chocolate Cake, one of his favorites.

Btw, if you haven’t seen the movie Ghost Writer, do so. It’s terrific and so is Ewan McGregor, the ghost writer in it.

Chocolate Cake

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup butter

1-1/2 cups milk

3 large eggs

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 3 9-inch cake pans. Melt the chocolate and set it aside to cool. Place the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix gently to combine them. Add the sugar, butter and half the milk and beat the ingredients at medium speed for 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally, or until well combined and smooth. Add the eggs and beat them in. Add the remaining milk, chocolate and vanilla extract and beat for another 2 minutes or until smooth. Pour equal amounts of the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes. Invert the layers onto a cake rack to cool completely. 

Chocolate Frosting

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1 cup unsalted butter

2 cups confectioner’s sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt the chocolate and set it aside to cool. Place the butter and confectioner’s sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed for about 2 minutes or until well blended. Add the cooled, melted chocolate and the vanilla extract. Beat until smooth. Enough for one 9-inch chocolate cake

Breast Milk Ice Cream?

My daughter Meredith, who is a post-partum doula and childbirth educator (you can see her website here: www.amotherisborn.com) sent me a post about breast milk ice cream.

You can find that one here: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2K1ZR5/blogs.babble.com/being-pregnant/2011/02/25/baby-gaga-breast-milk-ice-cream-coming-to-a-sweet-shoppe-near-you/

What do you make of this?

Is it okay? Is it for real? Is it kosher?

Is there as safety (USDA type) inspection for lactating women?

Fairway Breast Cancer Event

$$$ for breast cancer research. Just wanted to let Stamford Fairway shoppers know that if you shop at Fairway from now through March 5th and keep your receipts, the store will donate 5% to the American Cancer Society for breast cancer research. Either bring or send the receipts to SpinOdyssey, P.O. #457, Westport, CT 06881-0457.

The 12th annual SpinOdyssey indoor bicycling and fitness event, which supports the American Cancer Society and also Norwalk Hospital’s Whittingham Cancer Center breast cancer research trials. will take place on March 6th, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., at Intensity Fitness & Tennis Club, 490 Westport Ave., Norwalk. Fairway will provide edible goodies for the event. To learn more about it, go to www.spinodyssey.org. 

Heavenly Hash Popcorn

I’m a sucker for movie popcorn. You can tell me how awful it is and how it isn’t fresh or that it’s terribly fattening or full of fat or salt or hidden ingredients that will make me confess to giving top secret documents to the Soviets (Remember them? I just saw the movie Breach and it reminded me of the olden days when the bad guys in all the movies were the Soviets.)

You can tell me how much more delicious homemade popcorn is and how much better it is for you especially if you use an air popper and no butter.

But I don’t care. I love movie popcorn. And I am a sucker because even though it is way way more than I should eat, I always buy the big tub because it is such a bargain compared with the small bag. If you can call paying over $6 for popcorn a bargain. Also, if I buy the tub at my local theater I can get a free refill, so that I can have stale movie popcorn in my house to nibble on for a few days.

When I was a girl my brother and I went to the movies by ourselves over the weekend. My mother gave us each 10 cents for a treat. That dime got us a box worth of popcorn, though my brother sometimes bought Jujubes or Dots.

We never thought about whether the box of popcorn was large or small. That’s the only size there was. (Today if you have a store like Party City in your neighborhood you can buy those boxes to use for party favors.)

One of the problems I wrestle with these days is that we have Netflix and PPV and DVDs and so on and they come so quickly after a movie is out that we don’t get to the theater as often as we used to. So I’ve been really missing my popcorn recently. 

Home cooked popcorn may not be as wonderful as movie popcorn, however, if you do something else with it, like make it into caramel corn or some other sweet-and-salty goodie, it might make up for the lack. It’s also a good treat for watching the Academy Awards ceremony.

For all you committed movie popcorn lovers, try this:

Heavenly Hash Popcorn

2 quarts plain, popped corn

1 cup packed mini-marshmallows

1/2 cup salted peanuts

7 ounces chocolate (milk or semisweet)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Spread the popcorn out on a large jelly roll pan. Sprinkle the marshmallows and nuts on top. Break up the chocolate into small pieces and scatter the pieces on top. Bake for 5 minutes. Let cool and toss slightly. Makes about 2 quarts