Fabulous, Moist Banana bread

         I have a recipe for banana bread that i have used for years. It makes a wonderfully dense,moist loaf. I recently tried another I found online and the whole family was very disappointed. It was lighter, more bread or cake like. Not my usual rich loaf. Then yesterday i found THIS recipe by Patricia at ButterYum blog. It looked very good. More like my loaves. I liked her idea of a crumbly topping. I have used this similar recipe for my french apple pie, but never thought of it for the banana bread. She also adds sour cream. My recipe called for milk. So I adapted my recipe to include those ingredients. It turned out fabulous. My original loaf was very good, but Patricia's  additions made it so much more delightful.  here is my new, one and only banana bread recipe.

                                                           Banana  Bread


1/2  cup milk
6 very ripe bananas
5 cups flour
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
7 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
10 tbs butter
2 eggs
2 and 1/2  tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground clove
1/2 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3  cup sour cream
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts or almonds




Topping:
Courtesy of butterYum
6 tb melted butter
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients except nuts and raisins, for bread with a blender. then fold in nuts and raisins. Spray bottom of pans.Fill your loaf pans about 3/4 full. Mix crumbly topping, and sprinkle on top of batter. Bake loafs at 350 degrees for 65-70 minutes or till a knife inserted in center comes out clean. With this recipe and the size of my pans, I got 2 nice size loaves and 2 mini loaves.

I enjoyed mine warm smeared with a little country crock margarine.

Homemade Blackberry Jam

          I just made my first Blackberry jam. I started it yesterday and just finished it this morning. My son brought me in a small amount of berries, longing for jelly made from these precious jewels. So how could i resist. I believe the recipe came from the book " Blue Ribbon Preserves". I checked it out of the library and took some extensive notes on things I wanted to try. I only had enough berries to make 2 half pint jelly jars, so had to convert the recipe. So I whipped up 2 jars of Simple Grape Jelly from some Grape juice I had. I hated to run the water bath for just 2 jars,lol.

                                                                   Blackberry Jelly
To make blackberry juice:
3 quarts berries
1/2 cup water
jelly ingredients:
5 cups juice
7 and 1/2 cups sugar
2 (3 oz) pouches liquid pectin

To extract juice, gently rinse berries in cool water in colander and drain. Put berries in 8 qt pot, Combine berries and water over medium low heat. bring to 180 degrees, and heat 5 minutes. DO NOT BOIL!
recipe called for placing berries in a fine meshed sieve. i didnt have one, so i lined my colander with coffee filters and placed this over a bowl. I then poured the berries into this and covered the top with some saran wrap and placed in the fridge to strain over night. You are supposed to do this slow gentle drain, rather than squeezing them. it stated forcing the juice thro would make a cloudy jelly.
      The next day discard the pulp and seeds left in the sieve or colander.This amount of berries is supposed to make approx 5 cups of juice.To make jelly, Place berry juice into 8 qt pot and heat till warm. Add sugar and heat. Stir continuously till sugar dissolved. Increase to medium high heat and bring to a full rolling boil.. Stir in pectin. Return to a full rolling boil. Stir constantly for 1 minute. remove from heat, Quickly skim foam, and ladle into sterilized jars. Clean rims, and apply hot lids and rings. Hand tighten.  Process in boiling water bath with water covering tops of jars for 10 min. I used 15 for my altitude.

Almond Peach Jam...Sunshine on a Spoon

            I made peach jam for the first time today. I still had some left over South Carolina peaches still left that no one had eaten yet. I added some almond extract, and this stuff tastes fabulous! Even my 23 yr old daughter, who said she didn't like peach jam, liked it... really well!
            So I peeled, pitted and mashed them. I came up with about 3.5 cups, which was about 1/2 a cup short for my 4 cup recipe. So I added a 1/2 cup of orange juice. The jam set up beautifully, and so crystal clear and gorgeous. There are a few dark reddish/black flecks here and there. Don't start gagging. They aren't bugs,lol. ( I notice the dark flecks aren't visible in this jar.) It's just that I had cooked some blackberries for jelly just before this, and didn't bother to rinse my masher off completely. The addition of the almond extract, it a wonderful compliment.

                                                            Almond-Peach Jam

4 cups peeled, pitted, and crushed yellow peaches ( I added 1/2 OJ to 3.5 c fruit)
1/4 cup strained fresh lemon juice
7 and 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp butter
1 (3 oz) pouch liquid pectin
1 tsp Almond extract

     Cut fruits, in half, remove the pit, and the tough reddish area that surrounds the pit. Drop these into an 8 qt pan with the lemon juice to prevent darkening. Crush these with a potato masher.

Stir in half of the sugar. Cover pan, and let sit 20 minutes. In the mean time, place your jelly jars in a pot of water to sterilize.

     Remove cover and stir in remaining sugar. and butter. Over medium-low heat, stir till sugar is dissolved. Then increase heat to medium-high, and bring to a full rolling boil. Remove pan from heat and skim away any foam.

     Return pan to heat and bring back to a full rolling boil. Stir in pectin, and reheat to full rolling boil. Stirring constantly so it doesn't burn. Boil one minute. Remove from heat and skim foam again. Add 1 tsp of almond extract.

     Cool 5 minutes, stirring every minute. Remove your jars from the pot and set out on a towel. Place your lids into the boiling water and leave till ready. Fill  your jars using a funnel. Clean the rims of your jars and place hot lids on. Hand tighten rings on jars, and place jars in your boiling water bath, with water cover the tops. Process for 10 minutes (depending on your altitude) at 200 degrees. Remove jars and set on towel undisturbed for 24 hours. Then remove rings, label, and store. This makes 8 half pint jelly jars. I think I had about 1/8 cup left over that I placed in a container in the fridge.
     The basis for this recipe, I believe came from the book, "Blue Ribbon Preserves" which I checked out from the library.
     This stuff is fantastic. I love it on toast, but I have also used store bought peach jam in my sweet and sour chicken. Now I can use my own.
   

Glorious South Carolina Peaches!

       We got back from South Carolina with all my precious cargo. Three grand daughters returned to their parents ( with a big sigh of relief, lol ), and my two half bushel baskets of beautiful, mouth watering South Carolina peaches. i can't sing their praises enough. These are a heavenly delight to the taste buds. Their sweet, juicy flesh is like a ray of sunshine. I dont think there is a fruit anywhere that can compare. We bought them fresh to eat there while camping last yr. This year I have the canning bug, and couldn't pass them up. Even at $22 for half bushel. These are huge peaches, some over 10" in diameter. There are a few slightly bruised ones , but with a 12 hour drive home with our fifth wheel in tow. Thats not too bad. I almost hate to can them, since we enjoy eating them fresh so much, but they wont last forever.

Out of the first half bushel, I got 12 quart jars. But lost one when the jar broke as I lowered into the hot water bath for processing.

Yea, I know they are not supposed to be floating. 

Canned Peaches

Peel, pit, and remove fibrous red areas surrounding pit. 

Slice in half or fourths. Place slices in bowl with juice of half a lemon to coat. This keeps peaches from browning as you prepare them. 

Prepare a syrup. I prefer a light syrup which is 2 cups of white granulated sugar per 6 cups of water. Place this in a pot to simmer until sugar dissolves then bring to a boil. 

Place canning caps into boiling water to hold till ready. 

After placing peaches in a sterilized quart jar, packing them firmly, pour hot syrup over peaches. be sure to leave 1/2" head space. 

Dry off rims of jars. 

Place caps over and hand tighten ring. 

Place jars in boiling water bath with enough water to cover jars. Process for 25 minutes for pints and 30 minutes for quarts.

When done, remove jars from water and set out on towel. Leave untouched for 24 hours, then remove rings and store. Double check your seals to be sure all lids are depressed.

Homeward Bound!

      Here I am sitting at the playground at Lakewood campground while my 3 grand-daughters play. We are rolling out in the morning. The fifth wheel camper is pretty much picked up from our 10 days of destruction and about ready to go. My bushel of sweet, juicy peaches are in their little baskets waiting to be canned on my return. minus a few we have been enjoying. We are leaving for home early in the morning. The weather has been beautiful, although a little windy today, making the waves a little too strong to enjoy, but to be honest, I am ready to go home and see how my little garden is faring while we have been away.

Relaxing at the Beach

    Our electric finally came back on July 9, and I spent the 10 cleaning house and washing clothes up for our trip. On July 11th we pulled out with the fifth wheel heading for Myrtle Beach, SC. Picking up the 3 grand daughters on the way. No parents, just us and the girls. We were married 34 yrs on July 1st, so all our kids are grown. Now we can spoil the grand kids,lol. We are going to be here for 10 days. hopefully we can keep these girls pacing our activities,lol.

The 3 girls and grandpa.

Feeding the local goats.

Bicycle ride along the beach front with grandpa leading the pack, and grandma watching the rear.

The swan checking out the goats, and trying to get in on the bread toss,lol.
We also went to Ripley's Aquarium. The highlights were seeing the huge sharks swimming over head, and posing with the mermaids.

Hallelujah!! We Have Power!

     Hallelujah........... Hallelujah...............Hallelujah........! 
Oh , sorry about that. My excitement got away with me. We have been without electric and running water in an all electric home for almost 10 days. In 90 to 100 degree weather. We finally got our power back on this evening. Now comes the clean up. Shoot! Now I'm not so excited.

Where's Rosie when you really need her?

Update On The Storm Damage

       Well, we have been a full 6 nights without electric or running water. We hear it should be back on by Saturday. I sure hope so. The days have been horribly hot, and its even worse at night trying to sleep. Thank goodness for the insurance to cover food losses,etc. Luckily we didnt have much physical damage. We have gone without electric before in winter,  but never for more than a day or two. This has gotten me to thinking even more on alternate forms of power, such as solar. We have plenty of sun, lol.

Homemade Banana Cream Pie

   I feel like I have died and gone to heaven. I just ate my first piece of Banana Cream Pie made with real homemade filling.Not my traditional boxed pudding. It was fantastic. I found this recipe while searching for info on menu making, and landed on  Colleens Recipes. You can find her site and this recipe her  site HERE. I am sure I will be trying a lot more of her recipes.

Storm Damage

    We  live in West Virginia, and were hit by the severe storm on Friday. Thank God, it was only high winds, and not a lot of damage done in our area.  That storm hit like a freight train.  You could hear the winds howling, and all I could think about was people saying tornadoes sound like freight trains. The wind was blowing so hard it was bowing trees almost to the ground. Some wouldnt give though, and snapped in half, like one of our neighbors ornamental trees. We also had hard rains but they soon subsided to a nice soft rain after the winds died down. I understand there were some tornadoes that touched down in areas around us. One about 45 min to our west, and another about 20 min to our west. We spent Friday cleaning up the  broken branches out of our backyard. The neighbors trampoline from 3 houses away was blown just beyond the fence behind the backyard. After losing ours to the trees 2 yrs in a row, it finally made peace with the garbage man.
      We have been out of electric since it hit Friday. Right now i have enough generator power to have a few moments on the laptop. We are trying to be conservative with the gasoline for it, as lines in stations are 30 cars long in some stations. We run the generator to run the fridge and freezer for about an hour then shut it off for awhile. With some running out. We spent an hour in line Saturday for enough gas for the motorcycle so we could go to a restaurant. We have an all electric home, so we are even out of water.
   But i had a bright idea hit me yesterday to fix some of the water problem. We have another water well on the property that hasnt been hooked up to the house. So we went to Tractor Supply today and bought an old fashioned hand pump, so we could at least pump some water as we need it to flush toilets, bath etc. Thats the problem when your all electric. and well water. If there is no electric then the water pump wnt run either.  It works like a charm tho, if you dont mind hauling buckets of water 50 feet to the house  :)
Tammy

Harassing Phone Calls From a Telemarketer Re:My Last and Final Notice On My Credit Card Account

   I wonder how many of you are getting harassing phone calls from telemarketers? You know the kind that like to come in at inopportune times, such as when your eating dinner, sleeping, etc. Years ago i had all my phones put on the "do not call" list. Not that it did a lot of good. There is one especially obnoxious telemarketer company that really has me angry. For 2 years we get calls almost every day, sometimes 2-3 times a day from one particular company. The message is always the same.
    " We have an important message concerning your credit card accounts." and  a short message about pushing a certain number to speak with them, then " this is your last and final notice". Yea, I wish!!
     I even got these at a time when we had canceled all our credit cards. A few times I pushed a number to speak with them, and preceded to threaten them with legal action if the calls did not stop. Guess what, they still continue. Sometimes they wont give you a number to push to speak with someone. it will say press a certain number to get their service. Which I dont do, because then they will probably bill me. So I hang up and call the number back that shows up on my caller ID. Sometimes this works and I make threats again, other times i get a message stating that this caller does not accept calls. I have also wrote down some of the numbers, but they are always different.
      Todays call was different. This time when I called the number back I got a message from a man saying since I called this number I must also be receiving harassing phone calls from this company. It is not a true return phone number. Some how they are routing their calls to look as if they are coming from innocent phone company customers. Further harassing us, and intruding into our personal lives.Telemarketers  from reputable companies  are bad enough, but these people need charges filed against them and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I called frontier to complain, but the only thing they could tell me to do was to hang up on the call and then immediately dial *77 to block that number. Even tho I explained I could spend the next two years blocking all these numbers, some of which are private numbers they are using. And still not accomplish anything. I told them it is outrageous that we pay our phone bills every month on time, and have to put up with being harassed. Oh sure, i could change my number and pay to have it unlisted. But i have had this same number for 34 yrs. I know they have the means to track these guys. But i guess not the interest. If there was a class action law suit i would jump on it in a minute!

Menu Planning

        I have decided to give menu planning a try. I hate the age old question of "Whats for dinner?". Trying to scramble at the last minute and get food on the table. I don't have a lot to cook for anymore. My kids are grown, but I still have 2 sons at home and my husband. That's a dramatic drop from the 7 I was cooking for.
I have been doing a lot of research on the different methods. Some create themes, such as Pasta night, or Crockpot night. I thought this sounded interesting, but I kinda hated to limit myself to certain meals on certain days. To be honest there are days its just "fend for yourself" night. But they are all adults, and there's always left-overs. They also know how to cook. My Daughter-in-law told me the first time my son tried to make mashed potatoes. Mashing them before cooking is not a very good idea,lol. But when he was little, I was younger, and had more energy. I took care of everything for them. A behavior that I have also gotten on to my husband in the past. When the boys were teens, if a car needed fixed, he did it. He didnt want to take the time required to teach them how to do it. On hind site, that wouldnt have been a bad idea for the girls as well.  But I digress.
        The method I opted on required me to start a folder on the computer. I listed  all the meals I fix for my family. I then started separate files for main meals, soups, sides, breads, and desserts. In each file, I numbered the dishes. If I found a recipe online I wanted to add to my mainstays, then I copied the address, then pasted into the next numbered slot. That way when I am trying to work up a menu, I can just click on the link for directions. Once we try these new meals, then I will probably print it out and slip it into a notebook I started for recipes I have printed off the various sites on the web. If we dont like it, then out it goes.
    Some people also plan their menu's for a month at a time, or  just for a week. Since I shop weekly, I decided to just do a week at a time. In my notebook, i will write my initial plan for the week. Then when completed, I plan on using a dry erase marker to transfer it to the new board I created with scrap book paper. I still have to get a magnetic frame so i can stick it on the fridge, but for now I slipped it into a plastic sleeve protector. Then you just write on the plastic over the designated days of the week, and wipe off later. Some people even frame these in regular frames and stand them on the counter. The meal plan I write on paper with stay in the notebook, and eventually I can just rotate these and save lots of work.
    By the way, I still plan on a few "fend for yourself" days, meaning empty slots on the menu  :)

Cutting strawberries Back For Production

      While doing a search on other garden questions, I found several articles about mowing over your strawberries when they are done producing.This is done with June bearing plants and within a week after crop is finished. This is done to increase production next year, and I believe to control runners somewhat. This is my second season for these strawberry plants and they have grown by leaps and bounds, and extending out of the raised bed I have them in. They are nice and healthy looking but produced very little. In the 2 ft x 25 ft bed I have them in, I was only able to pick a few  now and then to eat fresh while I was in the garden. So I just spent about 45 minutes outside in  52% humidity and 86 degree heat trimming all of mine back to within about 3" of the crown. Other sites say you can safely mow them, but to stay at least 1" from crowns. Since mine were in a raised bed, I had to hand cut them. Then I threw them to the backside of the potager for the start of a compost pile. Heres to an abundant crop of strawberries next season.

Dave's Killer Bread

     You have got to check out this guys story, and try the recipe. I have never been into eating whole wheat bread before. To me it just seems a little heavy, and just not pleasant. However my husband eats it almost every morning. I seen this guys story on TV the other day, and looked up the recipe online. I occasionally make bread , so I was ready. I have only tried whole wheat one other time, and it was not good. This time, the bread raised fantastic, and even though I forgot about it while in the oven, and it got a little too brown on top, it turned out fantastic. Even my kids ate it. And they turn up their noses to brown bread ( 22 yo and up). I made it according to the recipe from the link below, except I did have to add a little extra water. I also brushed the top with thinned honey, and sprinkled on oats. Figured I would be a little creative :)
Here ya go:

Recipe can be found HERE.

Knit Picture Washcloth

   I have been practicing my knitting skills lately. Still working on that pair of socks I posted earlier, but I got bored. So I started a knit washcloth for Valentine's Day. It is the "X and O" pattern from :
http://rachelsknittingcorner.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-do-you-block-your-patterns.html

I am definitly NOT going to try out for any speed records in knitting. I spent 3 evenings on this cloth. It did turn out very nice tho. I have some simple ones I made about 5 yrs ago, and they still look good other than a slight fading. I cant say my store bought washcloths last as long. Hand Knit cloths for dishes or washing hold up very well, they are great to try out new stitches, and are great quick, portable projects. They are also very soft, but have a slight scrubby, exfoliating action going on. What more could you want for a cloth. Mine is made from 100% cotton Peaches N Cream yarn.

See the cute "X"'s and "O",s along the borders?  I love this pattern.

Doggy Diaper for Small Females

   My adult kids have two Yorkies and two Maltese that have all but one,come into heat at the same time. They were out of disposable diapers to cut to fit. I think they really wanted to just save the expense. So they asked me if I could make them diapers like I made my DGD's for their dolls. So I got busy and drafted a simple pattern. So far I have made 3 of them, and they fit the dogs from 4 lb thru 7 lb. Be sure to check the measurements it prints out  against the ones I noted on pattern to be sure it prints the same size.

Doggy Diaper Pattern

First time knitting socks

   I am currently working on a pair of socks. I have knitted off and on for many years, but nothing too complicated. So far these are working out pretty easy. I hope I can say the same when I get to the heel.

My First Burlap Stocking

     I just completed my first burlap Christmas stocking. I have never sewed with burlap before, but it was surprisingly easy. I created this one from some ideas I compiled off the web, and a little of my own. This is a little more taylored. The other two I have plans to add some ruffles to them. I also plan on making a tree skirt. I cant remember ever having one before. I am going to model my skirt after the gorgeous one created on      u-createcrafts.com Their skirt has to be the prettiest I have ever seen. Below is my new stocking:

Lysol Clean Flip Washable Covers

      I hate to buy things and throw them away. It seems such a waste of money and precious resources to buy the disposable cloths for those little mops. I had a coupon for $1 off the Lysol Clean Flip mop. I decided to purchase one  because my Swiffer mop had a broken handle. I decided very quickly I was going to make over some towels into washable pads for it. I thought at first it might be a little time- consuming, but actually they worked up very quickly.I tried to find some inexpensive microfiber towels, and maybe if I had looked at Big Lots or something I could have, but I was shopping with hubby and as usual, he was in a hurry. So I picked up a package of 5 barmops from Walmart for about $6.

After doing some measuring and comparing the best way to cut one from each towel, I came up with this:

Its hard to tell from this pic, but there is a blue border on this lower edge. I measured up 4" from the inside edge of the border, and the same with the left edge.

I trimmed off the blue border, and the left hem first.Then from the remaining 4" strip on the left, and the 4" strip across the bottom, I was able to get 2 more panels (for a total of 3) the length of the mop to lay down the center for extra absorbency. As shown in the center pic this will lay across the center of the panel from left to right  as shown in the main panel in pic two. The pic below is showing the main panel with the left side down at the bottom now.

The pic below shows the left edge of the main panel being folded over the center paddings about 3/8" Then this edge and the other 3 edges of the center padding will be zig zagged to hold securely. The same will be done to the other raw edge of towel.

Now fold over left edge to meet center padding stitching( approx 2"). Do the same with the right edge. Stitch the folded edge down with straight stitching along the edge. Be sure about double or triple stitch this and reinforce the edge where it will be pulled alot to pull it on and off the mop. Do the same with the other 3 corners.

This is the final product:

You can easily flip the edges of the mop up by pushing the rounded disk edge, and these easily slip over the edges of the mop. I didnt bother prewashing my towels, as I am always in a hurry, It may be a big mistake if these shrink much int he wash. So you may want to prewash before cutting. I only made two, so I will wait to make more until after these are washed.

UPDATE: I just used my first one and washed it in warm water and dried it. It came out beautifully. No shrinking, and washed perfectly clean. Now I can finish the rest of the set.