May Giveaway!!

I will be participating in Sew Mama Sew's May Giveaway! I am so excited to be a part of this. It was such a hit last year. This year I will be giving away a baked good gift and a cute makeup bag. All made by me!!
To enter please let me know the following:

1. If you are a baker: Your favorite go to baking item you make on a regular basis.
2. If you are a sewer: Your favorite easy item to sew!

I will be announcing the winners on Tuesday June 2nd!

GOOD LUCK!

Bananas Muffins


What do people do with old bananas? If you are a baker, you make banana bread or muffins. On Tuesday I went to Berkeley and had my first experience at the Berkeley Bowl. This place is amazing! A whole aisle of bulk food, huge section of teas, the largest fruit and veggie section I have ever seen! So when I bought more bananas than we could eat I figured I could bake!

3 very ripe bananas
1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 egg
1/4 cup tablespoons applesauce
1/2 cup chocolate chips
walnuts for topping

Preparation

  1. Mash bananas in a bowl.
  2. Add all other ingredients and mix well.
  3. Pour into muffins tins
  4. Bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes if making muffins\ or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.
  5. ENJOY!!!
You can eat as a snack or a part of breakfast. They are not too sweet so you can enjoy whenever!

Courtney's Birthday!



My best friend who lives in San Diego just celebrated a birthday. Since she was recently visiting her parents, me and a few friends decided to celebrate a little early. We got together and went for a glass of wine and some cupcakes! YUM, I made angel food cupcakes with a coconut frosting. I also gave her a little zippered pouch because he old one was looking kind of ragged...

Mother's Day Treat


On Sunday I went to my mother in laws house for dinner. She insisted on making dinner, so I insisted on bringing dessert. I made peanut butter cupcakes with a whipped cream and raspberry jam sauce. I thought they were yummy!

Soup's on!

Last week California had some weird weather. One day it was warm the next it was cloudy and cold. I made a veggie soup with black eye peas, butternut squash, celery in a tomato base. It was pretty yummy! I also made homemade cornbread for the first time. I think next time I will add sugar to the cornbread, it was not very sweet. The soup was a throw anything together soup!

Brownie Points! Again!



Today I had a total craving for a chocolate treat. I decided to make brownies. When I was in Portland visiting my sister a few weeks ago, we made Alton Brown's Coco Brownies. These were so easy to make and turned out super yummy! I made half a batch so I would not feel so bad. I added the walnuts on top for an extra crunch.

BlueBerry Muffins!


One baked item that I love is a really yummy blueberry muffin. But, I can never find a good one, usually I find the oily, greasy muffins that don't look very tempting. When I was looking thru a recent Cook's Illustrated magazine I found an article on the Best Blueberry Muffins. I figured I had to try! These were really super good. I will post recipe in a few days. You gotta try they were so yummy!

Bake for Hope


Today I participated in Bake For Hope, a bake sale for breast cancer research. I made IceBox cookies and a Rosemary Butter cookies. I went to a the organizers house in San Carlos and wanted to help sell cookies. So, I stayed the morning and had a really good time, the organizer and her family were so nice and welcoming, I think I made a new friend! Above is a picture of the Rosemary Butter Cookies.