Janie's Banana Bread

Gooooooood Morning Peeps!!!

The calendar says it is Fall but the weather in Texas says "hold on there sassy pants, not yet".  Yeah we are still hanging out in the 90's around these here parts!   At least the mornings are cooler so we've got that working for us.

Many Many Many moons ago, like the year 2010, I had grandiose plans of making the Hubster's moms recipes and I have made some of them but needless to say I haven't done them all. I'm pretty sure I actually did this one already but it's a good one so it is worth repeating.  This is her banana bread and it's yummy.  Just a good honest basic banana bread.  If you aren't used to baking just start with a basic recipe like this then start tweaking and adding away once you've got the basic down pat.
Some ideas are nuts: like pecans or walnuts, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips....I could go on and on but here is where you can make this something your family will love.  Once upon a time when Abogg was a wee little lass  the "fananas" disgusted him but I could always get him to eat banana bread when I filled it with chocolate chips.  

This is the actual copy of her recipe- don't you love recipe's written in the persons handwriting?!

But to get you started without squinting at your screen here's a nice photo that you can have of the recipe.

First let me go grab my 3rd- yes I said 3rd- cup of coffee.   I got up early, give a girl a break!

In your mixing bowl we are going to blend together the sugar, shortening, eggs and bananas.

While that stuff is mixing up go ahead and start adding in your flour mixture and buttermilk.  Alternate those, you know,  a little flour, a little milk, a little flour, a little milk.......

When you have that mixed together splash in that vanilla and you're ready.

Pour that dough into loaf pans that have been greased and floured.  Yeah, do that part, it makes getting that yummy bread out of the pan much easier.

Now pop those in the oven and bake at 375 for about 50-60 minutes.   I check mine with a cake tester in the middle to make sure it is cooked throughout.

Take those bee-u-ti-ful loaves out of the oven and let them hang out for about 10 minutes in the pan.

Dump them out of the pan and onto a cooling rack and let them cool a bit.

It's really hard not to cut right into that warm bread but let it set up for just a bit and then you can make pretty slices.   I mean if you are home alone and you don't care how pretty your slice is go ahead and slice those warm babies up and get to eating!!  

Doesn't that make your mouth water?

Normally I add some walnuts to the mix as well but today I didn't.  I just stuck to the basic recipe and since I didn't make it gluten free I just had a small bite but then I loaded up the plate and sent it outside to Hubster in his office.

I also took one of the loaves and sliced it up when it had cooled completely, sealed them in a food saver bag and tossed in the freezer.  Now when Hubster is working from home and I want to treat him with some warm bread I'll just take them out of the freezer and toast them up.  I can also use those frozen slices to make some yummy banana bread french toast too!   

That's all I've got for you today, I've got a busy busy week going. This afternoon I'm heading to Dallas for a grand reopening celebration (more on that this week) and then tomorrow night I'm headed to a Young Living class.   I LOVE my Young Living oils and I'm learning to share them the "compliant" way with you all.   Then Sunday I have another blogging event to attend that I'm super stoked to share with you! It's a crazy busy time and maybe soon we won't be sweating our patooties off in Texas!  

For now it's 

Peace, Love & Bread!!!!

It's Tuesday so It's Time!!!

Hey Peeps!!!

I've been absent and away for a bit but I have a really good excuse.....I was at the beach.
Yes Yes I was.  What's that you say?  Do you have pictures? No... No I don't.  I'm so sorry.  It was a bit different trip for us this time.  The first set of beach buddies arrived Friday evening and we spend Saturday, Sunday and part of Monday hanging out and chilling' with those folks then they headed back to the Crescent City and 2 sets of our fabulous neighbors arrived and we continued being beach bums with them until Thursday when they flew back home.  Thursday and Friday Hubster had to work so I bummed around on the beach between rain showers all alone. Sadly we had to head home on Saturday.  It was a glorious and much needed break and my lack of photos is a prime example of how I decided to just "be" with our friends and have fun and relax.

So let us get on with Today's edition shall we?

Reading:  Believe it or not I only read like 2 ½ books on vacation.  Like I said I took the time to enjoy my peeps with me.   I read the newest John Corey adventure by Nelson DeMille called Radiant Angel.  Another 5 star book by Mr. DeMille.  Full of suspense and shenanigans!  And I'm back in my Bellingwood Series.  I had started book 7 of the series, Tomorrow's Promises and I finished it, started and finished book 8, Through the Storm and then I read the short story or Book 8.5, One Perfect Honeymoon.  Now that I'm home I'm working on book 9 in the series.  Yeah, when I get on a reading roll it's hard to stop me! 
                                                                 
Listening:  At the moment, Jimmy Fallon and Robert Deniro.  On the radio I'm particularly loving Florence & The Machine, Shakey Graves, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats ( I know greatest band name ever) and Hozier.  In other words, Channel 28 Spectrum on XM radio. 

Watching:  Mostly just America's Got Talent and then anxiously anticipating the new fall season on shows.

Cooking/Eating/Drinking:  Last week was Oysters and Fish and I did have a happy happy tummy meal of steak at McGuires in Destin. Now I'm home and we're back to chips and salsa.  What' cha gonna do?  And no, I haven't had my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season, sad days. And no, please don't tell me how bad they are for me I've already had to give up bread and diet soda's, just let me have this one please?!

Pinning:  Yep mostly Autumn themed items.  

Tweeting: My twitter account has been filled with my tweets of my crazy FitBit days.  

Crafting: I haven't really been crafting. There's too much yard work, gardening and general stuffs to be done. (by the way, I haven't changed this answer since my last post)   I should probably start getting crafts ready for the holidays though. 

Doing: Beach last week and my Abogg got home this morning so I'm just going to be spending some time enjoying my boy.  The house can wait. Last week at the beach I did make my first attempt at Stand Up Paddleboarding.  Ya'll it's hard and tiring but oh so fun!

Going: I have a couple of cool blogging events coming up and I'm so excited to share them with you guys.

Loving:  On the oil front, I've discovered Oregano Oil. Seriously people, it gets rid of skin tags.  I KID YOU NOT!!!   Also loving the not quite inferno level temperatures.  Oh it's still hot but I don't melt into the driveway walking to get the mail so all you peeps bragging about your cool weather and chilly days just keep it to yourselves and I won't get you in January when you are up to your booty in snow and we are sitting in the balmy 50's here in Texas. 

Hating: Hubster being gone all the time.  I mean it's hard on him, it's hard on me and well the only one happy is the fat cat who comes and sprawls out on half the bed at night. 

Enjoying: Sleeping in my own bed.  I don't know how Hubster does it but I love being away and on vacation but man, I love my bed!! 

Starting: The kitchen is up next in the home decorating list and I'm just working my way into it.  It's gonna be a BIG project because I seriously need to paint the cabinets too. 

Reviewing:  Believe it or not, I've got nothing in that pipeline so you get a break from me pushing products.  

In a completely unrelated category I also had a little surgery prior to leaving for the beach.  The good news was there was no bad news, the bad news is that we still don't know what's going on in my intestinal system. 

I'm tired of the poking and prodding and worrying so now that we know it's not the worst that we feared I think  I'm up for looking at alternative medicinal treatments.  I appreciate those of you who wished me well on Facebook after my surgery while I was binge watching Gilligan's Island.  Your love, prayers and good vibes are more than a girl could ask for and I appreciate it more than you know!  

So what's up in your world?  Anything fun?  Have you had your first PSL yet?

See ya soon, I do have a couple of cool recipes to share too, just gotta get my boo-tay in gear and get them posted.    I leave you with this which totally made my laugh!

Peace, Love and Nae Nae!!