Benny Grimms - Recipe

Here it is. Our old family recipe...

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

St. Valentines Day is a day of giving. Or so I'm reminded every time I enter a retailer. I succumb to marketing like the next yummie mummie (my new brand), so I have been making goodies for the gals to bring to school.

Today I'll be dropping off some Whole Wheat Banana Muffins (altered recipe from Cooks Illustrated).


1¾ cups (8¾ ounces) whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon table salt (I omit)
6 large very ripe bananas (about 2¼ pounds), peeled (I only had 3)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 large eggs
¾ cup packed (5¼ ounces) light brown sugar (I did half white and have brown sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)
2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375 and fill mini muffin tins with cupcake holders. I use an icecream scoop to fill the mini muffins.

First mix wet ingredients and then add dry.

Mix just until blended. I also completely omitted the part where you cook the bananas (stew them for more flavor). See recipe above if you want to try it out!

And Voila - I decorated with Chocolate Chips. This is for a class of 1-2 year olds so I omitted nuts.

Pancakes, Part 2

As a follow up to my entry about pancakes, I wanted to share just how yummy they were.
In this picture, Drew is holding up his plate of blueberry pancakes in syrup. Here are the girls after pancakes - happy little clams.

We had a great impromptu dinner. I think Janet is right - we'll have more of the same again, soon!

Yummy Challah!

Lola made Challah and it was almost as big as our monkey! This bread is wonderful. Especially right after it's cooled down "just enough" to still melt the butter as you're spreading it on a warm slice.

We are still enjoying the loaf. And I think my belly is turning into a loaf of soft bread. Not pretty.

Frenzied Baking, Part 2

There are a few things to note about Butter Mochi if you decide you want to make it.
1. I think the square 12x12 glass pan I used was too deep.  Really find a pan that fits the dimensions below!
2. I used the low-fat organic coconut and the crust was thin, brittle and fell off.
3. Lisa tells me you can try to mix brown sugar and white sugar.
Good luck!
Butter Mochi

1 lb Mochiko flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 cup Butter, melted
3 cups Milk
5 Eggs beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
shredded coconut flakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl combine mochiko, sugar, and baking powder.  Add in remaining ingredients (except coconut flakes) to mochiko mixture; mix well. Pour into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan.  Sprinkle shredded coconut flakes on top. You can put as little or as much as you like. Bake for 1 hour, and cool. Serves 24.

Autumn Comfort Food

One of my previous entries was about staples. Well, actually it was about a restaurant called Staple and Fancy. This entry is about staple and homely. There is nothing like pairing pumpkin with an old homely staple in our house. Staple that is, since children entered the picture. Homely that is, since I make it that way. Mac n Cheese and pumpkin, please? Glenna sent me a fail-safe recipe. I altered it ever-so-slightly based on what I could find in the fridge and cupboard. It was a hit! By the way, Paul still added more flavor to it after he got home. That's what he does... Sorry folks, I didn't add bacon, which Paul considers a spice. But I bet foraged mushrooms such as Chanterelles would have been fabulous. Paul bought an entire box from a friend who works at Whole Foods. Here's a tip: Don't try to pair it with a German Gewürtztraminer which was all that was open in the fridge. In fact, don't ever buy a Gewürtztraminer! Torsten's theory is that Germans export it so they don't have to drink it. (I agree!)

Pumpkin Mac and Cheese

Ingredients
·       2 cups dried elbow macaroni (8 ounces) I used rigatoni.
·       2 Tbsp. butter
·       2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
·       1/2 tsp. salt
·       1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
·       1 cup whipping cream I used half & half·       1 cup whole milk I used skim milk
·       4 oz. Fontina cheese, shredded (1 cup) I used Quattro Frommagio
·       1 15-oz. can pumpkin
·       1 Tbsp. snipped fresh sage or 1/2 tsp. dried leaf sage, crushed I used Herbes de Provence
·       1/2 cup soft bread crumbs I used Panko·       1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
·       1/3 cup chopped walnuts I omitted these (Lily is still too young)
·       1 Tbsp. olive oil
·       Sage leaves (optional) I didn't have sage!

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook pasta in a large pot following package directions. Drain cooked pasta, then return to pot.
2. For cheese sauce, in a medium saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Add whipping cream and milk all at once. Cook and stir over medium heat until slightly thickened and bubbly. Stir in cheese, pumpkin, and sage until cheese is melted. Stir cheese sauce into pasta to coat. Transfer macaroni and cheese to an ungreased 2-quart rectangular baking dish.
3. In a small bowl combine bread crumbs, Parmesan, walnuts, and oil; sprinkle over pasta. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until bubbly and top is golden. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. If desired, sprinkle with sage leaves.

A Little Bit of Sunshine

This weekend was all about reconnecting with a very dear friend. We go way back to the days when we were carefree and even reckless in Munich (although, really, not very) over 20 years ago. Could it be that long? We both are still young, of course!  Torsten came from Munich and stopped in Vancouver, B.C. for two days of shopping before arriving in Seattle. First stop: U-Village for some more shopping (and it poured rain the entire time - where was that little bit of sunshine for our guest).
Later that evening, dinner was take-out Indian food (after debating between Mexican, Thai and Indian).  We had Lamb Vindaloo, Butter chicken, rice, naan and vegetarian samosas.  I tried giving the baby some of the samosa but her bottom lip suddenly puffed out and curled down after we all realized it was too spicy!  (Warning: even "mild" was a little bit spicy for both girls, but mainly for the baby). 

Eggs Benedict, lecker!

This morning, Paul poached eggs the old-fashioned way and whipped up a hollandaise in order to make Torsten's favorite (which he cannot get in Germany) - Eggs Benedict. I have to admit, it was "lecker" as they say in Deutschland, but it's a bit too rich for me. So I had to stick to one and give the other one to Paul who obliged without hesitation.

We then headed off to Golden Gardens and spent time enjoying the fresh chilled air.  It is definitely Fall here!

Beim Spielplatz

And then it was time to say goodbye. The visit was too short. Komm' doch mal mit Peter das nächste Mal!  Wir vermissen Dich schon...

Torsten mit der RIESEN Gepäck!

This evening, Paul needed to head off to work while I was trying to figure out what to do for dinner. It wasn't too hard when I realized we had left-overs from our lovely dinner last night with Torsten.  Linguine with olive oil and Parmesan and a chanterelles, cream and bacon sauce. Sadly, I did the thing that probably kills all nutrients. I threw both plates in the microwave on 30 and Elle and I ate brussel sprouts and asparagus with our noodle dish. Lovely. Lily was already full from the fruit, avocado and noodles I put in front of her.

The girls had an eventful weekend - preparing for trick-or-treating on a Saturday afternoon (Paul took the girls while Torsten and I shopped).

Ich bin einer Marienkäfer!

Le coccinelle

Aren't we the cutest.

Friends dressed and ready to go!

Simple Recipes

It's summertime, and the livin' is easy. We are spending time in Montana with family, celebrating birth years and reminiscing about our youth. There are some funny pictures of our family (and the clothes we are wearing!) But all in all, I can see the smiles on all of the faces as they thumb through photo album after photo album of our past. This family reunion is a savory recipe of one part nostalgia and one part creating new memories.

Our family reunions are always potluck style. Julie brought Goulash, a macaroni and hamburger stew with tomatoes (Dode used Tomato Soup); Deanna made baked beans with bacon, our favorite, Vonda made a healthy salad with huckleberry dressing, Connie made old fashioned fruit salad with cool whip, and Marci brought granola baked in a pan with melted chocolate chips on top. Mom, dad and our siblings contributed to A LOT of meat, and Paul grilled it up. We all ate too much. So now I am thinking about something I want to try to make (of course - food obsessed!)

Marci's Granola recipe goes something like this:
2 cups granola
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1 pack chocolate chips (melted)

I guess I need to try making it, but I'd like to start with home-made granola and use Adams or 365 brand peanut butter (no lard). Let me know if this works for you!