Comfort Dessert

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! I hope it's nicer wherever you are. Here in the MN it is cool, gray, and rainy. That seems about par for the course around here on the three-day weekend. On the rare years it is not this way, it is hot hot hot and so humid you don't want to be outside anyway. Today it was 55 degrees for a high....brr! Well, I really can't complain since on May 2nd this year we got 15 inches of snow.....yes, SNOW! It is a four-letter word around here, at least in my house. So 55 seems pretty nice....even nice enough to wear a short sleeve shirt and capris! Of course, I only left the house to go to the mailbox today; I don't think I would have worn this out and about otherwise!

This weekend holds no firm plans for me. I also have Tuesday and Wednesday off so I'm playing it lazy. That coupled with the fact that my doctor told me to take it easy for the next 10 days or so due to an injection for trochanteric bursitis that I received on Friday means I have plenty of time to read the five books I'm behind on, catch up on some TV, hang out with my best friend, and do some light cooking and baking. No exercising or stairs for me, darn it! Those are the doctor's orders. I'm going to assume that means I shouldn't be vacuuming, or cleaning, or doing any other strenuous home chores ;)

What? I'm on vacation!

What does all this mean? I needed comfort food. Specifically, comfort dessert. I started combing through my Pinterest boards and found this recipe for a two-minute salted caramel and chocolate mug cake. A single serving of warm chocolate cake and gooey salted caramel? With minimal ingredients, time, and effort put into it? Sign me up!

So, how did it turn out? Honestly, while it was good, and easy, and satisfied my chocolate craving, I don't know how often I'll make it. If I'm already getting out all of the ingredients and mixing them together, it would be just as simple to throw it in a cake pan or cupcake liners and bake it in the oven instead of the microwave. Sure, it would take longer to cook...but in this case, I think that is probably a good thing. I have a mid-wattage microwave oven and cooked it for the recommended 90 seconds and it was on the dry side. It wasn't tough, but it was firmer than a good cupcake. I did add a splash of vanilla as well, since I think all chocolate desserts could benefit from it. Overall, it was good for a quick solution to a need for comfort dessert. If you try it, let me know what you think!
 2 Minute Chocolate and Salted Caramel Mug Cake

Best Banana Bread Ever

Mmm.....ba-naaa-naaa!!!

Banana bread. A baked good that, when done right, is light, moist, almost airy, where the pure banana taste shines through. When done not-so-right, though, it is oily, dense, heavy and more sugary than banana-y. The not-so-right banana bread has been the bane of my existence, no matter what recipe I tried. Until year. Oh, did I find a little slice of heaven! Searching the interwebs led me to Simply Recipes and their delightful recipe. It is simple, low in sugar, and high in banana flavor. I have made this many times since finding it. The first time I made it, I did so exactly according to the directions and it was wonderful. After reading the comment section on the original recipe, I decided to add rum extract and almond extract and that took it to an entirely new level. I've also added chocolate chips, blueberries, nutella, and regular spiced rum (although not all in the same loaf!). Every single addition was delicious. Even with my chocolate obsession, my favorite version is just banana bread with the rum and almond extracts. My almost-two-year-old nephew Tate LOVES bananas and would heartily endorse this bread! So I am going to share it with you. You're welcome. And thank you, thank you, thank you to Simply Recipes for putting it out there in the first place!!!
Banana Bread Recipe (courtesy Simply Recipes)

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients
3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter - barely melted so it's still pale yellow and not runny liquid
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup - and I did)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour - sifting it is very helpful!

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Yield: Makes one loaf

Blogging, take three

Well, here I go again. This is take three of my blogging experiences. I have enjoyed it in the past but also felt some sort of strange internal pressure to do more, experience more, share more; so much so that it gave me writer's block for a long time. They say to blog you should have a clear vision of what your blog will be about. Maybe that is the problem for me. Picking just one thing to focus on left me feeling like if the post didn't fit in with the "vision", it would seem out of place. And just focusing on my life seemed, well, boring. So I'm going to be sharing things about my life and my interests, whether they seem interesting or relevant to nobody else but me. This is a creative outlet for me, along with cooking and baking, photography, books, faith, wine, my pets, and the kids and people in my life. So what you see here will be me, in a nutshell. I guess I've found my blog vision after all! Anyway, I hope you enjoy your visit!