My Banana Jacked Bread

In celebration of the cooler weather we are having, I was eager to get back into the kitchen (because I wanted to not because I had too).  As I was trying to decide what I was going to bake I couldn’t help but notice the poor VERY ripe bananas, the kind of ripe that would only last another day or two.  So I pulled out my BIG book of printed off recipes and looked at the ones that I have saved on my laptop.  I was leaning towards banana bread, but remembered how I was slightly disappointed the last time I made it.  It was just missing something.

 Not being able to decide on one particular recipe, I decided to take the plunge and attempt to create my own.  On a scratch piece of paper I started jotting down what I wanted and how much.  Needless to say I was unsure going into this and was pretty sure I would be making a trip to the trash can. 

After combining most of the ingredients I almost forgot the most important one…my friend Jack.  How can I invite this yummy bread to my little celebration and not offer it a shot or two…you know one for me, one for you, one for me, one for you.. you get the idea.   So in the oven it went (I think) and I crossed every part of me that I could, in hopes that I wouldn’t open the door to a banana monster.  The timer went off, I slowly opened the door and was beyond excited.   I had actually created something that didn’t cook over, wasn’t flat as a pancake and actually was moist and tasted pretty darn good.  Now in the past I was never a big ‘nut’ fan when it came to banana bread, so I decided to make some with the nut topping and some without.  I have to secretly admit I LOVE the one with the nuts.  The combinations of flavors were insanely delicious to me.  So I hope that you have as much fun making this as I did.  And remember if you don’t like the booze and/or nuts, just leave them out.  Indulge!

More recipes coming soon.....

Though I haven't posted anything in the last month and a half, doesn't mean I haven't been in the kitchen.  Take a look at what's coming.

Avocado-Mango Salad with Fresh Cheese and Capicola

I'm back!!  It has been such a busy past month and half and I'm really excited to finally have some time to add some delicious dishes.  Summer is definitely upon us, hello 102 degree's... not.  I have never been so ready for fall (and it's only June).  To beat the heat, this is such a refreshing salad.  I love the sweetness from the mangoes and the creaminess of the avocados and the little kick you get from the dressing.  I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.  Indulge!

Mocha Salted Caramel cupcakes with an Irish surprise

We invited some friends over for dinner this weekend and one of them had a birthday coming up, so I thought what a great excuse to make cupcakes.  I was in the mood for chocolate and salted caramel, but also wanted to try a Bailey’s whipped frosting.  I decided to go with the salted caramel butter cream as the frosting and use the Bailey’s along with some of the salted caramel as a secret filling.  The Chocolate, caramel and Bailey’s cream is heavenly together.

Individual Baked Veggie Pasta Dishes

I decided to make individual baked pasta dishes the other night and let me tell you it hit the spot.  It was our normal pasta night and I wanted to try something a little different, not to mention try and slip some veggies for the kids.

This was super easy and because I baked them in individual dishes it didn’t take long at all.  The kids were so excited to get their own little dish.  This is a great dish for those busy weeknights and pretty healthy too, if you limit the cheeses. 

Vegetable Enchilada’s with Creamy Tomatillo Sauce

After the fabulous meal we had last night (Halibut withZucchini and Toasty Roasted Garlic Mojo), I was contemplating what to make for tonight.  I knew had a little bit of the zucchini and asparagus left and was craving that roasted garlic flavor, so I turned to my new ‘toy’ and started searching.  After finding a couple that caught my eye, this is what I came up with.

Chunky Roasted Tomato Salsa

This is such a quick and simple recipe for refreshing salsa.  I can honestly say you will always find this in my refrigerator.  It’s not just for chips; I eat it on everything, whether it’s over steamed veggies, fish and even pasta.  This salsa is so versatile too.  If you don’t care for fire roasted use plain or even fresh tomatoes, just roast them under the broiler until the skin is slightly charred (also you can roast the chilies and garlic), peel and chop.  The possibilities are endless.

Halibut with Zucchini and Toasty Roasted Garlic Mojo

I am a huge fan of Rick Bayless and was so excited when I received two of his cookbooks, “Fiesta at Rick’s” and “Mexican Everyday”.  It is a Saturday ritual at my house to take in an episode of “Mexico, One Plate at a Time”, to get the creative juices flowing on what to serve for dinner that night. I love his passion for making everyday a celebration.  Thank you for inspiring us Rick.

Individual Chocolate Toffee Trifle

I have to admit this dish was created by accident after a little mishap in my kitchen (which happens quite a bit :) ).  I had invited my girlfriend over for dinner and because her birthday was the previous week I wanted to make her a special dessert.  Since I was going through a cupcake phase I wanted to incorporate a chocolate cupcake with English toffee bits and homemade salted caramel.  I had tried Ina Garten’s recipe “Beatty’s Chocolate Cake” and loved it.  It was so moist and had just the right amount of Chocolate goodness.  So I decided to try her recipe in cupcake form.  As always I was rushing to make sure everything was ready when my girlfriend arrived.  Cupcakes are in the oven and when I checked on them… let’s just say they were not pretty (I’m thinking I should have adjusted the amount of baking powder).   I was frantic, time was running out and I had a pan of spread out cupcakes.  Thank goodness I had recently viewed pictures of individual trifles that I thought were so adorable.  I had already made my salted caramel that had been cooling, so I threw in some heavy cream and English toffee bits in the food processor and created creamy toffee bliss.   I layered all the ingredients in a nice glass and voila my accident just turned into something delectable.  Indulge!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcake

As I mentioned in an earlier post about my daughter’s birthday, how she wanted pumpkin flavored cake.  So I had decided to add two cupcake flavors one being the Tiramisu (the last recipe I posted) and this one~ Chocolate Covered Strawberry!!  There is just something about Chocolate and Strawberry that is so intoxicating.  When I was putting it together I knew I didn’t want to use store bought strawberry preserves.  I had a recipe for quick homemade strawberry jam that would work perfectly (this jam is so fresh and delicious I could eat it alone by itself).  As for the frosting I thought about incorporating the strawberry in, but decided that I would add another chocolate… White chocolate!  The way all of these flavors come together are just heavenly.  Indulge!!

                                                                            

Tiramisu Cupcakes

I am usually not a big tiramisu fan, but there was something about this recipe that I just had to give it a try.  For my daughter’s birthday, the dinner theme was Italian (she loves pasta).  Now mind you her choice of cake flavor was pumpkin and her birthday is in March, who eats pumpkin cake in March… we did, I wasn’t going to be the one to deny her what she wanted, it was her birthday ( I have a pumpkin Bundt cake I make every fall for Thanksgiving and she LOVES it and asks for it all year long~ I will post that recipe another time).  I decided to throw in a couple of cupcake flavors so our guest wouldn’t think I was out of my mind for serving pumpkin cake during spring. 

Since we were having Italian for dinner It inspired me to make my own tiramisu, but in cupcake form, recipe courtesy of who else but Martha Stewart.  As I usually tend to do I tweaked it slightly.  I took some of the left over coffee syrup and made a quick whipped cream filling for the cupcake. It may seem like a lot of components went into this delicious cupcake and it may seem intimidating, but once you pull it all together it becomes a party in your mouth.  Indulge!

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

My family adores snickerdoodle cookies and when I came across the cookie recipe in cupcake form, I just had to try it.  I have made it a few times now and each time I tried something a little bit different to try and please my own taste.  The first time I followed Martha Stewart's cupcake recipe to a “T”, but chose not to try her seven minute frosting.  I went with a whipped cinnamon frosting instead and it was amazing, but it still lacked something.
With this last attempt I think I finally found ‘the one’.  I added a mascarpone/cinnamon filling (who doesn’t enjoy filling oozing out) and went with a cinnamon butter cream.  I decided to adorn it with a miniature, chewy and adorable snickerdoodle cookie~ in my opinion the best of both worlds.

Snickerdoodle Cookies

I absolutely love this cookie probably my all time favorite, but then again I love all things cinnamon.  This is a recipe that my Mom used and passed down to me.  I have slightly tweaked it a bit, adding brown sugar in the dough and raw sugar to the cinnamon/sugar mixture to roll them in ~ delightful.  I love the fact that it doesn’t use shortening.  I try to avoid using it if at all possible, I just don't care for it.  When making these dreamy cookies, make a dozen or so smaller ones (a little larger than a quarter) to set aside.  I have a recipe (will post soon) for a Snickerdoodle cupcake that you can garnish beautifully with the smaller cookie.  Indulge!

Farfalle with Shrimp & Herbed Cream Sauce

Crab & Shrimp Cakes with Red Bell Pepper & Cilantro Cream Sauce

This dish is probably one of the first that I was proud enough of myself to actually photograph.  I am a huge fan of Blue Mesa Grill in Dallas, but can't get back home enough to get my fix so I thought I would try and recreate one of my favorites.  I LOVE crab cakes and had tried many recipes before this one and after tinkering with it- loved the result.

Coming Soon

Please be patient family and friends as I get this site up and running.... deliciousness coming your way soon.