Banana Bread Success!

My roommates and I seem to have a habit of all buying bananas at the same time at the beginning of the week to the point where there is no way we can ever finish them all. Having this recipe is a great excuse to make a favorite snack of mine and I've finally found the perfect recipe so to quote straight from the source: "I have mastered the banana bread. Honestly. Here you go"

INGREDIENTS:

-3-4 mashed bananas (typically overripe)

-1/3rd cup melted butter

-1 cup sugar

-1 egg

-1 tsp vanilla

-1 tsp baking soda

-1.5 cups flour

-pinch of salt

-chocolate chips optional but highly recommended (I added 1 cup)

METHOD:

1) Mash bananas in bowl, add melted butter and everything else. mix together. pour in loaf pan and bake at 350 for 55 minutes.

ENJOY !

The only thing I forgot to do was grease the baking pan... which thankfully didn't turn out to be too big of a mess. Thanks to Em for this recipe, it turned out great and most importantly, was very easy to make! A few weeks ago, I tried another recipe which didn't turn out so well. It called for 2 bananas but I got a little too excited and thought "what could one more really hurt?" the result: very mushy banana bread.

Try it out and I promise, if you follow the instructions you can't go wrong. Mmm. Will be making this again soon.

VERDICT: Truly fail proof! It made me feel like I can actually bake... a very unusual feeling indeed.

The Best Cupcakes In the World

Just reminded myself of these cupcakes that I made for Em's birthday a few years back:

I like decorating with icing but its much more difficult than you would think. I have a

deep appreciation for the talent of cake designers like Shauna who make absolutely amazing cakes. But for the record, when it comes to cupcakes, my friend Aly makes the best. They are not only incredibly delicious and made with love, but they look pretty as can be. I'm so lucky to have her as a friend.

Yep... no competition there. Will have to try this again without the help of Betty Crocker and a bit of inspiration from my friends above.

Birthday Cupcakes

This was a fantastic idea a friend of mine thought of for her boyfriend's birthday. Taking place on the night of the third last LOST episode during our weekly TV night Jess brought over this delicious "cake" that actually broke up into many little cupcakes! Perfect for sharing and portion control (not that it means anything when it comes to cake). I'd like to try try to make my own. My plan will be to bake lots of cupcakes with some sort of home made sugary icing, slather on top and decorate as best as I can. Or, I'll just order for Safeway...

Granola Kou-You-Mjian Style

Yesterday I attempted to make home made granola. For anyone who knows me, I love granola to the point where I am no longer allowed to purchase boxes at the grocery store because they will disappear too fast and, they are not good for me.

That being said, I decided to attempt a recipe given to me by Mrs. Kouyoumjian (ka-hoo-jan) - which turned out, not so bad despite 1 1/4 cup too much flour. I was never very good at chemistry anyways!

RECIPE:

• 1 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 3/4 cup bran cereal (I used Frosted Flakes, which was a bit of a cheat with the sugar on the raisins but I think it worked out just fine!)
• 1 3/4 cup oats

*I added Crasins but you can easily add nuts for a delicious alternative.

METHOD:

• In a pot, boil brown sugar and butter until they reach boiling point
• Mix all the dry ingredients together separately (Bran, Oats, Rasins, Crasins, Nuts)
• Remove pot with boiling mixture from heat and add the mixed dry ingredients
• Smush onto a flat baking pan
• Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes
• Let cool off for 10 minutes, cut into pieces

VERDICT: My taste testers are still alive and didn't mind that it was a bit dry. Hoping for this batch to disappear quickly so I can try again soon.