Grandma Nane's Recipe Box: Banana Bread

In many regards I am a typical millennial. My iPhone is close at hand and I am quick to turn to google or the internet when in need of an answer or help. Pintrest and AllRecipes are my go to for a recipe. A couple nights ago as I was putting something away in my cupboards I looked up and noticed on the top shelf a handful of hometown recipe books and my Grandma's recipe box and it caused me to pause. I quickly abandoned my lengthy to-do list and found myself flipping through my Grandma's old recipes on index cards in her handwriting, my mother's handwriting, and even some I believe is my Great-Grandma's handwriting. There in my cupboards sat a time capsule of sorts. I wanted to explore it, I want it to soak it in, I wanted my Grandma to sit with me and tell me the stories of the various recipes, which ones were good and which ones she served on which occasions. As the box flew open there was even a little smell of my Grandma that come wafting out of the box, and the memories flooded back to me, if only there was a way to preserve that smell.

          In the wake of my Grandma

Nane's battle with Alzheimer's a year ago (and eventual death) we found ourselves moving both my Grandma and my Grandpa into a retirement village, that had independent living for my Grandpa and skilled and memory care for my Grandma. We moved them out of what had been home for them for several decades and transitioned them into new homes. While we were going through the house we were helping my Grandpa downsize to their new apartment and take care of what things remained.  Some where along the line I was given this old recipe box of my Grandma's and I tucked it up high in my cupboards and apparently the back of my mind. She wasn't necessarily know in her latter years for her kitchen skills but rather her ability to consume dessert after dessert and pick a nice place to go out for a meal.
     However, her recipe box has me inspired to take a little journey with her, to explore the recipes she found worthy of keeping and today started my adventure with my newly turn 3 year old assistant. As I flipped through the recipes I knew I had to start easy, I also recognized the mountain of bananas that have been filling up my freezer and my husband has been reminding me to use up or get rid of. I found the banana bread recipe that my Grandma had used at some point. Lucy and I began to bake this morning in a brief moment where the boys were both sleeping.

It was good and I would use it again. I double the batch and got 12 mini loaves, 12 regular muffins, and 48 mini muffins. It was marvelous and I am excited to see what else this little box of recipes holds. Next time I use this recipe would probably replace the oil with apple sauce and decrease the amount of sugar. The bread is definitely approved by the tiny humans in my house as they consumed bite after bite with repeated requests for more.

What is your go-to for recipes?
What is the best thing you've ever been handed down?

{Cupcakes: Disney's Peanut Butter Cupcake}

I have caught the itch for the trend of cupcakes.
I love how each individual cake looks nice as opposed to when you cut a cake it looks awesome as a whole but the individual pieces do not always look so stellar when they are being served.

This winter I have really taken seriously my love of cupcakes and have started to learn how to frost/decorate my own as well as bake my own from scratch. {I know they probably don't taste all that much different and maybe not even better, but I love knowing I created something from square one} Pinterest has a TON of fun ideas, the problem is some of them are just pictures while other include the entire recipe. I have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to cupcakes. I {and my mom} are always pinning different cupcakes, some people are ridiculously creative.

A couple weeks ago Lucy, Marc, Dakota, and I met up with Cubby {my brother}, Al {Cubby's girlfriend}, and my parents in Minneapolis to celebrate my Mom's 60th birthday. I offered to bring the cupcakes {what's a birthday party w/out cake?!}.

I found THIS pin on Pinterest, which lacks any directions just has a picture.
They claim to be Disney's Peanut Butter Cupcake. {I would LOVE to learn a ton of Disney parks recipes}

I made a chocolate cake from scratch
Put mini peanut butter chips inside the cake
Baked them
Made a homemade buttercream frosting
Sprinkled with a few mini peanut butter chips
Drizzled melted peanut butter chips {I add a tiny bit of oil to my melted chips}
Drizzled melted chocolate chips  {I once again add a tiny bit of oil to my melted chips}
Added a mini Reece's Peanut Butter cup to each cupcake

In retrospect: the pin put the peanut butter cup on then added the two drizzles


We brought a dozen to Minneapolis and a dozen to a St. Patty's day party
We had zero left at the end of the weekend, so I am calling it a success

Do you like to bake?
What do you like to bake?

Christmas Cookie-Palooza

I love this time of year.
I love Christmas.
I love Christmas cookies.
I even love baking Christmas cookies - but not every night and all the time.
I love having a random assortment of Christmas cookies to bring to parties and to have out when people come to visit.
I hate taking multiple nights and multiple days to bake and to clean up 12 times.

One of my friends works at a camp and offered to have us all out to camp (BIG KITCHEN & LOTS of ovens) to have a Christmas cookie baking palooza.


Goals:

• to make copious amounts of Christmas cookies
• to only have to clean up a kitchen once
• to hang out with friends

We each planned a couple of Christmas cookies and brought the supplies we needed. We purchased as a group: flour, sugar, etc....... and we met up at Camp.



I had premade my dough because it all said that it needed to chill for several hours before using it. I made a pinwheel cookie as well as spritz cookies. My problem for the day was that my dough got "too cold" and was hard to work with so I had to let it warm up a bit before I could bake mine. It was fine because I got to help other folks make their cookies.

It was a marvelous morning. I now have several dozen cookies of a variety of flavors and I am thankful to be done with my holiday baking (although I am a little nervous my husband is going to eat a large portion of the cookies and cut down on the amount that I have to share with others- I suppose worse case when mom comes up in a week and a half I can bake more and she can snuggle Lucy.

High Heeled Cupcakes

A few weeks ago a friend called and asked a few of us if we would be willing to help make "high heeled cupcakes" for her daughter's graduation party. I, along with several others, agreed, and the following is the photos from the project - I must admit they turned out WAY better than I anticipated.

The cupcakes before they were decorated

Taking a chunk out of part of the cupcake to fit in the bottom
portion of the shoe

Decorating the bottom portion of the shoe
first the graham cracker had to be cut to the right shape
then the bottom had to be colored
and then the outline color had to be added to the graham cracker

More decorating

Once the bottom of the shoe was added to the cupcake
the whole cupcake was frosted and the bow was added

heelless cupcakes 

finished product
the heel was added as a very last step

My friend Grace

 

Krumkake

      This afternoon I was baking krumkake for the youth bake sale at church tomorrow. I began to think a bit about my friend Grace, she no longer remembers me, her mind has been taken over by Alzheimer's Disease but today while making krumkake she was close to my mind and I gave thanks for Grace. As a young child I remember Grace bringing krumkake to every potluck, bake sale, and other event at the church. Grace's krumkake is famous amongst our small church as clearly being superior to all others.
      One day my mother asked Grace to teach her and I how to make the cookies. I remember her coming to our house and I was maybe a third grader and at that time I was close to being able to look Grace straight in the eyes, she is a petite lady. She brought with her all the supplies we would need including her krumkake iron, she had the kind that goes on the stove, it looked well loved and treasured, I could tell then that it had been used countless number of times (I now have an electric one - it hasn't quite made the thousands of batches that Grace's has). I remember her patience with me as I put far far too much dough on the iron and I all too often wanted to open the iron to check on the cookies. Grace had it down to a fine science, she put on just the right amount and knew exactly how long to let the cookies cook. I on the other hand have a variety of sizes due to my still inability to get it quite right and I still open the iron far too much due to my lack of patience. But I remember Grace patient with me and carefully showing me the art of krumkake an old Norwegian favorite. And today I give thanks for Grace and her willingness to pass on an old traditional cookie to another generation and for teaching me about patience and love.