Little Red Riding Hood

What does it say about me that every time I read Anna the story of Little Red Riding Hood, my wolf-in-grandma's-nightgown voice has a very husky British accent?

In excess: bananas and giant zucchini

It is a truth universally acknowledged that you will never be able to eat all of the bananas you buy before they turn brown.



But if this unfortunate circumstance has led to the invention of banana bread, it's not all bad. Besides the traditional banana bread, which is always a favorite and almost always requires the addition of chocolate chips (though Trevor would disagree), what else do you do with old bananas? My sister makes a mean chocolate banana bread, which is moist and delicious. I also like to peel and freeze ripe bananas to put in smoothies.



But one of my favorite ways to use old bananas is to make chocolate banana muffins. (Since "muffin" is in the name of the recipe, I like to tell myself that they're a perfectly acceptable breakfast food. Totally false.)



Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar (I use a little less)
  
• 1/4 cup baking cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1-1/3 cup mashed ripe bananas (I just use 3 bananas.)
  
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 cup (6 ounces) chocolate chips

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In a small bowl, combine bananas, oil and egg; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until muffins test done. Yield: about 1 dozen.



Now for zucchini.







(Don't you love google image searches?)







My sister also has a knack for finding good zucchini recipes. These Lemon Zucchini Cookies are SO tasty, and I'm also a sucker for the dense and delicious Chocolate Zucchini Cake she makes that she likes to top with ganache. Mmmm.... And I'm not kidding you. It's divine.



Chocolate Zucchini Cake



1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. oil

1 3/4 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. sour milk (or buttermilk)

2 1/2 c. flour

4 T. cocoa (my sister adds more, so it depends on how much of a chocolate freak you are)

1/2 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

pinch of salt

2 c. peeled and finely shredded zucchini (press out any excess liquid)

1/2 c. chocolate chips



Sour milk:

1 t. vinegar or lemon juice

1/2 c. milk

Add together and let stand for 5 minutes



Ganache:

Melt together some chocolate chips and cream in a double boiler. (Sketchy directions, but my sister said she melts about a half a cup of milk chocolate chips and a handful (?) of semi-sweet and then adds cream to desired consistency. Does that help?)



Beat butter, oil, and sugar well. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and sour milk. Sift dry ingredients and beat into mixture. Stir in zucchini. Pour batter into a greased and floured bundt pan. Sprinkle top of batter with chips (or stir into batter if you want). Bake at 325 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until done. Cool in pan 15 minutes and carefully remove to finish cooling. Spread with ganache and enjoy.



*A quick tip: Don't try to make this in the off season when you get a craving and use store-bought zucchini. There is a bitterness and a stronger flavor to smaller zucchini, so opt for the milder taste it gets when it gets huge.



So what do YOU do with your old bananas? And even though the time is almost past for this year's zucchini harvest, did you find any recipes you're going to keep around?

A new do

I tell ya, I have such a hard time cutting my hair. I'm always glad when I do it, because it's nice to have an actual style and I'm also such a lazy bum and hate taking a long time to fix it. But having naturally curly hair gives me ulcers when I think about cutting it short. This is because when my hair gets short, it has a propensity to be a) old lady hair, b) triangle hair, or c) both—my biggest fears. But those fears were not realized and I think I came out ahead after this haircut.

Here's the before...

(I didn't crop Anna out of this photo because she looks simultaneously like a total ragamuffin and a little demonic. Amazing.)

And after.

So it's your basic A-line with some longer chunks up front for a bit of added funk. And I kind of feel a little bit flapper when it's curly, but who doesn't like that? So far so good, I think. I like how fast I can dry it and that it has an actual style. Pretty fun, huh? Now, why didn't I do this sooner?

Guilty pleasures

* vanilla ice cream cones from McDonald's (unnaturally white and so delicious)
* vanilla ice cream cones from McDonald's (I love them so much, it was worth putting it twice.)
* Pink (the singer)
* The Terminator movies
* The Twilight books (Actually, these are more like a drug. Yes, I inhaled and was forced to continue at an unhealthy pace until I was done. I'm not proud of it, but it was definitely more extreme that just a guilty pleasure. But I'm clean now.)
* Monster Ballads, the CD
* naps
* reading a book while Anna takes a looooong bath (when I should be cleaning the bathroom or doing something else productive)
* Tom Jones (the singer)
* white bread
* rereading Harry Potter books (or any other favorite)
* eating a tub of Ben and Jerry's all by myself (I used to do this in college and would stretch one container out for at least a week, or so. Now I marvel at the self-control I once had.)
* funeral potatoes

Yours?

Show and tell

I have very little crafting ability. I do have some, but it's on a very amateur level. I know one crochet stitch and I can sew a straight line on the sewing machine — and that about sums it up.

Not to toot my own horn, however, this post is to show what one can do with this tiny bit of knowledge. Basically, I learned that you can still make cute things even if you think you're pretty unskilled.

So instead of using a bunch of different crochet stitches, I like to focus more on color combinations and decorative elements when I crochet. I've made a few scarves and afghans, but this summer I experimented with a couple baby blankets and things I could add to them. I think they turned out quite well ... for being made by such a novice.





Sure, there are some bumps and lines that are less than straight, but that adds to the handcrafted (or perhaps personalized and awkward) feel, right? Right?

I've basically been crocheting my one stitch for more than a decade (I think I can trace the roots of this knowledge back to a personal progress project or two), but sewing is less familiar to me. But with my mom on metaphorical speed dial, I was able to successfully sew something recognizable:

This one even has darts. Darts!

This blanket was definitely a labor of love. I learned a lot on this one, but at least the scars don't show ... too much.