Still trudging along

Banana-Bran Muffins
The Essential Eating Well Cookbook Copyright 2004

2 large eggs
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup mashed ripe banana (2 medium)
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup unprocessed wheat bran
¼ cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon I omitted this
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup chocolate chips (optional) I used these
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional) I didn't use these

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.
2. Whisk eggs and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in bananas, buttermilk, wheat bran, oil and vanilla.
3. Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the dry ingredients; add the wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips, if using. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups (they’ll be quite full). Sprinkle with walnuts, if using.
4. Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and spring back when touched lightly, 15 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Loosen edges and turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.

Makes 1 dozen muffins. Per serving: 196 calories, 6 g fat, 36 mg chol, 32 g carbs, 5 g protein, 4 g fiber, 182 mg sodium.
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I really wanted to make another batch of Big Chocolate Chip Cookies, but I knew I should make something healthier. These definitely aren't as decadently good as the chocolate chip cookies but for a healthy muffin, they're not bad. Bran can be drying so I'm not sure if these will stay moist until we're done eating them but so far, so good.

I realized this weekend that I've not been feeling uninspired, the fact is that I'm overwhelmed. In a perfect world I could sit down and choose whatever recipes appeal to me but I have too many constraints right now. Time is always the big one. I don't have the time for any complicated recipes right now and by complicated, I mean anything that requires more than a few minutes of prep work. Money and resources complicate things too of course - the pantry, fridge and freezer are packed right now and I feel I should be making use of what I have on hand before too much of it ends of in the trash (I waste so much!). Health is another constraint - I can't make too many rich dishes or treats. Heat - I can't make anything that takes a lot of baking time due to the heat outside (and inside) this time of the year. Hormones - they reek havoc on my energy level and my appetite. ADD - there is no method to my madness. I really need to get more organized. I did pick up a package of Spongebob Squarepants weekly calendars to help plan my menus.

Also, I've made a lot of good recipes in the past ten months and I could easily fill up my menu with repeats but then what would I blog about? There's nothing I hate worse that not seeing new posts on a blog.

As if I wasn't overwhelmed enough, I bought five new cookbooks this weekend. I hit Ollie's Bargain Outlet for the first time in a while and there was definitely a big turn around in cookbooks since my last few visits. You just can't beat the prices. I also bought a book for my son (with magnets) and an Elmo toy cell phone for him and my total was only $31. I probably would have done a lot more damage except I made the mistake of bringing my son along. It's hard to imagine, but a 2 1/2 year old doesn't want to sit patiently in the cart while I pick out cookbooks.

So this week will probably be more of a muddle-through-it kind of week but next week will be better. My new cookbooks have a lot of great recipes.

Question of the Week: Where is your favorite place to buy new cookbooks?

I know, all these salads look the same

Italian Dressing
Better Homes and Gardens Salad Book Copyright 1969

1 cup salad oil
¼ cup vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon white pepper
½ teaspoon celery salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
dash bottled hot pepper sauce

Combine all ingredients in screw-top jar. Cover and shake well. Chill thoroughly. Shake again just before serving.

Makes 1 ¼ cups.
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When all else fails, make salad dressing. I had planned on making a new sweet and sour chicken recipe but I really wasn't in the mood for it and ended up making Buttery Herbed Chicken again. I didn't want to be post-less today so I shook up this easy dressing which I really enjoyed. The freshly minced garlic really made a difference. The dressing doesn't have much color but it is very flavorful.

It's so simple to mix up salad dressing, I'm amazed that there are so many salad dressings on the market. Not that I don't enjoy commercial dressings, because I do, but there are almost always loaded with stuff you can't identify. Despite the many preservatives, I still end up tossing more bottled salad dressing than we eat because we don't eat salad that often.

I felt like I had a good streak of recipes going before this week but I'm struggling again. Hopefully I'll find some inspiration soon.

No Question of the Day today. That's how uninspired I am.

Chocolate chip cookies, take three

Big Chocolate Chip Cookies
Moosewood Restaurant New Classics Copyright 2001

¾ cup butter, at room temperature
1 ½ cups packed dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ cups unbleached white flour I used all-purpose flour
¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons water
2 cups chocolate chips I used chunks
1 cup chopped walnuts or raisins, optional I didn't use these.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly butter a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until smooth. Beat in the eggs until well blended. In a separate bowl, sift together the white flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, mixing well. Add the vanilla and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and, if you wish, the nuts and/or raisins.

For 3-inch cookies, drop the batter by scant ¼ cups onto the baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between the cookies. I made these smaller. I used my larger cookie scoop, which I believe is 2 tablespoons. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the edges and bottoms are light brown and the tops golden. Check after 8 minutes to avoid overbaking.

Remove cookies to a rack to cool. I cool them on foil for a softer cookie.
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Recently I've made Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies and then I made the crisp and crunchy Bev's Chocolate Chip Cookies. This latest recipe is soft and delicious. These cookies literally melt in your mouth. I've made these with regular whole wheat flour and they're much better with the whole wheat pastry flour. I use Bob's Red Mill brand.

This is one of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes, probably my all-time favorite. Sure, other recipes seem great when they're all you have in front of you but if you lined them all up together, these would win every time.

Sorry for all the sweets this week. I'm having trouble getting back into a groove after a busy weekend and the holiday. I haven't picked out a one recipe for next week yet. I need a real vacation.

Question of the Day: What are your vacation plans this year?

Yes, another cake

Banana Cake VI
The Ugly Binder, from Allrecipes.com

Cake:
¾ cup butter
2 1/8 cups white sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups buttermilk
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 ½ cups mashed bananas I used organic bananas

Frosting:
½ cup butter, softened
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar (1 box)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. In a small bowl, mix mashed bananas with lemon juice, set aside. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream ¾ cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternatively with the buttermilk. Stir in banana mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, or until toothpick inserted into center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place directly into freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist. I didn't do this and the cake was still very moist.
4. For the frosting: In a large bowl, cream ½ cup butter and cream cheese until smooth. Beat in 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Add confectioners’ sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high until frosting is smooth. Spread on cooled cake.
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I debated trying a new banana cake recipe from one of my cookbooks or pulling this tried-and-true recipe out of my 'ugly binder', and the tried-and-true recipe won out. It got rave reviews at the 4th (well, 3rd) of July picnic I brought it to and I didn't come home with a crumb of it (much to hubby's chagrin) so I think I made the right decision.

This is a dense, moist cake. The picture is of a 'sample' cake made in a custard cup. The frosting was much thicker on the actual cake. The cake was uneven, and I suspect maybe the low baking temperature caused that, but I also think that helped keep the entire cake very moist (there were no crunchy edges). You might want to read through the reviews to see what others say about the temp, which I'm sure I did when I originally made this cake but there are almost 250 reviews for this cake - too many for me to go through again. My cake cooked perfectly in exactly 1 hour at 275 degrees (well, perfectly except for the lumpy surface which the frosting covered).

I'd been craving banana cake for a while and I'm glad I got that out of my system.

Question of the Day: What have you been craving?

I wonder if they all circle around and sing too

Chocolate Sheet Cake
The New Best Recipe Copyright 2004

¾ cup cocoa, preferable dutch-processed I used natural
1 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter
4 large eggs
1 ½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a 13x9-inch baking pan.
2. Sift together the cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Heat the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl covered with plastic wrap for 2 minutes at 50 percent power; stir until smooth. (If not fully melted, heat 1 minute longer at 50 percent power.) Whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl. Whisk in the buttermilk until smooth.
3. Whisk the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until combined. Whisk in the dry ingredients until the batter is smooth and glossy. Pour the batter into the prepared pan; bake until firm in the center when slightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack until room temperature, at least 1 hour; ice with frosting, if desired, and serve.

Serves 10 to 12.
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I baked this lovely birthday cake for Don. If you knew Don like I knew Don, well, you wouldn't know Don at all. I have no idea who he is. In fact, I think his name is Dan. There's some sort of ritual at my husband's workplace where the guys bring in cakes for each other, definitely on their birthdays and perhaps for other reasons that I haven't quite pinned down. The wives bake the cakes, not the men, as far as I know. It's sort of funny because these are guys working in a warehouse loading trucks all day. I don't mind since I like to bake birthday cakes and I really only get to make one for my son.

Usually I bake a sample cake in a custard dish when I'm trying a new recipe and sending it off somewhere. I did it with this recipe but, well, I was weak and I ate it without photographing it or even frosting it. (I used the Easy Buttercream, BTW.) I thought this was a great chocolate cake - quite chocolately with great texture. I'll definitely pull out this recipe next time I need a chocolate cake on the fly.

Question of the Day: How many birthday cakes do you generally make in a year?