Bittman's Banana Bread

I'm finished with grad school. I've graduated, I've got a decent handle on things at work, the house is clean, we're heading to a Philadelphia Union game tonight, and I have a bunch of overripe bananas on the table. Life. Is. Good.

Cauldron Cakes

It has been a crazy, crazy couple of months. And not always the good kind. When I made the decision to focus on getting through my semester and spending time with family it meant putting the blog on the back burner. 

But the semester is over and I have decided to dedicate a large part of my summer to posting about food that makes me happy. Some of it is going to be really healthy because I love food that makes me feel good. But some of it is going to be full of butter and chocolate and sugar, because that kind of food can be full of joy. And this is one of those recipes. Not remotely healthy, but SO TOTALLY FULL OF JOY!

Pumpkin Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

Chocolate Crinkles

If baking were a performance, these cookies would be where I drop the mic and walk off stage.

Chocolate Chip PB Pumpkin Cookies

Rock Cakes, Cathedrals, & the English Coast

We'll get back to these bad boys in just a moment. 

Berry Mascarpone Filled Cupcakes & Our Wedding

When we were planning our wedding we hired a young and talented photographer whose business has since exploded, which meant we had a really long wait for our photos. On the morning of our one year anniversary, we got our photos - along with a very classy apology. Yes, there is a recipe at the bottom of the page so go ahead and scroll if that's what you came for. I won't be offended.

Berry Cream Ice

I'm not really sure what to call this...

... all I know is that I love it. And it was one of those happy accidents that sometimes happen in the kitchen. 

Brown Sugar Shortbread

One of my first posts was about my grandparent's neighbor, Gordon. (There was also a really delicious scone recipe.) Meeting Gordon was an interesting treat. He's in his late 90's, he's a retired CFO who lived in New Jersey, and he wears Adidas track suits. When we sat down to talk, Paul had to fix Gordon's hearing aid for him before we could have a real conversation. When I told him that I am a Sunday School Director, he spoke to me about doing things with meaning in a way that still touches me when I think about it.

White Bean Blondies

I have been going hard at the gym this week. I did two hours of water classes this morning to the point where my skin screamed a definitive "NO!" to the chlorine and my arms now refuse to function normally. Why am I doing this? It's almost summer and I'm trying not to put ON weight. Why am I gaining weight? Trying to get this recipe just right.

Rich Chocolate Banana Ice Cream

I don't know about you but I think bananas are pretty much the greatest ever.  When bananas are ripe, they are just phenomenal.  They give smoothies the best creamy texture without adding dairy.  You can sub half a banana for an egg in so many recipes.  Do I even need to mention peanut butter banana sandwiches?

Chocolate Covered Gingerbread

Housesitting is an interesting business.  There are varying levels of comfort depending on whose house you are temporarily living in.  I often get to stay in the houses of friends and look after their dogs when they go away for a weekend or longer, but this time I'm in the house of people I don't know all too well.  With their cat.  I don't know much about cats but we're getting along pretty well so far.

Peanut Butter Banana Cookies

There are two questions you get all the time as a newly married couple:

1) How's married life?

2) When are you having kids?

Well I can tell you that married life is great.  I feel incredibly blessed that things are going so well for us.  All of the things you hear about being the biggest challenges in the first year of marriage haven't hurt us.  And with that I just showed you that there isn't a truthful way to give a non-boring answer to that question.

My answer to the second question is that I have 104 kids and counting and am not ready to add any of my own.

A mystical classmate of ours told us that we would have twins by the end of 2014.  (I think he was messing with us...)  Today one of my coworkers told me my hair was looking full and fantastic, was I pregnant?  (She was teasing and I ended up selling her the Pantene Thickening Treatment I'm in love with... She better have been teasing...)  And then there is my recent repeated strong need for a cookie.  It all makes me nervous.

I got home from work today and I HAD to have a cookie.  We have almost nothing with which to make cookies and my car is buried in ice.  Necessity is the mother of invention.  I whipped up these bad boys and my cookie craving has been quashed.  I would like to say that I waited for them to cool even a little bit before digging in, but I did not...

These incredibly simple cookies have very little sugar and no flour.  You could easily make them 100% sugar free by leaving out the chocolate chips, but don't because chocolate is wonderful.  

This recipe is a blend of two great recipes - one is from Shauna Niequist's book "Bread & Wine" and the other is from blogger Shannon Lim.

Peanut Butter Banana Cookies

by New to the Table

Yield: 12 cookies / Total Time: less than 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup quick oats
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 large very ripe banana
• 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350º and line a baking sheet with parchment or silicone baking mat.

In a medium bowl, mash the banana with a fork.  Add peanut butter and stir until well combined.  Stir in vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine oats and baking soda.

Add oats to peanut butter and combine well.  Fold in chocolate chips.

Use cookie scoop or soup spoon to drop large rounds of dough onto prepared sheet.  Do not flatten dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until cookies are golden brown.  Transfer immediately from cookie sheet to rack to cool.

I hope you enjoy these!  I certainly have a much happier tum and am ready to dive head first into more homework.  

If you're a newlywed (or not so newly), what is/was your best response to the frequently asked question "How's married life?"  (One of my pastors suggested "We're just exhausted...")  (;

Lemon Vanilla Drop Cookies

Exciting things are happening...

Did you look up?  Up there.  In the big bar that tells you where you are.  Yes!  There!  I'm a .com!  I don't know what I'm more excited about, that I've got some website legitimacy or that I managed to make the transition without yelling at my computer, walking away and asking Paul for help.  Not that I ever do that...

Thank you for your seriously awesome response to the Black Bean Brownie post earlier this week.  I'm excited that you're excited!  The only sad thing about now being a .com is that I lost all of the comments I once had from people who read and left their thoughts.

With all the changes plus the actual job I have plus the start of a new semester plus the leftovers from the January term, it's been a crazy week.  I came home the other night and I just wanted a cookie.  Specifically a lemon cookie.  I don't think I've ever made a lemon cookie before and the internet is full of "use boxed cake mix"recipes for lemon cookies.  No thank you, not today.

I want real lemon flavor from actual lemons!  What's a girl to do?

Do it herself, that's what.

Enter Lemon Vanilla Drop Cookies:

Black Bean Brownies

My First Macaron

Lemony-Oat Breakfast Cookies

Paul loves to run.  He loves running gadgets, phone apps, articles, etc.  Naturally, he has a subscription to Runner's World Magazine.  Not particularly fond of running myself (though I'm sure it would do me some good) I was surprised to find how much I enjoy the magazine.  I like the uplifting stories and fitness tips.  The recipes have also been surprisingly wonderful.

Soy Nut Bark

When I was in college I loved going to Wegmans.  If you don't know about Wegmans... well, it's basically the Disneyland of grocery stores.  And it's affordable.

I used to go to the natural foods bulk section and buy soy nut bark.  It was heavenly.  I went back to visit friends not long after graduation and popped by Wegmans to get some bark.  It was gone.  I asked about it but they didn't know what I was talking about.

Years later a Wegmans in the Philadelphia area.  (It's totally awesome, by the way.)  No soy nut bark there either.

After eight years of wondering whether or not soy nut bark is a figment of my imagination I have finally come to the realization that I can make it myself.

Espresso Spice Cookies

My church sits alongside a really lovely little college full of high achieving, smart, and sometimes stressed out students.  Our youth pastor started a fantastic cookie ministry a few years ago that I'm a huge fan of.  The youth of our church get together in the church kitchen, each bringing ingredients for their favorite cookie recipe, and they spend an evening baking.  Church members also contribute to the effort with their homemade and store bought treats.

On one night during the college's finals week, groups of youth and a few adults take shifts camping out in one of the school common areas with trays and trays of cookies for the taking.  We listen to the students describe what they are studying and what projects they're trying to finish, and chat about their plans for winter break and the things they're looking forward to, or what they're taking next semester.  It took a little time to grow this effort, the students being understandably wary of whether or not the cookies came with strings attached.  But they don't.  The cookies are string-free.  We show up to say "We are here for you, we care about you, we know it's hard but you can do it."

Madeleines

At the moment, I am sitting in an incredibly charming little coffee shop in New Oxford, Pennsylvania, writing my blog in Microsoft Word.  Though this little shop is adorable - with classic oak and marble counters, a patterned white tin ceiling, and tiffany-style lamps – it does not have internet access. 

When Paul has business in certain areas of the country, I try to tag along so we can visit friends and family we wouldn’t otherwise get to see.  Luckily today we are not that far from home, just a couple of hours.  While he is out on meetings, making friends and charming people with his delightful English accent, I chose to hunker down in this cute shop, with its lovely view of the town center and its slightly dilapidated but historic buildings, Christmas wreaths and garlands draped on the wrought iron fences, and American flags flying proudly on every corner.

The longer I’m here the more I can tell how odd it is that I am here, a stranger, quietly sitting at her computer staring at pictures of food.  Every time the door opens, a little bell rings and the new customer is greeted cheerily by name, either by the employees or the other customers.  The barista behind the counter seems to know what most people want before they order it.  I’ve heard of places like this, but have never gotten to sit and experience one.  I have made the mistake in the past of referring to this area as “the country” to one of its residents, but there is a decidedly slower pace and familiarity that you don’t easily find in the city or its suburbs.  The people are cheery, happy to run into one another, and I can feel their positive energy reaching me even though I sit away from them, quietly at my table, typing away.

This wasn’t the recipe I had in mind for today, but the slower pace of life around me is telling me that madeleines are what I should share with you.  Madeleines are a delightful cookie-cake hybrid, fluffy and sweet with a touch of lemon, but they require patience and a slower pace.  You can’t rush a good madeleine. 

Like so many things lately, I found this in one of the dozens of Cooking Light magazines my friend Eleanor gave me.  I promise not all of my recipes will be from CL, but they’re a great resource, especially at a time of year when people are more conscious of what they’re eating while trying to make their food festive and sweeter than usual.