Banana Pancakes

Can't think of much better on a rainy Saturday morning than cuddling with my girls, making banana pancakes, and listening to some Jack Johnson.  These pancakes were perfect with a little maple syrup and they're a good way to use up ripe bananas.  Enjoy!

Banana Pancakes (4 servings)

1 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg, beaten

1 cup milk

2 T vegetable oil

2 ripe bananas, mashed

Combine dry ingredients with a whisk.  In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients.  Stir flour mixture into banana mixture - batter will be a little lumpy.  Pour batter onto a heated, buttered pan or griddle and cook until pancakes are golden brown on each side.  

Buttermilk Coffeecake

This is what I brought to the pumpkin carving party with our friends.  I really like coffee cake and have been looking for a good, basic recipe.  This got good reviews from friends and my little sous chef (see cowgirl in the post below!) and I think I've found what I'm looking for.  I liked how there wasn't a bunch of butter in the crumble topping and the cake was moist and light.  Perfect with a cup of cider of coffee!

Buttermilk Cinnamon Coffee Cake

from the Food Librarian

2 1/4 c. flour

1 c. brown sugar, packed

1/2 c. granulated sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon (divided)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

3/4 c. canola oil

1/2 c. sliced almonds

1/2 c. oats

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 c. buttermilk

1 egg

Whisk together the flour, sugars, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, salt and ginger in a large bowl until well combined.  Remove 3/4 c. of the mixture and put it in a smaller bowl.  In that smaller bowl, add the remaining teaspoon cinnamon, the almonds and oats.  This will be your topping but set it aside for now.  

Back in the big bowl, add the baking powder, baking soda, buttermilk and egg.  Stir until it's smooth.  Spread in a buttered 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle the topping over the batter.  Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes.

What to do with your pumpkin seeds

I never really know what to do except roast them in the oven with a little salt.  This year, I tried a new technique and a new spice combination and it was awesome!  You only dry the seeds in the oven - the toasting happens on the stovetop and the spices are added after that.  This isn't the low-sugar option but it was delicious!  Big sister declared them "Yum."

I know it's not Halloween yet, but here are some photos of the girls from today.

Big sister in her cowgirl costume:

The pumpkin dad carved for her:

The little pumpkin:

And, the toasted seeds:

Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds (makes 1 cup)
from Martha Stewart's website

1 cup pumpkin seeds, fresh out of the pumpkin and rinsed
4 T sugar
1 T vegetable oil
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
cayenne pepper to taste

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I think foil would work fine) and spread the pumpkin seeds in a single layer.  Bake in a 250 degree oven for about an hour, stirring once or twice.  You want the seeds to be really dry but not toasted or brown.

Mix the spices in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of the sugar.  Heat the oil in a medium saucepan.  Add the pumpkin seeds and remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar.  Toast, stirring constantly, until the sugar melts and the seeds caramelize and turn light brown - about 45 seconds - 2 minutes.

Dump the seeds right into the bowl with the spices and stir well to coat the seeds.  Let them cool off and enjoy!

Pumpkin Ice Cream

'Tis the season . . . not much to say about this except for I was glad to have friends over to dinner to share it with, otherwise, I would have eaten way too much :)  It was creamy, a good blend of spices, and delicious.  I'm imagining ice cream sandwiches with this ice cream between some gingersnaps!

Pumpkin Ice Cream (makes 1 qt)

Ingredients:
2 c. heavy cream
1 c. milk
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. granulated sugar
2 t. vanilla extract
3 egg yolks
1 c. canned pumpkin
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/8 tsp. salt

Heat cream, milk, sugar, and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until almost boiling.  Whisk egg yolks together in a small bowl.  Add hot milk, a few tablespoons at a time to temper the eggs.  Add the egg yolks to the saucepan.  Heat for 5-10 minutes or until the mixture coats the back of a spoon.  Don't let it boil.

Refrigerate the milk mixture until cooled.  In a bowl, whisk together the pumpkin and the rest of the spices.  Add to the cooled milk mixture.  Refrigerate a few hours or overnight.  Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions.

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

Hooray for some cooler weather!  This is a great fall soup - sweeter than other butternut squash soups that I've made but filling and tasty.  It served 3 adults and I was wishing there was a little more.  It would be easy to double the recipe.  If you do that, don't overdo it with the broth - just enough to cover the squash and you can add more later if the soup is too thick.

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup (2-4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes (I think mine was about 2 lbs)

1 gala apple, peeled and diced

1 small onion, diced

4 cups (or more) vegetable broth

1/4 c. apple juice

1 T. butter

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Melt butter in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add onion and nutmeg and saute until onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes.  Add the squash, 4 c. vegetable broth, apple, and apple juice.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer (uncovered) until squash and apple are tender, about 30 minutes.  

Puree soup in a blender and return to the pot (I used my hand blender right in the pot, off of the heat).  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Bring it back to a simmer.  Thin the soup with more broth if it's thicker than you'd like it to be.

Breakfast for my Biggest Fan

My husband is my biggest fan.  He doesn't regularly read this blog, but he inspires ideas for recipes, compliments my cooking on a regular basis, and overlooks the grocery bills.  When we first got married, he did a lot of the cooking because I wasn't the greatest cook.  I owe a lot of my improvement in that area to his constructive criticism:  "This is really good but it would be even better if you . . . "

Since my husband loves baked apple desserts (apple pie, apple fritters, apple crisps etc.), for his birthday breakfast this year, I tried to recreate a baked apple pancake that we had in a restaurant awhile back. It turned out really good, but super sweet.  Next time, I think I might skip the butter & cinnamon sugar that I put on the top and serve it with a little maple syrup on the side.

Happy birthday honey!

Baked Apple Pancake (4 servings)

3 T unsalted butter (divided)
2 medium Gala apples, peeled and thinly sliced
3 eggs
1/4 c. brown sugar (divided)
pinch of salt
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in an ovenproof skillet.  Add the apple slices and heat until tender, about 8-10 minutes.  Add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and stir to combine.  Remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, salt, milk & flour in a bowl.  Pour over the apples in the skillet.  Bake in the oven until puffy, about 10 minutes. While the pancake is baking, combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and the cinnamon.

Remove the puffed pancake from the oven, dot with 1 tablespoon of butter that you've cut into small pieces, and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.  Put it back into the oven for another 10 minutes, until browned.   Slice and serve.

No Ham Bone

At Christmas time, my dad always received a honey baked ham from someone he did work with.  When the ham was gone, my mom would sometimes make split pea soup with the ham bone.  Over the years, I've tried unsuccessfully to make split pea soup and the reason it wasn't flavorful was simple:  no ham bone.

Well, I tried it again today (still no ham bone) and it turned out decent.  I think the amount of diced ham really helped.  It looked like a lot going into the crockpot, but the proportions were good in the final product.  I also think slow cooking yielded better results than making it on the stovetop.  I'd like to add another spice (just salt, pepper and bay leaf in this version) the next time I try it but I was undecided this morning about what that should be.  Celery seed?  Thyme?  Paprika?

One bonus about this recipe - super cheap to make for the yield.  I have no tips about vegetarian split pea soup because I haven't had any luck trying that in the past.

Look for more soup recipes coming your way - one of my favorite things to make during the fall and winter.

Split Pea Soup (makes about 8 cups)

16 oz bag dried split peas
2 cups diced ham (I used a little thicker cut of ham - not the thin deli sliced)
1 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped carrot
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
5 cups boiling water

Layer the ingredients in your slow cooker in the order listed (peas on the bottom, pour the boiling water over the top) and cook.  The original recipe (don't know where it's from) said 4-6 hours on high.  I did high for 3 hours, low for 2 hours, let it cool and reheated it at dinner time.  You basically want the vegetables to be soft, the soup to be thick, and nothing to burn to the bottom of your slow cooker.