Kitchen Phoenix: Banana Bread

It's still pouring rain here. Steady, heavy rain all day long added more to the already soaked ground and high rivers. Many of the smaller rivers here are in flood warning, and we learned that our friends' house has a couple feet of water underneath it (again).

Life is exciting, isn't it?

I had a couple of nasty old bananas sitting around, so to combat the dreariness outside, I decided to bake my cares away inside. This is a recipe that I received from my mother-in-law in the form of their hometown's County Cookbook, published in during the county's centennial in 1985. She not only was an involved contributor, but she also saved a copy for each of her future daughters-in-law.

Small-town North Dakota, people. Like straight out of a movie. (There were no murders.)

I love the look on The Husband's face when he comes home and sees (and smells!) banana bread cooling near the stove. He's like a kid on Christmas morning!

Food is totally my love language.

Banana Nut Bread

courtesy of my MIL




Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 cup mashed bananas (two big old nasty ones)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans work well)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 330 degrees F. (Not a typo. 350, I've found, is too hot.)

Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and nutmeg.

Mash bananas (if you haven't already).

Add, alternately, flour mixture and mashed bananas to the butter mixture until incorporated. Don't overbeat.

Mix in nuts.

Pour into a well-greased loaf pan. Bake for 60-70 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from loaf pan and cool on wire rack.

PotD: GO BANANAS!

How housewives amuse themselves. #silly #foodface #bananabread

A photo posted by KungPowHausFrau (@kungpowhausfrau) on Dec 17, 2015 at 1:01pm PST

My PMB Post: Christmas Cookies!

I did a little blogging over at Portland Moms Blog today. Head over there to check out my handy mom's guide to Christmas Cookies, which includes links to all my go-to recipes for this time of year. It doesn't matter if you are an experienced baker or don't even own an oven, I've got you covered! (And while you're there, check out some of the posts from other Portland-area moms!)

PotD: Providence

Even in the bleakest of months, the garden still gives. #potroast #herbgarden

A photo posted by KungPowHausFrau (@kungpowhausfrau) on Dec 16, 2015 at 2:10pm PST

Eight Great Traits of Living in a Small House

I live in a small home. While that's a pretty subjective statement, I can't help but see the large houses in the subdivisions all around me. They're pretty big. In the (relatively) modest subdivision next door, the houses are between 50-100% larger than our house. And if I were living alone, my house would be plenty spacious, but thankfully I'm surrounded by my family, which means there are five of us living under this dainty roof.

I could complain about my small house. But I won't. Because at the end of the day, I have a house. It's dry and warm, clean and safe. I'm happy that I live here. And I've realized some pretty cool advantages of living in smaller digs.



1. I can vacuum my entire house without unplugging the vacuum cleaner. It also doesn't take that long to vacuum (or dust, or clean the walls, or...). Plus, I don't have to deal with stairs.

2. Because I can't fit very much furniture in my house, it's much more inexpensive to furnish. No formal living room set. (Does anyone even host gatherings here instead of the actual living room?) No chaise lounge in the bedroom. (Do they ever get lounged upon?) No china hutch. (It'd get broken anyway.)

3. For better or for worse, we can't escape each other very easily. There are definitely times where one (or all of us) has completely burned through their patience for people. But guess what, sweeties. You gotta learn how to get through those homicidal tendencies. It's a life skill, kids.

4. Baby monitor? Who needs one when you can hear when the baby wakes up clear on the other side of the house!

5. If my kids' bedroom is only 10 feet by 10 feet, there's only 100 square feet of space they're going to have to clean up at the end of the day. If my three kids each had their own bedroom at a more modern 13' x 13', that'd be 507 square feet of space to tidy up, a five-fold increase. Plus, my kids can't hoard toys with which to spread about the house. After every Christmas we must go through to weed out all the toys that never get played with so that they'll have places to put their new ones.

6. I am more aware of what is going on with my kids throughout my home, since I can often see and usually hear what they are doing. Annoying? Yeah, it can be. But it also gives me opportunities to correct when misbehavior is happening that I wouldn't get if I was far, far away in a big house.

7. Home maintenance and utilities are cheaper. Does the carpet need to be replaced? It's cheaper to replace 800 square feet than 1800, potentially by thousands of dollars. Heating is also cheaper. Typically property taxes are cheaper as well (especially in older homes that have locked property tax increases). Really, pretty much everything is cheaper.

8. Forced simplification. If I had a walk-in closet, you bet I'd fill it up with things that I "need". Well, I don't have a walk-in closet. Anything unnecessary goes to a new home (if it even makes it through the door to begin with). I don't feel like I'm drowning in stuff. (Up to my neck in it at times, yes. But never drowning.)

In the end, I really do love my little house. It's so cozy. What do you like about your house?

PotD: A Break In The Rain

A break in the rain!

A photo posted by KungPowHausFrau (@kungpowhausfrau) on Dec 15, 2015 at 9:15pm PST

PotD: I'm a dork.

I'm a dork.

A photo posted by KungPowHausFrau (@kungpowhausfrau) on Dec 14, 2015 at 8:23pm PST

Puddle Jumping, and This Week's Menu

December in Oregon is has nothing to do with the weather itself but rather the attitude of the person in it. Case in point: We've been getting amazing amounts of precipitation this month--magnitudes that I have never seen since we moved here almost ten years ago. There is a lot of lowland flooding, and the Tualatin River is astonishingly high.

Naturally, the rain is cold and wet, which makes certain people pretty miserable. And I admit, flooding makes people miserable. And achy joints makes people miserable. I get it.

But sometimes you've got to turn the drawback into a strength. Rain makes puddles. When was the last time you did some unabashed puddle-jumping? The Husband and I took advantage of some kid-free time last weekend and ventured out into Tryon Creek State Park. We hiked a short-ish loop and I got to field test my birthday present: a pair of (snow?) boots that are great for marching through puddles without caring about my feet turning cold and wet.

We stomped in puddles like a pair of hyper kids. We hid in tree stumps. 

We had fun.

Monday, Monday, back to the grind. I've got a week's worth of dinners planned out, and here they are:

This Week's Menu

Monday: Gyoza and stir-fried veggies with yakisoba noodles

Tuesday: Cajun Chicken Pasta and salad

Wednesday: Beef Roast with veggies and potatoes

Thursday: Indian Spiced Chicken Stew

Friday: Egg Salad Sandwiches

Saturday: The Husband's company Christmas Party!

Have fun out there in the wild weather!

PotD: Bonds

Bonds

A photo posted by KungPowHausFrau (@kungpowhausfrau) on Dec 13, 2015 at 3:17pm PST

PotD: Portland Winter Wonderland

Portland Winter Wonderland

A photo posted by KungPowHausFrau (@kungpowhausfrau) on Dec 12, 2015 at 11:42am PST

PotD: Afternoon Tea

Afternoon tea

A photo posted by KungPowHausFrau (@kungpowhausfrau) on Dec 9, 2015 at 2:11pm PST

PotD: Tiny Tots, With Their Eyes All Aglow

PotD: Father and Son

A photo posted by KungPowHausFrau (@kungpowhausfrau) on Dec 4, 2015 at 10:31pm PST

Eggnog Biscotti

I love this biscotti! It's so perfect for sharing with friends, or savoring by yourself with a hot cup of coffee while the children are distracted with Wild Kratts. These biscotti can be frozen in batches and thawed and served with coffee for last-minute company. Really, you can't go wrong! I got this recipe from my friend Meghann.

Eggnog Biscotti
Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon rum extract

Dry Ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

In a big bowl, combine the wet ingredients. In a different bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until a heavy dough forms.



Divide dough into two pieces. Make each piece into a log that is the same length as your baking sheet, using a bit of flour or powdered sugar so your dough doesn't stick to your hands. Flatten or roll out until the dough is 1/2 inch thick. Bake both "logs" side-by-side on the same baking sheet for 15-20 minutes until it's golden brown.





Remove from the oven and let cool until it's cool enough to handle. Slice the "logs" crosswise into 1/2 inch thick pieces, and put cut side up back onto your baking sheet.



Bake all the pieces 6-10 more minutes until they are golden brown. Flip them over and put them back into the oven, browning the other side for 6-10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Store in an airtight container.

Sugar Cookie Frosting

Here's a recipe that my mom has given me for icing sugar cookies. It's great because it's delicious and spreadable like cake frosting, but hardens after a few hours so the cookies are stackable. You'll have to forgive me, since the measurements are so casual, but old recipes are like that.



Ingredients:
Powdered sugar (maybe a bag's worth)
Softened butter (can substitute vegetable shortening if you need it to be white)
A few splashes of milk

Directions:
Fill a bowl with powdered sugar, and put in a half stick of room temperature butter. Add a splash of milk, and mix together until thoroughly combined. It should have about the consistency of store-bought cake frosting. If it is too thick, add some more milk. If it's too thin, add some more sugar. The main thing is to add enough milk that the cookies will harden after drying (straight up butter and sugar won't get you there), but not too much milk that they'll never dry out. Frost your cookies with a butter knife, cake froster, or spatula. Leave out to dry, and after a few hours they should be perfectly stackable.