Howdy lovely readers,
I've moved my blog over to wordpress, complete with my own domain name. So if you'd like to keep up with me, please head over here:
kungpowhausfrau.com
Have a great day!
-The Hausfrau
Monday, January 11, 2016
Thursday, December 17, 2015
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.
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.
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 MILIngredients:
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.
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
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!)
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
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.)
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?
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