Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I love having bananas. I buy them often because my husband and my son love them, but the best part is when they go bad. Very baaaaaad. Well, not that bad because then I can't use them, but you know, when they're so mushy and soft that they're practically inedible? There are so many banana recipes out there, but I decided to use this recipe. I love using sour cream in my cakes. It makes the end product so moist. I decided to make 12 muffins and 2 loaves instead of 4 loaves. This recipes makes a whole lotta banana bread. Oh, and I added the chocolate chips because I love them. This recipe is from allrecipes.com and it got over 2000 glowing reviews. It's gotta be good, right? My house smells amazing right now.

Ingredients

1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup butter
3 cups white sugar
3 eggs
6 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease four 7x3 inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Dust pans lightly with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
In a large bowl, cream butter and 3 cups sugar. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour. Stir in nuts. Divide into prepared pans.
Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

A Momentous Occasion

It isn't my birthday nor did I do anything to deserve this, but today marks a momentous occasion. Why is it such a momentous occasion? It's because my husband cooked me dinner for the first time in 3 years. 3 years. Don't get me wrong, it's not like he's never in the kitchen. He is the best sous chef that anyone can ask for. He will dice and slice and chop whatever I need, but he's never been the one "in charge" of a meal. Maybe it's because I'm territorial when it comes to the kitchen, or maybe it's because I'm bossy...I get that from my mom.
He's been at home this week playing "house dad" and that role included dinner tonight. I got to sit back and play on my computer while he made dinner since the little one was already sleeping for the night. I couldn't help but to spend a great deal of time taking pictures of him cooking and the foods he was preparing-just because it was a big deal! I wanted to remember this day.
Dinner was amazing. It was such a manly meal. Perfectly cooked steak, fresh corn on the cob and baked potatoes with all the fixins. He said, "See, this is what it could be like if I were a stay at home dad." Uh, keep dreaming, honey, but thank you for dinner.

Chili Kale Chips

Don't they sound interesting? When I read about them in Food Magazine, I had to make them. I've been trying to incorporate more vegetables into our meals so I thought this would be neat to try. My husband didn't seem too keen on the idea and if he knew that there was sriracha chili paste in it he definitely wouldn't give them a chance. It's easy to make and it's a much healthier alternative to the potato chip. The crunch on these things is ridiculous. It's an amazingly airy, crispy crunch. The crunch alone would make you want to eat one. At least it made my husband want to try it. They're SPICY and there's something so addicting about them. At around 10 at night I found myself craving some more. They're only good the day they're prepared. I tried them the next day and they were soggy and hard to chew. blech. They're well worth it if you plan to eat them right away!

Chili Kale Chips

2 bunches of kale, stems removed
2 tbsp olive oil
5 tsp. sriracha chili paste
salt to taste

Set oven to 300 degrees F. Place oven racks on top and bottom third of the oven.


Remove the leaves from the stems of kale and tear kale leaves into 2 inch pieces. They will shrink once baked. Make sure they are washed and dried.

in a separate bowl, toss together oil and sriracha. Drizzle over the kale leaves and toss to coat. It's not a lot of sauce and it's not supposed to be drenched. It's kind of the essence of the sauce you're trying to get. Sprinkle salt over the kale.

Place the kale on 2 rimmed baking sheets. Bake for 35 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let it stand until cooled. Enjoy!

Tomato Season is Here

It's tomato time! I received these plants from a fine, fine gardener. I get a few each year and I've had really good luck with them despite my black thumb. These need tons of sun and water, but they're starting to grow and I can't wait to pluck them off the vine. This is the first one of the bunch.

101 Noodle Express

Our dear friends brought us dinner tonight just because. Just because they are amazing people and we love them dearly. They brought over some beautiful flowers from the farmer's market as well as a big bag of kettle korn and not to mention dinner! We were eager to try these beef rolls that A kept talking about. We've had them before at other places, but this place supposedly had the best beef rolls around.

The food was from 101 Noodle Express in Alhambra. Although it's local, we had never been before and we have no idea why! They ordered dumplings, a noodle dish and their infamous beef rolls. I think I could eat the beef rolls for days. They come 8 in a serving (a very generous size) and they were delicious. Beef, cilantro and vegetables all rolled into a scallion pie type of tortilla. It was delicious. We will be going by this place again soon!

Easter @ the Arboretum

Being a member of the Arboretum definitely showed its benefits today. The park opened an hour earlier for members for their special Easter event that was being held from 9-3. We beat the crowds-at least for a little bit. They had everything from Easter egg hunts, sidewalk chalk, magic shows, jugglers, face painting, bunny towel making, egg dying, ornament making, a wood sculptor, kettle korn, an ice cream truck, Jamba Juice and more. For an additional $5 entry fee for the LO you get to go and enjoy an afternoon of fun. We wanted to take pictures with the Easter bunny, but that was only at the brunch section which was another $30. They had a little section for tiny ones like Keagan to crawl around and collect Easter eggs and a bigger section for the big kids. It was very well organized utilizing the students in the community to help. What a great family event! If you go now, they are having a special for annual memberships-only $50 for the year! I think Keagan will have more fun when he's older, but nonetheless it was fun to be there today. We can't wait until next year!

Portos

Portos is a Cuban bakery/deli in Glendale. They were once a smaller eatery, but now they have expanded and have become this huge place. There's often a line and sometimes it even goes out the door. It's a busy place, but you can get your food and eat there. They have everything from amazing cakes to sandwiches and small bites and pastries.

I know of people that ordered their wedding cakes from Portos-they can make and recreate anything you want.

When J told me she was going to Porto's-I had to place an order for a few things. I'm sure there are a million things on their menu that are amazing, but off the top of my head I thought of their potato balls, beef pies and guava cheese danishes. Yum!

http://www.portosbakery.com/