Debating a re-org... already.

I'm one who strives for perfection, but has trained herself to accept what she's got and move on with life in many cases. This has been a big goal for me for the past few years, and I've gotten pretty good at it. Hubby calls it the 70% solution. However, looking at some of my newer photos vs. older ones as a collection on Mr. Website (almost ready, I promise, and my musings will NOT delay it's publishing)... while there were SO MANY PHOTOS I thought were wonderful, I almost want to hone it down already. I think what I'll REALLY do is leave it be for a bit, make sure I only put my BEST new photos up on it (as opposed to just the good ones ;-P) and then slowly "discontinue" others. I know... strange to hear when it's not even up yet, but I'm prepping myself. It's going to take some serious willpower to remove some of those photos that I love, even though they aren't my most fabulous. For those of you who might be nervous about this concept... it's entirely too much work to re-number each piece... and I'm DEFINITELY not destroying the images... so if you remember the item number, you'll always be able to get it.

-Betsy

Fading

I am exhausted today. I don't THINK it was the extraordinarily fun weekend I just had, but I definitely did NOT want to get out of bed this morning. I pulled myself out from under the covers at 9 though, so it wasn't HORRIBLY late... ish ;). In my defense, I pulled MYself out only 30 minutes after hubby pulled HIMself out.

I then walked around the house wandering a bit in a sleepy daze trying to figure out what else should go on the grocery list today and wondering exactly which of the to-do-items for this week would get accomplished today. Needless to say, none of the ones I WANT to do are the ones that NEED to happen today. I also haven't done any of them yet in my 2 conscious hours.

What I DID do in my 2 conscious hours is decide I needed coffee, and forget for an hour that I'd turned the coffee pot on to MAKE said coffee. In the next 45 minutes, I managed to make and drink said cup of coffee... it's helped, but still want to go back to bed.  Instead, I'm sitting on the couch, nearly empty cup of coffee in hand, staring at the Christmas tree that I don't want to take down. Christmas isn't REALLY over yet, is it?

(less than fabulous pic of my Christmas tree, 

because genius me deleted a whole bunch of photos 

last time I  uploaded things -apparently not- to my computer.)

 -Betsy

Banana Bread!

So I had a baking day today. It was fabulous. Cheesecake, Chocolate Pudding Pie, Refridgerator Bread (as I'm calling it at least) and Banana Bread. A lovely, double batch of banana bread.

This, banana bread.

With it's yummy crisp top and soft and moist center that I just KNOW is inside... waiting for breakfast tomorrow :)

This is super-easy to make banana bread... at least, the way I make it :-P

The Tricks:
1) freeze your banana's when they start to get too brown for you to eat. Not only does this keep you from throwing them away, but it lets you make banana bread when you want it... as opposed to when the bananas are ready. ALSO, the freezing makes them super mushy... so you don't end up having to "mash" them - one less thing to clean... two actually... no fork and no mashing bowl.
2) make sure you're ready to put the bread in the oven RIGHT after you mix it.

The Recipe is (slightly modified) from The Joy of Cooking, 75th Anniversary Edition. I know what page it's on from the wrinkled, egg-spattered-ness because I use this recipe more than any other in the book 0:-). No bookmark needed.

YOU WILL NEED (my version)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup vegetable shortening (or margerine or butter - softened)
2/3 cup sugar
1 to 2 large eggs
2-3 frozen bananas (defrosted, in their skins)

a measuring cup, a wisk, a Big bowl, scissors, and a 8ishx4ish baking pan.

FIRST, mix the dry ingredients together while your wisk is still dry

SECOND, mash up the vegetable shortening- it says to beat until creamy... I've never seen shortening get creamy, i just break it up a bit with the wisk, and then add sugar, mixing them together till they get crumbly.

THIRD, add the eggs. Whether you use one or two kind of depends on the amount of banana. The more banana... the more eggs. If I use 2 bananas, I use one egg (the egg is a binder). It always comes out yummy no matter what though, so don't sweat it.

FOURTH, cut the top of your defrosted black squidgy bananas off, and squeeze them into the bowl... kinda like toothpaste. It's gross, yes, but oh so easy, so little cleanup and darn yummy. Mix it up with the wisk... you'll still have banana chunks. That's OK. I like it that way - try it once... if you don't like it... you can "fully mash" your bananas next time.

FIFTH, add the dry ingredients in three portions, mixing until smooth after each addition

SIXTH, put all the mushy goodness into a greased baking pan, throw it in a preheated 350* oven for an hour (yes, it takes the whole hour, often a little longer for me) until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool it for a bit, then pop out of your pan and cool fully before slicing. Don't worry, a quick zap in the microwave, or a run in the toaster will warm it right up and make your butter melt all over it in deliciousness. Hubby likes it with cream cheese (hmmm... cream cheese... that ever-popular refrigerator inhabitant - by the way... for those who keep up with me, the sale was still going, so I bought another 8 bars this week. But it's 8 instead of 12, and there's no Christmas break inbetween, so I should be good. And if I'm not... I totally mastered the cheesecake. It really is just as simple as following directions, lol)

-Betsy

Excited. Web Update :-P

So a certain SOMEONE is very excited for the debut of the new Mr. Website. It no longer officially being the "beginning" of January (which, apparently, is ONLY January 1), she had deemed that the site post live today. HA. So not happening yet, BUT, I did get my prices hammered out for 2011 and I'm halfway done with the gallery pages. Writing a website is a lot of work! After the galleries are completed, I have a few business pages to hammer through, and I THINK I'll be set... keep pestering - the nudging is working ;)

-Betsy

CREAM CHEESE!!

(Photo stolen out of laziness - thanks Google images)

So a while back, the store had Philadelphia Cream Cheese on sale for 99cents a bar. SUPER DEAL, so I bought a case. The best-by date was Jan 4, and I figured hubby eats cream cheese on a bagel every morning for breakfast, so a bar a week for that, a little extra for when I eat some too, and enough for a cheesecake for the new year. Well, I apparently didn't eat my share, and hubby didn't eat bagels for about 2 weeks, so I was suddenly left with 7 bars of cream cheese, with an impending due-date.

Things I've learned about cream cheese:

1) "Best By" is NOT "expires" and the cream cheese is still good to go for at LEAST a week or two.

2) Cream cheese does NOT freeze well - it still tastes kinda the same, but is NOT creamy upon defrosting... it's kinda grainy and definitely not my favorite.

3) Cheesecake apparently doesn't freeze top notch either, unless you "do it right" - and I'm not sure how that is, so we're not trying.

4) You get a lot of good ideas when you say something like "I have an overabundance of Cream Cheese. Other than Cheesecake... what can I do with it?!?!" on Facebook.

Other ways to use cream cheese (other than bagels and cheesecake, but no better for you really) are:

1) Put it in your mashed potatoes (thank you Gramma!) - we did this tonight, and it was DELICIOUS. Like, best mashed potatoes ever. Like, now a standard ingredient in mashed-potato-ness.

2) Make a cheese ball. From what I know, finely grated cheese, cream cheese, little seasoning, mix, roll in nuts - Gourmet! Or you can try an ACTUAL recipe like the one at my fav food blog. OR for a third option: cream cheese, splash of OJ, chopped dried cranberries and chopped pecans rolled into a ball (courtesy Aunt Liz)

3) Mix with milk until the consistency of sour cream, and make dip (like you'd do with sour cream)

4) Layered dip - my friend Anne-Marie suggested cream cheese, chili, cheddar, microwaved until the cheddar melted with fritos - sounded yummy! Or you can go with the 7 layer Mexican standby (and one of my fav's)

5) Mix with milk and use in Scalloped Potatoes (another Gramma suggestion, so I'm sure it's delish)

6) Cheese SPREAD (I think) - Mix cream cheese with spices and then cover with pesto and grated parmesan cheese. Eat it with crackers. Also good with sundried tomatoes in the layers - Courtesy of Mary-Ann :)

7) Breakfast pastry. Essentially, croissants laid out, with cream cheese icing and pie filling on it, and strips of croissant on top. Haven't made it in a LONG time, but it was DELICIOUS with Peach Pie filling when I did.


This week's cream cheese uses:
Stick 1: Added to Mashed Potatoes for dinner tonight (1/3 stick) and dip/cheeseball for visitors tomorrow (2/3 stick)
Sticks 2 and 3: Cheesecake for Sunday's Visitors. (leftovers will be sent home with them. I hope they like cheesecake)
Stick 4: Bagels for hubby to go to work with
Sticks 5 and 6: Cheesecake for visitors next Saturday
Stick 7: Breakfast Pastry for after Church next Sunday


On the shopping list this week... more cream cheese.


-Betsy