do you have black bananas?

I did. And so I made this. I'm not a banana bread person. I'm guilty of throwing our bananas away the minute they get brown speckles. But I do have a thing for oats. I love to see oats in a recipe. They make me feel like I'm making something that is healthy which I never am. But the oats are attractive (crisps, crumble toppings, oatmeal cookies, mmm.) So I knew I'd like this recipe and sure enough, it didn't let me down! Try it next time you have some black (or brown) bananas! I'd take this over banana bread any day!

P.S. it's really good warm and would be even better with butter pecan ice cream on the side as a delectable dessert!

Oatmeal Banana Cake
serves 8-10
1 cube butter, room temp.
3/4 C brown sugar
2 eggs
2 large very ripe bananas, mashed
1 t vanilla
zest of 1/2 lemon
3/4 C flour
1 C oats
1/4 t salt
1 t baking soda

Topping:
3/4 C oats
1/3 C brown sugar
zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 t cinnamon
1 T flour
1/3 C chopped pecans
4 T melted butter

Preheat to 350. Butter and flour 9" springform pan.
For cake, cream butter and sugar, add egg one at a time, then banana and vanilla. Stir in dry ingred. Pour into pan. Mix topping and spread over top of cake pressing down gently. Bake 30-35 mintutes. Cool, run knife around edge of pan, release cake ring. Serve warm, you'll eat more!

Northern Cal

This little school was the elementary in 1906 which stands close to my elementary, Westside School. At the Memorial, I ran into my librarian from Westside! I loved her! I also worked here before leaving for college. (It was a preschool then.)

Me with the hitching post. One of the only things that has stayed constant about this house! I always tried to envision the horses lined up on the post back in the glory days of this old home!

This is where I spent my entire life until I left for college!

Mmmmmm! Fresh oranges picked in an orchard near my old home. Kelly was probably trespassing but hey, it's the country!

Me and my "pops" in front of a giant redwood in the Healdsburg Plaza. Not quite Muir Woods but we didn't have time! I miss these trees!

Me and my mom in the Plaza after a quick jaunt around the cute shops and bakeries!

Speaking of bakeries, this is the best place I know of (outside of France of course) that sells divine croissants! Kel and I stopped on our way from Petaluma to Healdsburg for a treat-almond, dark chocolate raspberry, apricot, cinnamon walnut....they were GOOD! Luckily my mom hadn't been there before us because she would have taken all the good stuff! She loves this place!

I love nurseries! This one was on our way to Half Moon Bay. It always catches my attention because I love how the moss grows on the building, plus it has really wonderful plants!

We had brunch in Half Moon Bay and then ran into this antique shop. Both Kel and I love to hunt through places like this. I found a few things but the prices were sort of high. Kelly found an 1800's addition of Homer's Odyssey for $12 so that was our big purchase. But I did ease drop on some ladies shopping there and found out about the Oakland "White Elephant" flea market so I'll keep that in mind. Isn't this stove so cute?

This is the kind of art you find in Northern Cal. I love all the quirky stuff that people make and sell here.

There were blossoms EVERYWHERE! AND it was sooooo green and lush! Flowers were in bloom in February! Not fair!

These California weekends don't happen near enough. Being with my extended family doesn't happen near enough but when it does, I am reminded of just how special these people are and how lucky I am to be a part of their lives. Unfortunately I was too busy yapping to get any photos when I was with them! Anything I did get wasn't worth posting. This trip wasn't really about these frivolous things in the pictures but the PEOPLE, just want to make that clear. I LOVE my family! It was soooo nice to see all my cousins, aunts, uncles and my PARENTS! (They drove from UT to CA for the Memorial.) First stop was the East Bay though, to see my friend Jennefer and her family. We also stopped by a ward gathering put on by my old ward in Castro Valley on Saturday. I got to see the people who were my life for 7 1/2 years! It was wonderful as usual! Then on Sunday I met up with my Mom and Dad in Healdsburg for church at the ward we grew up in. Believe it or not there are still families there in that small ward that we still know and love! Some of these families helped shape my life and it was a sweet experience! The reason for this trip was my uncle's memorial that day and so we made a slow drive down Westside Road to Bishop's Ranch which is were the service was and also the road that takes me by my old house! My Mom and Dad and Kelly and I stopped for a few pictures, picked some oranges, absorbed the views, the GREEN rolling hills, the mustard flowers blanketing those hills, the gnarly old oak trees with mistletoe caught in their branches, grape vines, old barns, and wineries. The memorial service was beautiful! My dad gave a life sketch of his older brother that was basically a compilation of memories from their lives! It was light hearted and full of wonderful detail. The best part though was at the end of his "speech" he expressed his deepest feelings about life and his religious view on death. It was very sweet and heart felt and something that I know he's always wanted to do. His family is Catholic and so they have slightly different perspectives but this didn't stop him! He has always been courageous in choosing to depart from the church and join the Mormon faith and this was a shining moment for him! He did an EXCELLENT job on the whole speech but the end touched my heart and brought me to tears. His family did such a beautiful job with the music, photo slide show, and their shared memories of their father. I had fun catching up with cousins later and had to literally be pulled away by Kelly so we could get my parents back to their hotel. We later ventured to SF for a scrumptious dinner with Patrick (Kelly's good friend from Visa) and got to see his wife and baby son as well. So, we covered a lot of ground in 3 days from East Bay to Sonoma County to SF, and all those miles brought us to some of the most important people in our lives! It was a weekend I won't soon forget! In memory of David Dale, "Jesus bless you!" and "Praise the Lord!" (he said this a lot!!!!)

calling all lemon lovers!

I just made these cakes for book club and OH MY! If you like lemon just a little, try these! Recipe from my new favorite cooking blog: http://www.pastrystudio.blogspot.com/ These are EASY to make and sure to please...I had to sample...and so did my kids!

**Jennefer, I will put this recipe on Sugar Moon and Erika, it will go on Delicious D's. This recipe would be something Dad would love for his birthday next month!!!

Lemon Cakes

butter (8) 5 oz. ramekins and sprinkle with granulated sugar, tapping out excess.

Preheat oven to 325.

5T butter @ room temperature

6 T plus 3/4 C sugar

5 eggs at room temp.

zest from 2 lemons

6 T flour

1 1/4 C whole milk @ room temp.

2/3 C fresh lemon juice

1C heavy cream (for garnish)

1T confectioner's sugar

1/4 t vanilla

berries (garnish)

Cream the butter and 6T sugar until light in color, about 2 min. Add egg yolks one at a time. Stir in zest and flour until blended. Add milk and lemon juice and beat thoroughly.

Whip egg whites until soft opaque peaks form. Slowly drizzle in 3/4 C sugar and whip until the meringue forms stiff glossy peaks. Gently fold into lemon mixture.

Scoop the mixture into prepared ramekins and gently smooth top. Place in a large baking pan and fill with boiling water to 1/2 way up sides of ramekins. Bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove cakes from water and cool completely.

Whip cream with sugar and vanilla. Serve with berries.

Valentine's Festivities

Cookie decorating lessons until midnight with Brooke and Erika! Brooke is amazing AND the most enthusiastic and patient teacher! We had some good laughs while we made beautiful cookies! What is Valentine's without the heart shaped cookie?

Ahhh, the Valentine boxes! Curse the boxes! I'm keeping these to hand down to Sam and Jenna! Noah's-Snowman (this picture was taken AFTER school so the carrot nose is missing) and Bailey's-a tissue flower!

Where is her coat? It was cooollldd out there!

What boy doesn't like to shoot something? Noah hit and demolished a 7 UP can that was across the yard!

The bird girl reading. She was distressed when she finished her book but didn't have another to start on! The book is called "Star Girl" and her little friend on her head is "Star."

The first catch of the day!!!!

Waiting for a bite! Kelly loves to take the kids ice fishing. This was my first time. I froze!

My nephews with the ogger.

The biggest spud I've ever seen!

Miss "Denny", my sister-in-law's sweet horse!

Bailey riding bare back.

V-day. Best seat in the house (or out of the house!) Gorgeous views! So peaceful. We sat outside in the sun all afternoon talking with Chris and Nikki and watching their lab fetch a number of things in the deep snow!

Valentine's wasn't just Sunday for us, it was really a week of celebrating that went from Valentine cookie making to a weekend in Teton Valley! My kids had 4 hours of candy eating while we drove to my brother's house in Driggs this past weekend. The bird came too of course. (Bailey wouldn't entrust her care to just anyone). Our DVD player is broken so we listened to a lot of music, boys played their DS games, Jenna sang to the bird, Bailey joined in mine and Kel's conversations and asked a lot of questions and jumped out into the freezing weather to get her picture with the "Welcome to ID" sign. We had GORGEOUS weather, blue skies and fresh snow. We enjoyed many outdoor activities such as shooting, ice fishing, horse back riding. Kelly and Bailey went snow shoeing around the 10 acre yard (which I sadly didn't get a photo of!) We stopped by Rexburg on our way home to reminisce (I graduated from Ricks in '94 and Kelly and I did A LOT of courting there! It was fun to see the new temple too! Thanks C & N! We miss you already, especially that precious baby of yours! Until spring!

hot CHOCOLATE!

for valentines...

I haven't had ANY hot chocolate this winter....until NOW! Why? Because all the store bought stuff just doesn't do it for me! If you've ever had the hot chocolate at Cucina Toscana in SLC, you know why I feel this way. At this AMAZING Italian restaurant in my favorite nook of Salt Lake they serve a hot chocolate that #1 you have to ask for because it's not on the menu. #2 It comes served in a tiny white mug that you think is way too small. #3 This chocolate that is hot is heaven on earth and is ONLY (ha ha) $4.00 for literally a shot glass amount. Is it worth it? Oh yes! So I've been playing around with recipes and here is a good start if you want a rich hot chocolate and you don't want to drive down town to get it (or pay $4.00!!!):

4 cups whole milk (I think they use light cream in theirs!)

2 T Dutch Processed Cocoa

3 T sugar

4 T finely chopped semi-sweet chocolate (I like the mini chips-no chopping!)

1/2 t vanilla or your choice of flavoring

Simmer and serve!

*the better the cocoa and chocolate quality, the better tasting hot chocolate!

the real deal: i love thrift stores!!!

Yes it's true. I spent the entire day yesterday at D.I. and consignment stores around SLC! I came home smelling like it too but fully satisfied with my finds! My sister Emily and I had a great time hunting for just the right "shabby chic" and ended up with a car full of treasures! I have a passion for vintage and we were lucky to find: amber drinking glasses, a small bell jar, an Anthropologie napkin (which will make a beautiful pillow face), a two teared tea table with ruffly edge, an ottoman (which Em will cover in a cute fabric for her family room), an antique globe, and an old black and white photograph from Europe signed by the photographer. My favorite find as of late is this adorable chair! It was $15.00! It needs a paint job and a re-upholstered seat but that will hardly cost anything at all! AND it will be fun. AND I am up for the task! So, wait for an "after shot" because I am all ready dreaming of fabric and paint options!!!!

quick, easy, fresh, and everyone will be happy!

Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

2T minced fresh cilantro

2 1/2 T fresh lime juice

1 1/2 T olive oil

Chicken Tenders (I like these better than chicken breasts because they cook fast and the portions are smaller, plus they are so tender!)

1/4 t salt

1/8 t pepper

Directions for chicken:

Mix cilantro and lime together with raw chicken and salt and pepper. (Or just through it all in the pan together!) Saute in oil until chicken is done. Set aside and keep warm.

Salsa:

1 C chopped plum tomatoes

2 T finely chopped onion

2 t fresh lime juice

1/4 t salt

1/8 t pepper

1 avocado chopped

Rice:

1 C rice

1 pat butter

dash of salt

1 C water

1 C chicken broth

2 pinches Saffron (gives great color to the dish and a slightly different flavor)

To serve: Put rice down with chicken on top and then the salsa. My kids love tortilla chips with this! Very healthy and my kids LOVE it!

1994

This is appropriate for the month of February. I just dug this baby up and couldn't believe my eyes! Yikes! What was up with my hair? Kelly looks great!!! (We had been dating for maybe 6 months? Those were some good times! He was pracicing here for the real deal 6 months later! Happy Valentines!

country road take me home

I grew up in the wine country of Northern CA in a place called Healdsburg. This was and is a small town but now it has thrived and become a tourist trap for wine tasting, vineyard hopping, historic homes and fancy shops. I am getting ready to go back there for my Uncle David's funeral. He was my closest uncle in proximity to our home and in my life! He and his family lived right over one big rolling hill from us. They lived on a Dairy Ranch and we lived literally walking distance away on our ranch! His children, our cousins were our playmates and friends. I have had many adventures with them and I feel blessed to have that closeness because that was the only family that we had any kind of relationship with on my dad's side of the family (and he comes from a family of 8!) They were Catholic, had 7 children and so, they made good allies for a Mormon family of 10. Just putting myself back on 4785 Westside Road brings back a flood of memories. I was just reading to Jenna when the memories started rushing in. Sadly the book I was reading to her was "There's Something in my Attic." Doesn't sound like a very romantic book to bring on the trip down memory lane, right? Well, we had two attics and they were both FASCINATING to me as a child! One was on the second floor of our old house. You could only get there from the "pink" room or the room I shared with Leslie and Erika. There was a door that opened to it like a closet. When you stepped inside, and looked up, there was a typical trap door in the ceiling and that led to the second or "real" attic. But if you opened yet another door immediately ahead there was the attic we used to store things, that had belongings from past residents (the home was kept in the same family over years and years until us.) It had old rickety wood floors that were very dusty. It had exposed beams on the slanted roof. It had boxes and boxes of old shoes, clothes, costumes, Christmas ornaments, letters, pictures, supplies, nick knacks, hats hanging from nails, one hanging light bulb, and lots of dark corners! The wood floor didn't cover all the attic space so you could only walk so far and then you had to step only on floor joices (I never ventured that far but my sister did which resulted in a foot through the ceiling in our main floor hall!) This place gave me the creeps but it also intrigued me like scary things do to children! It was mysterious! The old clothing and shoes were glamorous in an old, antique way. The attic was cool, dark and musty. I was always afraid to step in and pull the string to turn the light bulb on. Then there was the attic that opened from the trap door in the ceiling. This was a place even more mysterious because we couldn't get up there and more importantly, we weren't allowed to go up there! All I new of that attic was what my oldest siblings told me about it because at one time they got to play up there. Well, one day when I was in Jr. high? my dad let me and my sisters Emily and Erika got to venture up there! It was basically one small area with boards put down as a floor and it was used by past residents as a play house for their children! There were little dishes and a table and chairs and a calendar on the wall. It was walled off partially from the rest of the attic space. It had a window too and that's all I remember! We brought a tin of figs and some water up there so we could "survive" and I can't remember what else we did or played! It was just fun to be somewhere that was completely new in your very own house! AND it had old stuff from some other time and some other children! I wish I could see it again...

When I go back for my uncle's funeral, I will pass my old house. I plan on stopping as usual and having a moment to stare and reflect and try to believe that I spent my entire childhood there! There are stories in each room. I like old things. I like other times and people. I am that girl who sat in the attic years ago with a racing heart! I can't wait to go back!