Friday Feast: Just Sweets!

Oh, if I could live on chocolate & baked good alone, I would be a fat happy woman with sky-high blood sugar.
I bake a little something each week. I like making things from scratch. I like how happy it makes everyone.

We love banana bread at the Lanford House.
I received a loaf of banana bread sometime last year that was the best thing I ever put in my mouth. I dreamt about it for months -- it was my mission to find the recipe.
Oh, and did I. After a few hits & misses & making a few changes - by George, I got it!

Now, I am going to warn you. This recipe makes two loaves. As soon as the second loaf cools, wrap it in saran-wrap and put it in the freezer.
Why?
Because you will eat them both in one day.
I kid you not, it's that good. The girls were very upset when it was all gone.
And the second loaf is good to have on hand as a gift. Or late night snack. Whatever you choose...

I questioned the glaze for this recipe - but trust me, it's grand. I thought the orange would be a confusion of flavors for my palate - but, no. It's quite the opposite.

Skye's Special Banana Bread

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
5 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped pecans, divided

Orange Glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
the juice from one medium orange (about 5 tbs)
1 teaspoon grated orange peel

In a large bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in bananas and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Fold in 1 cup pecans. Pour into two greased 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pans. Top with remaining pecans. Bake at 350° for 60 - 75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

In a small bowl, whisk the glaze ingredients; drizzle over loaves when you take them out of the oven. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

I won't leave you with just one recipe today.
Here's another - a favorite around here. And easy-peasy.

Chicken BBQ Sammiches

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce

Slaw:
1/2 head of cabbage, grated & chopped
1 large carrot, peeled & grated
1/2 c light mayo
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp celery seed
salt & pepper to taste

Cook chicken & BBQ sauce in the crockpot on low all day (about 8 hours). Shred the meat with two forks, and stir in more sauce if you think it's too dry. Spoon chicken and slaw on top of rolls/hamburger buns and feast.

Her favorite thing....

My dear petite Princess has a problem.
She needs an intervention.
Come to think of it, I wonder if I can get her a spot on A&Es show Intervention.
I'll check into that.

File this little clip under: Things my child will kill me for when she turns thirteen.

Oh. And please excuse the remnant peanut butter on her face. And the boo-boo on her forehead that she will not allow to heal.

Friday Feast: Baked "Pasghetti"

I usually make some type of pasta dish at least once a week. I don't think you can mess up pasta - every recipe I've ever tried has been delicious. And, hey - it's pretty budget-friendly, too. The girls love "pasghetti", but the grown-ups in this house get a little weary of the same old dish. So we change it up a bit sometimes. Enjoy!

Baked "Pasghetti"

1 large jar pasta sauce, any variety you like

1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons seasoning salt
1 lb ground beef
1 lb Italian sausage
8 ounces angel hair pasta
2 cups Colby Jack cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large pot, boil pasta as directed. Drain and set aside. (I actually used fettuccine this time around because it's all I had on hand. It was just as tasty.) In a large skillet, saute pepper, onion & garlic in a bit of EVOO. Add sausage and beef, brown and drain. Slice sausage thinly after it's thoroughly cooked. Add jarred sauce to meat and veggie mixture, then add spices. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add pasta to sauce mixture. Mix together well.

In a lightly greased 9"x13" pan, layer: spaghetti mixture, half of cheeses, spaghetti mixture. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, add the remaining cheese and bake for about 5 more minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

It's even better the second day - trust me!
I served it with a simple side salad and the girls were begging for more (after two servings).

More snow pictures

We took a little trek in the woods behind our house. The undisturbed snow is beautiful! Of course, once all of us ran through it, it wasn't so beautiful anymore. Or undisturbed.

Faith & Carys, trying to sled. Carys is more interested in catching snowflakes with her tongue!

Cailyn & Faith, making their way to the sledding hill -
which turned out to be a disappointing trip!

Cailyn & Faith posing for me, for once!

The requisite Snow Angel

Cailyn & Carys throwing rocks in the creek

Chateau Lanford

A Winter Wonderland Wish

Carys has been begging for snow, especially since she's seen pictures from our family & friends in other states that get it ALL the time. She wanted some, too.
And she got it.
Seriously, it doesn't snow here. We get a flurry maybe once a year, but we haven't had real snow in years - four years, to be exact. Carys was barely one year old the last last time we got a decent amount, so she didn't really know what to expect.

We had so much fun, and school was canceled here for two days. It's a little warmer today and the snow is quickly disappearing. I think it's supposed to be back in the 50s tomorrow, so our Winter Wonderland is almost gone. We ended up with about 6 inches of the white stuff, and it was just enough to close everything down. My New York family members are probably laughing at that - but it's true. We're never prepared to handle snow because we so rarely get it. No one sells sleds or anything else related to snow-time fun. Trust me. I called every retailer I could think of...

The girls have played, eaten snow cream, built a bad snowman (not their fault - it was not good packing snow), pelted everyone withing a .05-mile radius with snowballs, and eaten icicles to their hearts content.

Cailyn was just as excited as Carys...before we went outside. Once she set foot in the snow, it was a different story. As the resident Diva in our house, she doesn't like to be cold. Or wet. And she doesn't like to fall down.
All of those factors equal an unhappy camper, in general. She did manage to squeeze a few smiles out though, so it wasn't all bad.

I won't bore you with all the pictures I took of little snow bunnies, but be on the lookout for a few more over the next week or so. I'm off to thaw our frost-bitten toes by the fireplace. And drink hot cocoa, eat chicken noodle soup, play Scrabble, and take a nap. Apparently, that's what you do when there's snow. :)

I know, I know

I used to be a good blogger.
I wrote about any and everything, because I wanted to.
And I still want to - I just don't feel like I have much to say lately.

The girls are good.
Chad is good.
I am good.

That pretty much sums it up. Although, Cailyn did have some kind of 24-hour tummy bug yesterday. That was not good.

My friend Melanie used to laugh at me for using so few words. After not seeing her for weeks, she would ask me how I was doing and I would say, "Good." She would ask Chad and get a 10-minute essay into the Life & Times of Chad L. Lanford.

I don't post many pictures lately either, sorry about that.
My photo subjects refuse to cooperate anymore, and it's been too wet/cold/yucky to take them outside and catch them off guard with a picture or two.

I was making dinner a couple of weeks ago, and walked to the pantry. I noticed a strange glow about the room - it was really strange, especially for 4:00 in the afternoon. I glanced outside, because the wind was whipping the trees around, and thought we were surely in for nasty weather. Or tornado proportions. But no, we just had a bit o' rain and that was that.
Isn't that a weird glow? It was very surreal. And it only lasted a few minutes.
The sky was a beautiful pink-purple right afterward. Weird. But really beautiful.

Friday Feast: Cold Weather Comfort Food, Southern Style

Today, it's a balmy 24 degrees.
Seriously. We haven't been this cold in a long time. I think it got down to 14 or so last night. Makes me want to move to Antigua. I could go for a nice leisurely lounge on those crystal white beaches and soothing soak in the clear warm water right now....

....but since I'm back to reality for the moment, I've got to give my kiddos a stick-to-your-ribs-so-you-don't-freeze-to-death-in-these-arctic-conditions feast.

On days like today (as well as many other days when it's quite warmer), I make one of my favorite comfort foods. Good, old-fashioned chicken & pastry. Yum, yum, triple yum!
And we Lanfords all have a sweet tooth, so we'll finish it up with some peanut butter cookies. Truth be told, there is always some type of baked good in this house. I can't help myself. I try to use Splenda, but sometimes I feel that the result is just not the same. I still eat these sugary treats, I just limit myself to one ortwelve two.

Chicken & Pastry
About 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
5 medium carrots, sliced
5 stalks of celery, sliced
1 package of frozen thin pastry strips
salt & pepper to taste

I use a large pot, filled half-way with water. Trim celery tops (leaves & tops of stalk) and add to pot along with chicken. Salt & pepper, and a bit of garlic if you like. Boil chicken until done. Remove chicken from water and set aside. Remove celery leaves and discard.

To the chicken stock, add sliced carrots & celery. Add pastry strips slowly, one at a time, stirring often so they don't stick. Cover and boil for 35 minutes. Shred chicken while the pastry is cooking. When pastry is done, the broth will very thick and mostly absorbed. Add chicken back to pot and cook for another 10 minutes, or until heated through.
Salt & pepper it again, to taste.



Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup margarine, softened
1.5 cups creamy peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2.5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
Hershey kisses - optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat peanut butter & margarine with electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugars, beat well. Add eggs, beat well. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Add to butter mixture, beat well. Stir in vanilla.

I use a Pampered Chef medium cookie scoop, but you can also hand roll the cookies into balls, about 1 - 1.5" inches in diameter. Many recipes call to flatten the cookies before baking, but I found that this makes them a little more crumbly & dry. So, I flatten them after baking for a chewy, soft cookie. But feel free to flatten them now if you'd like, and make sure you space them about 2.5"-3" apart on a cookie sheet or baking stone. Bake for 9 minutes. When you take them out of the oven, use a small spatula or fork to flatten them out.
Once flat, add an unwrapped Hershey Kiss in the middle,
if you choose, and let cool before removing from the cookie sheet.