Spotlight On: Quick Breads

One of my favorite things to bake (besides cookies) is bread. And while I LOVE the smell and taste of a yeast bread, I also really appreciate the flavor and versatility of quick breads. Quick breads are just those made without active yeast and that don't require manipulation (kneading) or a rise period.

For our Halloween get together before trick-or-treating, I wanted to have some snacks out for our guests. I decided for sure that I would serve homemade caramel fondue with apple slices... and then read some suggestions while hunting for the fondue recipe to use pumpkin bread cubes and banana bread cubes for dippers. Mmm! That sounded awesome, so I made both.

First, I baked another one of our pie pumpkins to use the fresh puree for my bread. Remember how I said there is such a difference in color between canned and fresh?

Check it out:
Ick. The canned stuff was leftover from our pumpkin waffles awhile back and now it just looks totally unappetizing and fake.

I used this recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip bread from The Fresh Loaf and it turned out amazing!

Instead of 2 cups of chocolate chips OR walnuts as the recipe says, I just used one cup of each.

I also made a loaf of my Aunt Lori's Banana Tea Bread.

The recipe comes from Aunt Lori's grandmother.

Banana Tea Bread

1 3/4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup mashed bananas

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Combine first four ingredients in a bowl. Cream sugar and shortening in another bowl until well combined. Add eggs to sugar mixture and blend well. Add dry ingredients alternately with mashed banana. Stir in chopped nuts. (I used pecans.) Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until top is firm to touch.

Some of the caramel fondue recipes I found directed to use a candy thermometer to cook at certain temperatures for a given period of time. But this one just gave directions for time and appearance. It was kind of like a science experiment waiting for the sugar to caramelize and then adding the cream slowly while it bubbled up and boiled. The color was darker than you'd expect, but the flavor was fantastic. And it kept smooth and silky at room temperature and even right out of the fridge the next day.

This picture was taken after guests had been snacking for a bit. I cut the bread into about 1" cubes and the apples into medium thickness slices. Another favorite quick bread that's probably my most frequently made is zucchini bread. I don't have a picture at the moment because it wasn't one I made this weekend. But it IS delicious and I love it year round.

Zucchini Bread

3 eggs

2 cups shredded zucchini

1 cup oil

2 cups sugar

3 tsp vanilla

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

3 tsp cinnamon

1 cup chopped nuts

Oven to 350. Beat eggs well. Add zucchini, oil, sugar and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and add to wet ingredients slowly. Fold in nuts. Bake 1 hour or until knife inserted comes clean.

I'm not sure where I got that recipe but it's very good, though loaded with sugar and oil. Sometime soon, I'd like to try this Weelicious version using some whole wheat flour, less oil and agave nectar in place of the sugar. Come to think of it, there are LOTS of Weelicious recipes I want to try in the near future...

Halloweekend, Part 1

Want a recipe for a fun, fall, family day?

Step 1: Pack a picnic lunch.

Step 2: Head to the zoo for their Jumping Pumpkins exhibits to watch animals eat/play with pumpkins that are placed in their habitats.

Step 3: Stop at a nearby (famous & amazing) bakery for a special treat and let husband talk you into a dozen donuts instead of just a half dozen. ;)
Hmm. This recipe is missing something...
What could it be?
Oh, that's right! We're missing happy children!!
I don't know who these little hooligan children were that came with us that day, but somehow Craig and I ended up looking at each other like "what in the world were we thinking??"
Will was the worst culprit! Every thing that came out of his mouth was a whine followed by a tantrum. After refusing to nap at Aunt Kelly's house on Friday, I think the lack of sleep caught up to him and he was totally out of sorts. Sophie mainly just couldn't decide whether she wanted to ride in the stroller or walk. And I think she picked up a little of Will's attitude just from watching him.

But the Jumping Pumpkins thing was very cool and I really enjoyed watching it. On the zoo website, they had times listed for various animal habitats and when they could be seen playing with pumpkins. We had hopes of seeing a couple more exhibits, but only made it in time to catch the elephants. And they didn't disappoint!

When we walked up, the elephants were inside and there were two large and one small pumpkins set out for them. Upon release, "baby" Louie (who's just a couple/few years old) came right out and hogged the pumpkins. Apparently, just like human toddlers, Louie has some sharing issues. He didn't leave much for his pregnant (and slower-moving) mommy to enjoy. :)
It was very impressive to see how these massive animals can maneuver themselves and use all their resources to achieve a goal. Louie wrapped his trunk around the pumpkin stem and pierced the body of the pumpkin with his tusk to break it open. With another one he picked it up and banged it against the metal "tree trunk" in his habitat to break it apart.

Eating the pumpkin.

Isn't it neat to see how naturally playful they can be on their own doing and without a circus master whipping them around?

This was right before he hit it against the metal "tree trunk".

This is Louie's mommy. You can't really see what she's doing, but look at that bulging belly! I'll have to look up when she's due... and also what the normal gestation of an elephant is while I'm at it...

Sophie spent a good chunk of the trip bundled into the stroller with the muff attachment and a blanket over her.

Seriously, Will was ornery the entire time.

Here he was climbing up to see the lions over the rail.

Miss Independent kept saying "out" so that we'd let her out of the stroller and she could walk on her own.

The giraffes were not in their normal environment this time. I think mostly they were indoors but could walk out to this fenced area. Will was getting excited to dress up like them the next day for trick-or-treating. :)

Wow! All the animals we visited were right up close and personal with us!

I know this isn't a super clear picture, but this giraffe was trying to bend down to munch some weeds. I hadn't really considered before how difficult it would be for an animal that tall to make himself "low". He had to spread his front legs wide apart just to reach his head to the ground.

Sophie wasn't feeling too comfortable being that close to the giraffes.

But Will didn't mind. He loves pretty much all animals.

Baby Enzi is almost a year old now!

Heading home... finally! We didn't even eat our picnic lunch here. Craig and I couldn't wait to get the kids home, fed and down for nap in the hopes that Will would wake up refreshed and act himself again.

At least the donuts were yummy!

What We're Reading

We finished book #3 in the Magic Tree House series and have since read books 4 and 5. Turns out Jack & Annie were trapped in the pyramid until the black cat helped lead them through the maze of hallways to get out. Book #4 (Pirates Past Noon) took place on an island that was shaped like a whale and Jack and Annie had to help Cap'n Bones and his men Pinky and Stinky find the buried treasure by following the clues of a treasure map. I believe it was at the end of this book that they met the owner of the mysterious magic tree house - Morgan le Fay - an "enchantress" and librarian from the time of King Arthur who travels to different places and times collecting books from the future. Morgan was just as surprised as Jack and Annie that the two children were able to work the magic just as she does. But she also revealed to them that she was the one that had helped them (in the form of an animal) during each of their adventures... She was the pteranadon that rescued Jack in the dinosaur book, she was the knight that carried them safely back to the tree house in Knight at Dawn, she was the black cat that led them out of the pyramid in the mummy book, and she was the parrot that spooked the pirates into running fearfully back to their ship in book #4. She has been their secret guardian this whole time.
In book 5 (Night of the Ninjas), it's not announced yet, but Morgan shows up in the form of a mouse (whom Annie nicknames Peanut). Jack and Annie travel to Japan in an effort to help rescue Morgan from a spell she is under after reading an urgent message that Morgan left for them in the tree house. They have to find four special things in order to break the spell and, in this book, they found a moonstone. Jack & Annie also learned how to be like a Ninja to carry themselves stealthily away from danger.

Currently, we are on chapter 5 of book #6 (Afternoon on the Amazon) and so far it has given me the heeby-jeebies with all the bugs and spiders and ants on the rainforest floor. We've learned that there are three levels/layers of a rainforest and so Jack and Annie had a considerably longer climb down the rope ladder to reach the ground. All the animals were camouflaged against their environment and Peanut is still tagging along with them as they look for the second special thing to break Morgan's spell.

Here are a list of the picture books we borrowed as well:

1. Why Do Leaves Change Color? by Betsy Maestro. I mentioned this one already and Will still finds it rather boring. But he does enjoy talking about fall and what happens to the leaves.

2. Let It Fall by Maryann Cocca-Leffler. Remember we borrowed a couple of her books last week? This one was a Scholastic book order purchase from Will's school and we love it. Just a fun story about all things fall.

3. From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer. I'm always amazed at learning about how things grow. And I guess I should just assume this by now, but just like apple and oak trees, a flower blossoms before the fruit grows in its place. This is another Let's Read and Find Out Science book so it's very educational and has lots of extension suggestions.

4. Can I Play Too? (an Elephant & Piggie book) by Mo Willems. For some reason, Will thinks this is hilarious. I heard him laughing uncontrollably while Craig read it to him as I was bathing Sophie. It's a SUPER easy read and I tried to get Will to help read it to me, but he was much more interested in laughing while we read it to him.

5. Digger Man by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha. I actually never read this to Will. Craig did. And surprisingly, Will didn't request it as much as I thought he would. But it's a book about a little boy who dreams of the day when he buys his own real "digger" (or front-end loader as Will will tell you) and how he will have so much work to do and will teach his little brother how to run the digger when he's big enough.

The rest of our reading was all about dinosaurs - Will's latest obsession and interest.

6. When Dinosaurs Came With Everything by Elise Broach. This one is my favorite and Will really liked it too. Just a very funny tale of a son who is begrudgingly out running errands with his mom. But much to his surprise (and the chagrin of his mother), every place they stop has a special surprise for him... a real, live (huge!) dinosaur. Dinosaurs come with every service they buy - they come with a dozen donuts at the bakery, they come in place of a lollipop at the doctors office, and in place of a balloon at the barber shop. And in the end, the mom finds lots of practical uses/chores for the dinosaurs around the house and allows them to stay.

7. The Littlest Dinosaur's Big Adventure by Michael Foreman. We read the other Littlest Dinosaur book awhile ago and this one is just as cute. I'm forgetting the details (we read a lot of dinosaur books this week) but I know I liked it.

8. Harry and the Dinosaurs Go to School by Ian Whybrow. Harry's dinosaurs are smallish toys but they talk and "raaaahhhh!" He takes them to his first day of school and they help him transition and meet new friends. My only question with this book is why mom (or was it sister?) and teacher have on a sort of cropped-top shirt? LOL

9. I Wonder Why Dinosaurs - a flip the flaps book by Judy Allen. This one wasn't in the picture book section so I got a little more practice in hunting down books by code number instead of just alphabetical by author. It was very informational and it both asked and answered questions about dinosaurs. Will really liked it.

10. Diego and the Dinosaurs was a hit. Maia the dinosaur is (of course) trying to find her family on Egg Island and Diego and Baby Jaguar must help her get home. Really, are there ever any other story plots in these books? :)

11. A Trip to Dinosaur Time - also by Michael Foreman - was not my favorite. I just thought it was kind of dumb. But Will really liked it. A little boy plays with his moms new kitchen timer after being told not to and somehow the timer sends him back to dinosaur time. He unintentionally causes a bit of disruption there and, in his effort to get back home, accidentally brings a dinosaur egg with him. The little boy then has to figure out how to send the baby dinosaur back in time again. It's just weird and kind of dumb.

12. William's Dinosaurs by Alan Baker. Hello? Jackpot title! :) A boy is getting tired while playing with his dinosaur toys and takes a walk in the woods only to embark on a crazy adventure and wonder at the end if he had dreamt the whole thing. Again, not my favorite. But Will liked it.

Will has become quite the expert in dinosaur names. He can spout off a bunch of them without even having to think about it: brachiosaurus (a.k.a. "long neck" - Will's fave), plesiosaurus (a swimmer), pteradactyl, stegasaurus, tyrannosaurus, microraptor, velociraptor, ankylosaurus, etc. The rest are slipping my mind. You'll have to ask my son. It's funny that I do actually ask him what some things are called when it comes to his favorite topics (i.e. construction trucks) because he often remembers better than I do.

Funky-Cool Soph

I took some pictures of Sophie playing outside one evening last week.

She's holding a small rock in each of her hands, but I'm not sure why she's holding her arms like this...

What is this pose?

Is she about to say the Our Father in a Catholic mass?

Is she trying to ask someone if they want a piece of her?
Or is she raising the roof in some sort of dance move?

Whatever the reason, Sophie is such a funky-cool chick...

...and I can't get enough of her cuteness!

My New Blogging Corner :)

Well, friends, we are status-post hard drive crash here at our house... hence my recent disappearance.

Craig actually built our main computer several years ago and it's just getting a little old. Never fear... all our important stuff is saved on the external hard drive. But we had to wait for the new (computer) hard drive to ship and for Craig to install and rebuild a little.

On top of that, he's been working on rearranging some things and doing some shelf switch-a-roos to accommodate a little computer nook in our old bedroom (walk-in) closet.

We actually have two walk-in closets in our bedroom - the original that was way too small for both of us and the main one that Craig built where we currently house all our clothes. The original closet has just been housing luggage, rarely-worn stuff, Craig's suits, the pack 'n play and other overflow. We've moved out all of the clothes and things and left only the luggage and some tubs of linens (spare sheets, etc.) on one end. On the opposite end, Craig put in a couple, simple shelves and rewired some things up from the basement, through the attic and into this closet so that we can set up our computer here. It's not fancy, but it's sooooo much better than the dungeon basement amongst the creepy-crawlies.

So if you walk in this closet and look to the left, you see the above pictured view. If you look to the right, you see some storage shelves, tubs, and luggage. Craig removed all the white hanging racks and shelves and patched/repainted before putting in the new shelves.

Our "cozy", little house once boasted a guest bedroom and a den/office on the first floor. :) But two kids and two "bedrooms" later... we have resorted to computing in a closet. LOL Our basement is not exactly a dark and dingy cellar - but it's not formally finished (yet) and having the main computer upstairs is just so much nicer. We do have a laptop in the living room, but it's even older and really only used to check something once in awhile, i.e. fantasy football for Craig, e-mail, etc for me. All my pictures and such are saved on the external hard drive attached to the desktop computer.

I'm just grateful that my husband's a genius and can fix anything. As my dad used to say, "If he can't fix it... it ain't broke". ;) I, on the other hand, have abandoned all problem-solving skills since being married to Craig. For example, the first time he said I could get back on the computer and start working, I couldn't get the external hard drive to be recognized by the computer. It was clearly turned on but just wasn't registering. So I came downstairs to where he was just sitting down to relax and told him my problem. He said "did you try restarting? Maybe it just hasn't recognized it." So I did, and nothing. I came back down to ask what I should do next and he went up to check. And... it was unplugged. :) Craig said to me: "that's what I love about you... your problem-solving skills are uncanny". LOL Oops.

Anywho... it's actually been quite nice having multiple evenings in a row to just hang out with Craig and do nothing else. We really should "unplug" more often. We've spent a few too many nights staying up way too late and just talking. Feels like old times. Like in high school, when we used to sit on the phone for three hours at a time. Or in college, when we layed around (responsibility-free) in one of our college houses just talking. Too bad our late nights of talking now have to be followed up with a 6-7 a.m. wake time and full day of work and childcare. Hmm. I'm kind of paying the price this week. Must go to bed early tonight!

Problem is: I have a ridiculous number of posts that have been piling up in my head during this blogging dry spell and just begging to be written. Not good for the go-to-bed-early motive.

So, I'm curious...

Where do you blog?

I'm sure, for most of you, it's a laptop that comes with you wherever you feel like sitting. But where do you sit?