My Favorite Banana Bread

This recipe comes from one of the most unique cookbooks that I own. It is "Cooking With Mickey, Vol. II" and contains the most requested recipes from Walt Disney World and Disneyland. I have to admit that I haven't made most of the recipes in this book, but keep it just for this recipe. It is in no way low-fat, in fact it is high fat, high sugar and really, really yummy!
I ended up with this book thanks to my brother. My brother and I have a love affair with everything Disney since we were kids. It was one of our favorite family vacations. I grew up on the west coast of Canada and quite often we would camp our way down the coast from BC to San Diego and back. I was almost 5 the first time we did Disney and I look forward to the day when I can take my kids there too. Jeff (my brother) spotted this book at a Disney store in Seattle about 9 years ago and knew it would be something I would like (especially since it had their cinnimon french toast recipe in it which he loves and knew there was a good chance I would make it for him).

My family at Disney way back (circa. 1989?) I'm about 12 in this picture.

The Recipe
1 cup butter (melted)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp water
2 cups banana (mashed)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional) - I've never put in the full 2 cups, usually I make it without, today I added about 1/4 cup

Preheat oven to 350*. Sift together flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside. Mix melted butter and sugar until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. Add bananas, water and vanilla. Fold in flour mixture and walnuts and blend until all flour is moist. Pour batter evenly into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour or until the centre of the loaf is firm and a toothpick comes out clean.

Shameless Promo for a friend

Hi all, my dear friend Angela has started her own cooking blog and I'm so happy about it! Angela and I first met back at UVic (University of Victoria) where we took our Bachelor's of Education degree program. We ended up being roommates for our final year (and had a ball). After graduation our careers called us to teach in different places (she truly became an international teacher and has taught in 4 countries - Canada, Korea, Oman and the U.S.) but we have always kept in touch. She is a dear girl. You can check out her brand new blog here at http://angelamae-cookitup.blogspot.com/


Ang and I in our apartment back in the day with a few other good girlfriends!

Twice-Baked Potatoes

I apologize for the terrible picture, trust me the food tastes much better than it looks! I first saw these done on Emeril years ago (at least 10). It was one of those "I saw him make it that day, I made it that night" recipes. I don't even know how true it is to the original anymore, but I really enjoy them. Just give yourself the time to make it.

Baking Potatoes
your favorite baked potato toppings (these ones were fairly plain, just butter, sour cream and cheese - you can also use chives, bacon bits or whatever you like)

Step 1 - scrub your potatoes clean and bake at 350* for close to an hour
Step 2 - Slice a little top off the potato lengthwise (save the top!)
Step 3 - Be really careful with this part! - scoop most of the potato out of the shell (I've broken the shell doing this, try not to do that :o)-one of the reasons the picture looks so wobbly!) - put all the potato filling into a medium bowl. Add your favorite potato toppings and mash everything together.
Step 4 - Stuff the shells with the potato mixture (you will have more mixture than will fit into the shells)
Step 5 - Set the Potatoes onto a baking sheet (or dish), cover with the little tops you set aside earlier - bake for another 15-20 minutes
Enjoy!

The Best Mac & Cheese I've Ever Had!

I was at a homeschool graduation for a good friend of ours in June. There was a huge spread of food. One of the dishes that really caught my eye was the macaroni and cheese. It was simply the best I'd ever had, ever! I asked my friend (whose son was graduating that night) for the recipe. She told me that her sister-in-law had made it and would try to get it for me. Thank goodness Marilyn is the follow through type! Here's the recipe. I made it on my son's birthday and everyone raved about it. I was surprised at the ingredients and you may be too! The trick is lots of milk! The picture does not do this recipe justice (I forgot to take one of a serving)


Pam’s Macaroni and Cheese

•Boil and drain noodles from 3 boxes Kraft Dinner Creamy Macaroni and Cheese (for a 9 by 13 casserole.) Add a few more noodles to make it stretch. - if you are from the US Kraft Dinner is the boxed Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, but use the extra creamy kind
•Next add one half cup margarine to coat noodles.
•Add the powdered cheese and a cup or so of milk. Mix well. I usually add another 1 to 2 cups of milk. Add some salt and pepper. - I used 3 cups milk total
•Put in one long block of old cheddar cheese, shredded. Mix in among the noodles and top with some shredded mozza and cheddar combined. (This is in addition to the first block.)
•Bake for 45 minutes at 375 or so.

Super Easy Ice Cream Cake

This is seriously the easiest ice cream cake you will ever make. I had never seen it done until this summer, 1st at a staff potluck and 2nd at a Canada Day BBQ. You can make it big or small.

Layer 1 - Ice Cream Sandwiches (you may have to slice them in half to make it fit just right)
Layer 2 - Cool Whip
Layer 3 - broken up Oreos
Layer 4 - Ice Cream Sandwiches
Layer 5 - Cool Whip
Layer 6 - broken up Oreos

That's it - it's that easy and so tasty!

Peach Topping for Pancakes

Those who have been following my blog for a while will know that my family never gets tired of pancakes. I usually make pancakes on Saturday morning for PJ and cartoon time with my boys. This week I had some fresh peaches in the fridge that needed to be eaten up and I remembered playing with a banana/pineapple topping a few years back that I thought would go well with the peaches. It did and it's super-easy!

2 fresh peaches, sliced into 8 pieces
a few spoonfuls of brown sugar
a few spoonfuls of margarine

Melt the margarine in a saucepan over low-medium heat. Add the brown sugar and peaches and mix well. Cover to let everything simmer together while your pancakes are cooking.

5 Cup Salad

This was a summer staple for me growing up. When I asked my mom for the recipe she just gave me a funny look and said, "It's 5 cup salad, just remember what was in it and it's a cup of each." Okay, I felt more than a little bit stupid then. 5 cups, 5 ingredients. So easy.

Here's the 5 ingredients, use a cup of each.
-mini marshmallows
-coconut
-mandarin oranges
-sour cream
-pineapple tidbits

Mix everything together. I find it tastes best if you make it ahead of time (the morning of or the day before you serve it)