Posts Tagged ‘nuts’

This morning I was singing at the top of my lungs in my kitchen. Luckily no one was around to hear, except my little boy, who thinks I’m just peachy no matter what I sound like.

There’s this girl I went to high school with. We were never close. She was a year younger than me, and I don’t think we ever actually had a conversation. Ever. But we were both involved in our school’s large choral program, so we brushed shoulders a bit.

She was an awesome girl with a big smile, who was well-liked by everyone. But she wasn’t a spectacular singer. I wasn’t exactly a spectacular singer either, but I was geeky and did well in the choral scene. So here’s the kicker: After high school, she pursued singing, and got pretty good at it. I left it and chased after other dreams.

Where is she now? She was in the top ten 2009 American Idol. She’s famous. She’s cutting albums and dressing glamorously, and all that jazz.

Where am I? Happily living a quiet, snug little home life, baking to my heart’s content, playing with the sweetest of all little boys, absolutely and utterly satisfied with my obscure little corner of the world. Oh, and I still get to sing. In my kitchen. And nobody cares if I hit a sour note or two.

We’re both getting what we want out of life. How about that?

Here’s a banana bread which is wonderfully dense and moist, if you like that in a banana bread. And it’s out-of-this-world-flavorful. I know, everybody already has their perfect, go-to banana bread recipe. I think we’re all born with one. Mine, I don’t even know where it originated. I’ve been using it my whole life, literally. It’s old, and it’s filled with love. And I’ve made it all mine.

Banana Almond Bread

Ingredients:

3/4 cup shortening

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

4 large, very ripe bananas, mashed (I wanna see brown skins)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 - 1 cup chopped almonds or pecans (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs. Add the mashed bananas and extracts, and stir until completely blended. Combine the flour and baking soda together in a small mixing bowl, and add to the banana mixture. Stir gently just until flour is incorporated. Stir in nuts if desired.

Pour batter into two prepared loaf pans. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before releasing loafs from pans. Let loaves cool completely on a wire rack. For a crazy-soft top, wrap the loaves in plastic wrap and let them sit overnight before slicing.

The longer you stick around here, and the more you read and get to know me, the more you’ll realize that I have a rather abnormal, year-round love affair with the holiday season. Meaning, I go nutty for all that lies between October 1st and January 1st. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest to see Halloween candy in the grocery store in August, or Christmas decorations up in October. That’s the kid in me, getting stars in my eyes just thinking about pumpkin desserts and sweaters and tinsel and colored lights and Nativity scenes and stockings and pretty paper. And yes, even snow.

Year-round, like I said. Once New Year’s Day is over, the annual post-holiday melancholy sets in, and suddenly - shoot, I have to wait almost a whole year before The Holiday Police will give me permission to get excited about the holidays again. And if I show my excitement too early, I can expect acidic glares, or discourses on the atrocity of anything Christmas-related raising its head even a day before Thanksgiving. I know. I’ve heard it all. I’ve heard the lectures. I’ve received the acidic glares. And I think it’s kind of silly. But okay, I can keep my Bing Crosby off and respect your views.

Heh. So much for keeping Christmas throughout the year.

So. Now that I’ve offended half of you (and assuming the other half is still reading this), you can understand why my fancy was captured by these cookies. These are Christmas cookies in my brain. Look at them! They’re pretty. They’re red and white.

And the best part is, they don’t have to be Christmas cookies, for the Scrooges in the world; they can pretend to be July cookies. They don’t scream Christmas, so everyone else can savor them in ignorance, while I secretly delight in my festivity.

Cherry Almond Chews

from The Taste of Home Baking Book

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

3/4 teaspoon almond extract

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2-1/2 cups flaked coconut

3/4 cup chopped almonds or pecans (optional)

1 jar maraschino cherries, drained and halved

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extract. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in coconut and nuts.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto lightly greased baking sheets. Place a cherry half in the center of each. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 12-13 minutes or until barely browned on the edges. Immediately remove to wire racks to cool. Store in an air-tight container for up to 10 days, or in the freezer for six weeks.

***High altitude adjustment: Adjust oven temperature about 20 degrees higher, and decrease bake time slightly.