Tag: football

Upside Down Banana Bread

udbb1Since this New Year’s Day is “Upside Down,” you know, all of the official festivities happening on Monday, January 2, what better way to kick-off (no pun intended) our entire day of parade and football watching than with this upside down take on my favorite overripe fruit concoction?

Our whole holiday week between Christmas and New Year’s Day has been spent at home, except for an escape on Wednesday for my birthday dinner WITH a 102°F temperature, so I did no baking, we did no entertaining, and I’ve really done nothing but sleep and drink hot tea.  I’m trying to rally, despite being sick, and make some kind of effort for tomorrow, yet another day of being sick at home, but at least there will be something I might want to eat.

My husband (he who is Twitter challenged) managed to send this Buzzfeed video to me in a message a couple of months ago as a hint, then I saw it again last night.  It looks easy enough so why not?  I’ll give it a try.

Upside Down Banana Bread

4-5 ripe bananas
3 eggs
½ cup oil
½ cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
2 cups flour
½ cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2-3 bananas, sliced
Vanilla ice cream

  • Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C.
  • In a large bowl, mash the ripe bananas.
  • Add the eggs, oil, sugar, and cinnamon, mixing until evenly incorporated.
  • Add the flour and mix until the batter has no large pockets of flour. Set aside.
  • In a pot over low heat, melt the butter, then mix in the brown sugar until dissolved.
  • Bring up the heat to medium, cooking until the mixture starts bubbling.
  • Remove the caramel from heat and pour into a greased 9×9 baking pan.
  • Lay the banana slices evenly on top of the caramel.
  • Spread the banana bread batter on top.
  • Bake 40-50 minutes.
  • Cool until the bottom is barely warm.
  • Use a knife to loosen the edges from the pan.
  • Place a plate upside-down on top of the pan, then invert the pan, flipping the banana bread onto the plate.
  • Slice, then serve with vanilla ice cream.

TIP**  It’s important to make sure you are using a 9 x 9 pan.  If you use an 8 x 8 pan, like I did my first try, you need to increase the baking time by about 10 minutes and be prepared, you’ll be cleaning up the brown sugar that will bubble up and spill over the sides and burn onto the bottom of your oven.  Trust me, the smoke alarms blaring, dogs running around barking and the cleanup weren’t worth not following the exact directions.  UG!

It’s very sweet, so you might want to start with a small square and go back for seconds. Who am I kidding?  Put it in a bowl and pile the ice cream on!  And, before you ask, “Yes, I do intend to start my day with glorified cake and ice cream!”  #TheDietStartsTuesday 

If you’re on Facebook and are interested in the things I may not devote an entire blog post to: my favorite recipes, drinks, food facts, nutritional information, photos and other things that make my mouth water, I have a page on Facebook you can visit too:https://www.facebook.com/ThisGirlLovesHerFood

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Crab Stuffed Mushrooms & Wine

New-turkeysWe all know that the turkey and sides are the stars of Thanksgiving, but there needs to be a little something to nibble on before the feast so people don’t knock each other over like ravenous fiends when the buffet is ready.

Inevitably I end up making too many snacks, but my excuse is that I never know if I’ll have a few people “helping out in the kitchen” for the hours leading up to dinner, or if the entire crowd will be at the house hanging out for drinks and watching football.

I like to assign Thanksgiving appetizers to someone else when I can and ask them to keepturkey-cheese-ball-8 them fairly simple: some type of tray with fruit, veggies, crackers and sliced cheese or a cheese ball.  This year I am not hosting, we get to be the guests, but I’ll be taking a few dishes to add to the spread.

My main goal was to find something that wouldn’t appeal to the kids so they’d be less likely to eat so much that they ruin their dinner.  I’d rather they eat fruit, if that’s there to snack on.  An added bonus: just by saying the word mushroom the kids will come nowhere near them, so their grubby little hands won’t be picking them up and down!

Crab Stuffed Mushroom Caps

  • ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon onion powder
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 – 8oz package softened cream cheese
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • pinch of salt
  • 24 – 30 fresh whole white mushrooms
  • 1/8 cup finely chopped celery
  • 1 can lump crab meat
  • fresh arugula (if desired)
  • fresh rosemary (if desired)

Preheat oven to 375°F

  • Line a baking sheet with a silicone liner or parchment paper
  • Using a fine mesh colander or a regular colander lined with cheesecloth, break up the crab to make sure no shell remains and leave it to drain
  • Clean and dry mushrooms
  • Remove stems, trim rough edges, then chop stems and set aside
  • Place caps (empty cavity up) on the baking sheet
  • Heat oil in a small pan.  Stir in chopped stems, celery, garlic and a pinch of salt. Cook until moisture disappears.  Remove from heat
  • Stir in crab, cayenne pepper, onion powder, black pepper, parmesan cheese, and cream cheese.
  • Use a spoon to fill each of the mushroom caps and return them to baking sheet
  • Bake in pre-heated oven 20 minutes

crabstuffedmushroomsServe immediately on a platter lined with fresh arugula and sprigs of rosemary if desired.

Another great thing about this crab stuffed mushroom recipe is that it is easily matched with the wines you are already likely to be serving with your Thanksgiving feast:

  • Pinot Grigio
  • Champagne
  • Sauvignon Blanc
  • Soave
  • Pinot Noir

If you are on Facebook and are interested in the things I may not devote an entire blog post to, recipes, food facts, nutritional information, photos and other things that make my mouth water, I have a page on Facebook you can visit too:  https://www.facebook.com/ThisGirlLovesHerFood