We Interrupt Your Normally Scheduled Post to Bring you….

a review and giveaway!  Your nutella marshmallow mousse post will be back next week in it’s normally scheduled spot.  :)  In it’s place we have margarine.  Not any ol’ margarine but I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! margarine.

Last month I received an email from Lauren asking if I’d be interested in trying a couple of recipes that called for the margarine, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!.  This was an easy yes.  While I always have butter on hand, there’s also, always a small tub of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! along side it.  In the package I received from Lauren, was a folder with three recipes, a $25 gift card to use toward the purchase of the recipe ingredients, and a lovely serving platter. 

I made two out of three of the recipes. After my recipe reviews you’ll see how you can win the same package allowing you to sample a “Reach Right” recipe.

The first recipe I made was Amaretto Cheesecakes in Pastry Shells.  This recipe was very easy.  The toughest part was not eating the filling while you waited for the shells to cool.  My three kiddos really loved these and with only six puff pastry shells and five of us there was some frantic negotiating  for that last one.  So to keep things fair I ate it.  :)  Kidding! 

The second recipe I made was Honey-Nut Glazed Brie.  This was my favorite.  Love, love, love those nuts!    I actually took this to party that my neighbor was having so my children didn’t get to try it.  I’m pretty certain they would have loved it too.  The brie was gone well before the party was over so I took that as a sign it was good.  The host and hostess thanks me several times for bring it and mentioned how much they enjoyed it.

Both of these recipes will be making a return appearance in my kitchen.   ( I’ve got big plans for those nuts!)Not only were they “Reach Right ” choices but they were both very easy and quick to put together.  Does this mean I’m done with butter?  Uh, no but it is nice to know that I can use my I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!  for more than buttering my bread.  :)

I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! asks you to  “Reach Right” for nutritious tasty food. If you click here you can see  see the fat comparison between I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!, Smart Choice, and butter.  While you’re reaching right they also want you to Turn the Tub Around!  You can click here for more info on the Big Fat Truth about spreads and if you’re really feeling the margarine click here to follow I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! on twitter! : )

Now for the giveaway info….answer this question.  Which has more trans fat, butter or I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!? I will randomly select and announce the winner on Wed. March 17th. 

Please note: This giveaway is being run by me and I am not receiving any monetary compensation for it!  Thanks and good luck!

Banana Bread

I’m sure that most of you have a “go to” banana bread recipe but I hadn’t been  fortunate to find one until now.  As a matter of fact I’ve made many an unsuccessful recipe before this one.  Sadly all of my recipe attempts have been over browned and undercooked but not this one.  This one was perfection. 

For months now every time I mentioned banana bread Monica told me about this terrific recipe she had  (She got the recipe from Dawn at Vanilla Sugar.)  and even when Monica told me this recipe converted her from being a banana bread hater I just nodded yeah, yeah and never made a move.  I’m kicking myself now for waiting so long to give it a try.  Learn from my mistakes.  :)

I followed the recipe but baked four mini loaves instead of one large one.  Although I didn’t alter the recipe I did kick things up a notch with two of the mini loaves.  You ready?  I swirled in some left over caramel  from this caramel corn recipe and topped one of the caramel loaves with walnuts!  While the caramel ones were beyond good, the plain ones were also very good so don’t think you have to “supe” this up.  Three out of four loaves were gobbled up before the end of day and the fourth went to our football commissioner as “just because”.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread 

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas
• 3 tbsp. sour cream
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional) I left these out!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl with an electric mixer or a spoon, cream shortening and sugar together. Beat in eggs one at a time; then mashed bananas, sour cream, and lemon juice.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet mixture, then fold in chocolate chips. Pour into greased and floured 9x5x3 loaf pan. Bake for 60 minutes.

NOTE: If your bread is getting too dark, loosely cover bread with foil. I did this for the last 15 minutes of baking time.

I did have one tiny issue with my bread though it wasn’t due to the recipe.  It was with  my addition of caramel.   My caramel sunk to the bottom and some of it stuck to the pan. (Check out my bottom photo.  I scrapped out the caramel bits and hid them from the kids.  They were THAT good!) My first mistake was swirling it in which gave it a head start to the bottom.  The next time I’ll try layering in the caramel and see if that keeps it from diving straight to the bottom.  I’m not sure I could have kept the caramel from sticking but next time I’ll remove the bread after its cooled 10 minutes and allow it to finish cooling on a rack. My last change……more walnuts.  I added what I thought was plenty but once the bread started baking up I realized it really wasn’t. 

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Those of you who have read my blog a few times know that the Twins are super active and play various sports and you may also remember that Babygirl was cheerleading this year. WELLLLL, Devon’s Jr. Midget football team went 8-0 in the regular season!  They were the first team in the FOURTEEN years of our league’s history to go undefeated! As a matter of fact they won their conference in back to back years, another first!  One of the things I may not have mentioned was that Babygirl was cheering for her brother’s team.  WELLLLL, Babygirl’s squad won first place in the Mid-Florida cheerleading competition this weekend!  Not only were they competing against girls a couple of years older than them, half their squad has never cheered before, Babygirl included.  Both Winter Springs Jr. Midgets football team and cheerleaders were winners this season!  Unfortunately, the boys lost their first playoff game but they did have a good run.

Here are photos of my two in their uniforms!

Technorati Tags: banana,bread,caramel,walnuts

Pig & Whistle Cake

I loved the name of this cake though I'm not sure how it got its name. Definitely a stand out. 

I baked this one afternoon when I came home early from work after picking the Twins up from the bus stop.  On afternoons when it is raining either I or another thoughtful (Thanks Dawn & Kim!) mom picks up my guys along with theirs.

When I first saw this cake I knew it would just be a matter of time before I made it.  It was definitely a no brainer.  Unlike most chocolate doesn't do anything for us.  For my family and I, it's caramel and nuts that make everything better!  It didn't hurt that it would also be an easy one to put together.  (It was.) I'm not certain if we're alone in this.......we love nuts ON our desserts but no so much in the dessert.  Make sense?  Anybody else?

I found this gem on Sandie's  blog Inn Cuisine.  (I also have another tasty treat to tell you about that comes from her blog.)In her post Sandie says that her cake was dense and moist. My cake was moist but it was surprisingly light almost fluffy.  Maybe it was because it was still very warm from the oven?  As the day progressed the weight of the caramel and nuts weighted it down a bit but still, it wasn't overly dense.  Needless to say this cake didn't last until the next morning!

Pig & Whistle Cake (my changes)

Serves 6-8

for the cake

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup half & half (1/4 c. 2% milk & 1/4 c. heavy cream)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F for baking. Spray an 8×11x2″ or 9×9x2″ baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. (I used a 9x9 & lined it with nonstick Reynolds foil that I sprayed with Pam.)

In a small saucepan over low heat, combine butter and half & half; heat until butter is melted and mixture is warmed through. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat eggs until light yellow; add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. To eggs and sugar add warmed butter and half & half mixture; beat until thoroughly combined; add vanilla and mix again. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt; blend ingredients. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients; blend well. Pour batter into a prepared 8×11x2″ or 9×9x2″ baking dish. Bake cake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and cake springs back when touched in the center. Remove cake from oven and prepare topping.

for the topping

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons half & half (heavy cream) 
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I added some pecans to get to the 1/2 cup)

Set oven to broil.

Mix all ingredients until thoroughly combined; pour (spread) onto hot cake and broil (in oven) until bubbly and browned (a few minutes will do). Watch cake closely; when mixture becomes bubbly throughout, remove cake from oven and allow to cool (set baking dish on wire rack). As cake cools, the topping will set. Slice and serve cake barely warm or at room temperature. (I went with nice and warm with the caramel still soft! Oh, yea!)

Technorati Tags: cake,caramel,pecans,walnuts