Cooking w/ Red & Connie ~ Connie's Bannana Bread

My Special Banana Bread Recipe!
banana bread is very special in my family. My grandfather
has made banana bread for our family gatherings for years, and it is always so good
and comforting. Since growing up, and moving into my own apartment I delight in all foods
that bring me back to my childhood. It took many tries to make this recipe a delicious one
of my own. I hope you enjoy!
INGREDIENTS: ( this makes TWO loaves)
*1 cup smart balance butter
*1/4 cup granulated sugar
*1/2 cup dark brown sugar
*4 egglands best eggs
*2 cups buttermilk
*4 1/2 cups flour
*2 tsps baking powder
*2 1/2 tsps baking soda
*8 mashed bananas
*1/2 tsp nutmeg
*about 1/4 cup cinnamon (or to taste)
*1 tbs almond extract

First: Preheat the oven to... 375 degrees!
*Then the magic begins!
I hardly ever measure properly... Red, always teases me about this. So, many of these measurements are an estimate =)
Oh, and that whole separate bowl for dry and wet ingredients... yyyeaahh too much cleanup, so I just dump it all in one!

STEP ONE: Cream smart balance and both sugars in a bowl
STEP TWO: Add eggs and stir

STEP THREE: Add buttermilk, baking soda, and almond extract...stir

yyyeahhh, at this point it'll look kind of gross, but TRUST ME, it's delicious!!!!

I like to peel all my bananas first before mushing them with my hands... Don't forget you need 8!!!
STEP FOUR: Add mushed bananas and stirSTEP FIVE: add cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, and baking powder and stir into the mixture.
STEP SIX: pour into bread pans... you'll need two this is a double recipe...
I like to freeze one to have on hand =)Waiting is the hardest part!!!
STEP SEVEN: Bake for 60-75 minutes (depending on size of pan) The pan you see here takes me 75 minutes to bake.Enjoy!!!

Happy Foodie Friday!! Click here to view more amazing recipes to satisfy any food craving

Cooking w/ Red & Connie ~ Valentine's Day Style

Meatloaf

It's a fairly easy, but extremely tasty recipe.
Our Red and Connie sauce (on the right) is a tasty combo of
*DIJON mustard
*JACK DANIEL's # 7
*Salt & Pepper & Parsley
*EGGS

To begin Valentine's Day... First, Red made me an awesome omelet with this amazing smoked Gruyere cheese we got from the supermarket.
Then, we went to church!
At around 3:30 we began our meatloaf. It's a fairly easy, but extremely tasty recipe.It was SOOOO
* juicy
and
amazing. *
Even reheated!!!! THE RECIPE =)
2 packages meatloaf meat
1/2 cup celery
1 cup onion
3 cloves garlic
2 eggs
mustard
cream
Jack Daniel's No. 7 bbq sauce
salt
pepper
parsley

In a frying pan with 4tbs oil fry celery, onion, garlic until soft and then let stand to cool for a bit
In a bowl mix about 1 cup bbq sauce, 1/4 cup mustard, 1/4 cup cream, eggs, salt, pepper, parsley
Into a large bowl dump meat, add in sauce, and veggies
MIX THOROUGHLY
put mixture into an oven safe pan and cook for 70 minutes at 350 degrees
ENJOY =)

Join me in celebrating Foodie Friday's first anniversary.

Cooking w/ Red & Connie ~ Home for Dinner

The Best Pasta Dish Ever!

I had to teach an after school program until late into the evening today. Red had this delicious dinner ready for me when I came home!

Pasta
+
Sausage, red pepper, broccoli rabe, cheese

Thanks Red! So delicious!

Cooking w/ Red & Connie ~ Sausage Breakfast, stuffing & pear bread

Things to do w/ Sausage and Pears

As part of our Thanksgiving week we made one of my favorite dishes ~ stuffing!! We went to Adams (a local farmers market) and bought some homemade stuffing with their "special ingredients." We made some sausage for breakfast with waffles and then used the rest for our stuffing!
All we did was food process carrots, celery, and an onion. We cooked the sausage in a skillet and then added the veggies! Then, we stirred the veggies, sausage mix in a bowl with a bag of seasoned breadcrumbs and 2 cups chicken stock. Put it in a casserole dish and baked at 375 degrees for 20 minutes! ALL DONE =) Enjoy
We then made some pear bread!!! Followed the same recipe as my Connie's banana bread but added pears that we put in the blender instead of bananas!!! Great recipe. You need to add a little more baking powder to compensate for the liquid concentration of the pear bread! Enjoy!
xoxo Red & Connie

Cooking w/ Red & Connie ~ PIE

*Pear Pie*

Pear pie and apple pie are made in exactly the same way, just a different fruit. It is one of the most delicious pies I've ever tasted, and thoroughly enjoy making! Last time I went to the grocery store I noticed this new pear-apple fruit, a hybrid of the two, we will try the recipe with that next time =)
Happy Baking xoxo,

Cooking w/ Red & Connie ~ TACOS!!!

TACO NIGHT!

One of my favorite things to eat are tacos!! I absolutely love Mexican food. When Red and I went to California we had the best Mexican food EVER! He cooked this meal for me one work night!

You can see all of the ingredients here!!!

DELICIOUS!

Me gusta la comida de Mexico!!
Enjoy, Love, Red & Connie

From the Kitchen of. . .

Red & Connie

some classic recipes from my kitchen I wrote out for my friend, Diana who had her bridal

shower this past weekend.

"In France, cooking is a serious art form and a national sport."

~Julia Child

Food feeds your body, cooking feeds your soul--

it's a little piece of yourself in every bite that you make for the people you love.

It was a pleasure to share my favorites with my friend

so that she can bake for her new hubby!

Connie's Banana Bread

Cooking with Red & Connie ~ Banana Bread

Every time someone visits my grandfather or he comes for a visit he bakes banana bread. It is always so delicious!!! A few months ago my friend Cassandra, with whom I am so lucky to work, brought me samples of banana bread she made. Recently I've begun tweaking my own recipe.

I make a double recipe... you start out creaming 1 cup *smart balance and 1 cup sugar

Then, you add four eggs (egglands best for lower cholesterol)

stir together.

Add 2 cups buttermilk and 3 tsps baking soda & stir

Add 2-3 tsps almond extract & stir

Add 4 1/2 cups flour, 2 tsps baking powder about 1 tsp nutmeg and about 4 tsps cinnamon

STIR! =)

Add 8 bananas (mushed)!!!!!

(lots of peals leftover)

STIR =)

Pour into two bread pans and bake in the oven for 60-70 minutes at 375 degrees

ENJOY!

Connie's Crabapple Jam

Cooking with Red & Connie

Connie's Crabapple Jam

First, you must find beautifully ripe crabapples. For me, it was easy! They are right on the road of my apartment complex!

Pick only the ripe ones. I picked about four cups, but the more the merrier!

make sure you wash them before any of the steps that follow!

Remove stems and blossoms. Cut each crabapple in fourths and take the seeds out. Kind of what you would do if you were going to eat an apple!

Put crabapple fourths in a sauce pan. Add four cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 10-15 minutes. The crabapples should soften and change color

This is what they look like when they are about ready to strain. You are supposed to use cheesecloth to prevent any pieces of the crabapple from getting into your jam. However, when I was at the grocery store they didn't have cheesecloth, so I just used a regular strainer. It worked fine!

You should have 4 cups of juice, discard the pulp, and pour the juice back in the pan. Bring to a boil, slowly mix in one package of sure-jell and two-four cups of sugar (depending on how sweet you'd like it) Continue cooking at a low boil for about four minutes. Remove from heat.

Pour into Jelly jars! Let sit out until room temperature! =) Enjoy

Love, Red & Connie

Cooking With Red & Connie

Mac & Cheese

Martha Stewart's tweaked recipe with Red & Connie <3

It's important to have your kitchen ready! One pan for the pasta, one for the milk mixture, and a skillet =). Red's all set & ready to get started.

To StArT:

*Preheat oven to 375 degrees

*Heat 2 3/4 cups milk over MED heat in one bowl

*In skillet melt 3 tbs butter until bubbly

I always pre grate the cheese so it's all set and ready to add to the dish.

Recipe calls for: *2 1/4 cups sharp white cheddar cheese

*1 cup Gruyere cheese

*Once butter starts bubbling you add 1/4 cup flour to thicken

*Add the milk that had been heating while whisking

*Let thicken

*Once thick add 1/4 tsp nutmeg

*Add 1/4 tsp black pepper

*STIR =)

*Add in the grated cheeses (not all, leave about 1/2 cup total to top the casserole)

*Let sit off the heat while you cook elbow macaroni--I recommend Barilla pasta brand... cook about 4 minutes. Make sure you rinse with cold water in the colander to get the starch out.

*Add the macaroni to the cheese/milk mix

*Fold into the cheese so that all of the macaroni is covered

*Transfer the macaroni and cheese to a casserole dish for baking

*Add some breadcrumbs to the cheese and macaroni and stir this adds some crunch to the inside of the dish

*Then sprinkle bread crumbs on top

*Also, sprinkle the remaining cheddar and Gruyere cheese on top of the bread crumbs

*Bake for 30 mins in the oven

*Let cool for 5 minutes before serving

ENJOY!!! =) ~Red & Connie