When I’m a Grandma…

The other day we received a sweet Easter note from my Grandma Ellen. It’s funny because though we rarely talk on the phone, I can always count on a letter in the mail to let me know how much she and my Grandpa love J and I.

I love both of my grandmas and feel so thankful to have them in my life. Not only are they the most pleasant people to be around, they have terrific memories, are great listeners and are fantastic cooks. It made me wonder, “What will I be like as a grandmother?” Will I wear sweaters that coincide with the holidays? Will I get my hair done every Friday? Will I drive 15 in a 25? Wait, I already do! Will I still be running? 😉 (hope so on that one!) Will I be a good cook? good baker?

One of my favorite things about visiting my Grandma’s is their good food. I definitely hope my grandchildren will reap the benefits of perfected passed down recipes. One of them being the banana bread that’s baking in my oven at this very moment. I call it Jamee’s Banana Bread. (Jamee is one of my best friends from college and introduced me to this morsel of goodness. I am forever grateful!)

Here’s what you need:

• 3/4 C butter
• 1.5 C sugar
• 3-4 ripened bananas
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 C flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• cinnamon and brown sugar
• 1/2 C buttermilk or milk

Here’s what you do:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Cream butter and sugar together.

• Add your bananas, eggs & vanilla to the butter mixture. (You may need to stick them in the microwave to defrost them first!)

• Mix together the flour, salt and baking soda and add to your butter mixture.
• Add 1/2 C buttermilk or milk to the batter.
• Top with brown sugar/cinnamon mixture…yum!

• Bake for 45-50 minutes or until done.

Finished product! (Because I filled the loaf pan so full, it took a lot longer than expected to bake through…hence why it’s a little darker than I wanted it…but still tasty!)

What kind of Grandma do you want to be?

What recipe of yours do you hope gets passed down?

Cinnamon Streusel Bread

One of my favorite things about looking at your blogs is browsing your recipe page.  Everyone has a way to present their favorite meal in a unique way, even if that favorite meal is something as simple as meatloaf. 🙂

This past weekend, I found a receipe I knew would be a winner:  Cinnamon Streusel Bread.  Cinnamon, butter, brown sugar…what’s not to love?  So, thanks to Courtney at The Granola Chronicles, here it is!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bottom a loaf pan or a muffin tin.

Combine the following ingredients

• 2 C Flour
• 4 t baking powder
• 1 1/4 t salt
• 1/3 C oil or applesauce
• 2 eggs
• 1 C sugar
• 1 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1 C buttermilk
• 2 t vanilla

Next, combine the following ingredients to make your streusel.

• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1 t cinnamon
• 2 T softened butter

Finally, pour half of your batter into your loaf pan or muffin tins.  Sprinkle half of your streusel mixture over the batter and add your remaining batter.  Polish off the streusel mixture by sprinkling it on top.

Bake for 45 minutes. (This is a minimum.  It took about 15 minutes longer for mine to be baked through.)

**If you are using muffin tins, be sure to keep a watchful eye on your muffins as they will be done sooner than the loaf pan.

Enjoy!

Do you try recipes off of blogs?  If so, what’s your favorite one?