sugar and spice

I'm convinced. Little girls are so much fun. At just over 20 months my little sweetie's girly side is really coming out. She loves to pretend to cook, picks out her own shoes, rifles through her clothes and exclaims "cute!", and is thrilled when I paint her fingernails pink.

Last weekend we took a little trip to Ikea to pick out a table and chairs for her. She is having so much fun having little chairs that fit her perfectly. Her favorite is having her snack at her little table, coloring with her crayons on her little table and wiping down her table with a wet towel. Seriously, this girl asks for a wet towel a dozen times a day and runs around cleaning every surface she can find (including the dogs).












Oh, and I had some nearly rotten bananas lying around so I made banana bread. It was, by far, the best banana bread I have ever made! Here's the recipe...

Banana Bread

INGREDIENTS
4 very ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts + some to sprinkle on top

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Sprinkle a few walnuts on top (I also added a bit of brown sugar for some extra yumminess). Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for (about) 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.





even better with some butter...