99 Sales on the Wall

It's a milestone for LeytonSmiles - ALMOST!  Currently at 99 sales, and I'm offering something fun for my 100th sale - free shipping!  I'll refund my 100th sale the price of shipping paid.  So hurry on in and buy that item you've had your eye on - free shipping could be yours!  ;)

Happy weekend everyone!

Comfort Food

As the roads continue to clear (we made it to Starbucks this morning - and that's HUGE in my book), I continue Bakefest 2011.  :) Today's menu - Banana bread!  I had a handful of very ripe bananas, which my kids absolutely won't touch if they even have a spot of brown on them, so I thought this would be a great way to use them up.  This recipe came from my friend Katie, but I believe it's actually a Martha Stewart recipe.  Definitely a keeper! 

Banana Bread (makes 1 loaf)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature, plus more for pan
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (which is about 3 bananas)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan; set aside. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, and beat to incorporate.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture, and mix until just combined. Add bananas, sour cream, and vanilla; mix to combine. Stir in nuts, and pour into prepared pan.
Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Let rest in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool.

A few notes from my experience with this recipe - I've made it twice now, and both times I reduced the cooking time to an hour.   I also lightly covered it (just "tented") with foil about halfway through so the top wouldn't get too dark.  Last, I leave out the nuts, but that's just a personal preference.  :)  Enjoy!

Pineapple Yumminess

The one benefit to our current blizzard situation: With all this snow, I've had plenty of time to cook!  For a SuperBowl party we attended, I made this Pineapple Cake, and it was a hit!  I can't take credit for the recipe - it came from a friend's Mom, and oh my.  It's wonderful.  I could eat the whole thing myself if left alone with it for too long...



Pineapple Cake
White or yellow cake mix - add regular ingredients as indicated on box
Add small can of crushed pineapple (with liquid)
1 cup pecans (I used 1/2 cup because we aren't huge pecan people)
1/2 cup coconut (toasted in oven)
Bake as indicated on box; (mine took a few extra minutes).

Frosting
Make cream cheese frosting using 4 oz cream cheese, 1 stick of butter, 1 tsp vanilla
and mix with 1 box (1 pound) powdered sugar. Add a few teaspoons milk
if needed for spreading consistency. Optional: Sprinkle (toasted or not) coconut and toasted pecans on top.

Enjoy!  If you make it, I'd love to hear how it turned out for you!

It's -6 degrees. How about some ice cream?!?

Snow ice cream that is...  ;)  Currently, this is the view outside my front door...  I was a little afraid to even open the door - I didn't exactly want to be run over by a drift, fun as that sounds.  We are all getting a bit stir-crazy as this is day four of my car not leaving the garage...  Oklahoma is just not equipped to handle 16 inches of snow at once, and we are expecting a few more today.  I'm considering fashioning my own version of a snow plow to the front of my Honda and venturing out - call it a omg-I-am-losing-my-mind 'mental health' mission.  Ok, not really.  But only because I have nothing that would actually work as a snow plow.  :)

I remember making this when I was little with a friend, but of course that recipe is long gone.  Here's one my family will be trying today, courtesy of Paula Dean and the food network.  And don't worry, we'll avoid the snow with tracks in it - not exactly sure what creature made those, and I don't think I want to know...

You need:
8 cups of snow or shaved ice
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Place snow or shaved ice into a large bowl. Pour condensed milk over and add vanilla. Mix to combine. Serve immediately.