Banana + Cream Cups

Being as obsessed as I am with baking and cute things I find myself surfing blogs for ideas and good recipes. Lately I have found some great ones, some of my favorites include: Eat Drink Chic, A field Journal, Design Sponge, Once Wed, and Tartelette which is where the idea for this next recipe came from. The creator of Tartelette is also a food photographer which I love because her photos are amazing and make everything look so yummy! Her version of this recipe called for creme fraiche or sour cream and I didn't have either handy so I decided to do it with homemade whipped cream which is more my style anyway or you can use vanilla ice cream as well.

•••This recipe really only makes enough for two people so if you need more then I would double... triple accordingly.

For the whipped cream:

• 1 cup of heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of good Vanilla extract

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix on high until light and fluffy. Put aside in the fridge while you prepare the rest to keep nice and cold.

For the crumble topping:

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons of flour
• 3 tablespoons of cold butter
• 2 tablespoons of chopped crystallized ginger (you can find this at any grocery store in the spices section of the baking isle)

Preheat the oven to 350F, in a small bowl combine the sugar and flour, add the butter cut in small pieces and ginger, mix with your hands or with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. spread the mixture on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 15 min until golden brown. let cool to room temp.

For the good part! Bananas!

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons of water
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2 bananas, cut into thick slices - peel first ;-)

In a skillet set over medium high heat, cook the sugar with water until it caramelizes to a golden caramel. I noticed this never really happened for me until I added the butter so don't worry if it isn't perfect. The first time I tried something went wrong and it basically turned into sand. Turn the heat down and add the butter. Let it melt before adding the bananas. let them cook in the caramel for a couple of minutes until soft and caramelized. I have to say this does get pretty hot so be careful when you ad the bananas not to burn yourself. Remove form the heat and wait a few minutes before dividing the mixture in your glasses.

To assemble:

Put a thick layer of whipped cream on the bottom of your glass, then a good thick layer of the banana mixture, lastly sprinkle the ginger mixture on the top as much or as little as you like.

Once you master this recipe it will be great for those nights where you want something special and have some time to make it great... beats a bowl of ice cream any day.

Oatmeal Whoopie Pie with a twist of lemon please?

According to food historians, the term "Whoopie Pie" came from back in the day when Amish woman would make these little cookie concoctions for their husbands lunchboxes before they went out into the fields. When the farmers would find these treats in their lunch, they would shout "Whoopie!" - I'm not so sure about that story but I can say that these little bad boys are enough to make anyone yell out for sugary joy.

This recipe was originally my amazing Auntie Barbara's :-) she was kind enough to share with me many of her amazing recipes and now I am sharing it with you only I have made a few changes to put my own twist on things and not completely rip of my sweet aunt. These aren't your traditional whoopie pies as you might expect them to be soft like the kind you buy in the grocery store. I used to love the Little Debbie version that come in a box when I was little. The have more of a cookie texture with a hit of lemon in the cream filling to help cut the sweetness of the cookie and cream. Since these are oatmeal they are great in the fall or in the summer since they have that summery lemon tang.

Here's the recipe:

COOKIES:

• 1 C. Butter, softened
• 1 C. Packed brown sugar
• 1/2 C. Sugar
• 1 Large egg
• 2 Tsp. Vanilla
• 1 1/2 C Flour
• 1 Tsp. Baking soda
• 1/2 Tsp. Salt
• 1/4 Tsp. Cinnamon
• 3 C. Uncooked oatmeal oats. (You can use a little more depending on how stiff you want your cookies)

Beat butter and sugars together... add egg and vanilla. mix in flour, salt, cinnamon, and soda. Stir in oats. Bake at 375 8-10 min (watch them depending on your oven). COOL COMPLETELY before applying your cream filling. You will have a mess on your hands if you rush the cooling process. What is nice about this recipe is you can make the cookies in advance and wait to make the cream filling when you are ready to serve.

Cream Filling:

• 1/2 C. Butter softened
• 2 C. Powdered sugar
• 2 Tbl Whipping Cream
• 1 Tsp. Vanilla
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of half of a lemon (you can add more or less depending on how lemony you want the filling)

Combine butter, sugar, whipping cream, vanilla, and fresh lemon juice in a bowl. Beat on high until light and fluffy. Add your lemon zest last and mix in lightly. Make a sandwich with the cookies. Use a pastry bag with a round tip if you want to make them neater and in my opinion your life easier.

Whoopie!

NOTE: I just made this recipe in a friends oven which is much nicer then mine and I noticed that since her oven was on confection it made the cookies much fluffier which made them harder. If using a confection oven I would use another 1/4 cup of butter and make the dough flatter rather then balls on the pan, this way they will spread thinner when you bake them. Hope this helps!

Tree Stand

I absolutely love this idea. A few years ago when I was buying my Christmas tree I noticed that they throw away all the ends of the trees when they make a fresh cut for the customer. First I noticed how amazing they smelled, better then any holiday candle you can buy... only that wears off after a few days. Second, I thought they would make a great holiday centerpiece on my kitchen table. I got some garland to go around the stumps at the Christmas tree farm and added some red berries from the craft store to make a easy and inexpensive centerpiece. Unfortunately that was before my blog days so I don't have any photos to share.

Good news is that during my recent blog surfing I came across this great idea from Once Wed, same thought process as my centerpiece but they have taken it to the next level. They call it a rustic wedding cake stand but I can see this being used in the spring time as well. Another blog that I love Design Sponge did a similar design for a wedding post they recently did. Whatever the reason I think this is a great way to showcase a simple desert or even a wedding cake.

What you will need:

1. Cut piece of wood- can be round or oval it really doesn't matter as long as its big enough to hold your desert. You can get these at Michael's or any craft store
2. Cut tree limb- make sure they are cut flat otherwise you desert will look like something out of Alice in Wonderland.
3. Wood glue

Honestly- this is super easy, follow the images below and you will be on your way to not only a beautiful cake stand but a different one that no one else will have.

Tillmans Table Side S'mores

So... I am guilty of visiting Tillmans Roadhouse in the Bishop Arts District of Dallas twice in one week. (Sorry all non-dallas readers) My excuse is that I went with two different friends who had never been before, so naturally I had to lead them on their adventure to the land of table side s'mores.

Not only does Tillmans have ridiculously good food, they have this delightful thing they call table side s'mores, They literally bring you a small fire pit with homemade marshmallows and semi-sweet chocolate chunks like you have never tasted before. The marshmallows are light and fluffy, they come in three flavors:

1. Maple
2. Mocha
3. Orange

All of these are great, I personally could take a plate of the maple and call it a day. They are full of cinnamon and sugar, with a woodsy background taste that brings a maple syrup taste into play. YUM.

My friend Kelly partaking in the roasting.

perfect burn

Sorry for the dark pictures-the other diners did not appreciate my flash.