Banana-and-Pecan Bread

It's been a long time since  I made banana bread from scratch. We got some bananas and here it is.

Ingredients:

8 TBsp butter,
3 bananas - mashed,
some pecans,
two eggs,
1 cup sugar,
1 1/2 cup flour,
1/2 tsp salt,
baking soda.

Fresh from the oven - it was two fresh and crumbled a bit. It was tasty, though!

On the next day, it got firmer and it was easier to cut a piece.

Our Anniversary Banana Trifle

This delightful dessert was our wedding anniversary treat.

I had come the banana pie filling by Musselman's and thought I would do something with that. I was not sure what exactly it could be good for though - I had never had a banana pie. Therefore, I decided to check the Musselman's website.

It appeared, they have quite a lot of various recipes there, including this banana trifle. Simply delicious! And easy to make, easier than traditional banana pudding.

Next time when I get the banana pie filling, I will probably give a banana pie a try, unless my husband prefers to have the trifle again. :-)

Simplified Banana-and-Vanilla Pudding/ Deser Waniliowo-Bananowy

Banana pudding is quite a popular kind of dessert. Here is my simplified and lower in calories version of this treat. From time to time, we enjoy it when we finish having our dinner. The dessert is simple but quite tasty too!

Yield: 2

Ingredients:

• 1 box instant vanilla pudding (5.1 oz / 144g), milk;
• 1 banana - sliced;
• round vanilla wafers;
• 1TBS whipped cream (optional)*.

What to do with it:

1. Prepare the pudding according to the instructions provided on the package (I always add 2 1/2 cups milk instead 3).
2. Chill the pudding in the fridge. Prepare to dessert bowls.
3. Get the pudding out of the fridge. Spread a Tablespoon of pudding at the bottom of the dessert bowl.
4. Place a single layer of wafers on the pudding.
5. Put banana slices on the wafers.
6. Fill the bowl with pudding, put a few wafers at the top.

Note:

* If you wish, you can mix the pudding with some whipped cream. Do it gently, with a spoon, when you the pudding is chilled already.

Bon Appetit!

Pudding waniliowo-bananowy, który jest czymś więcej niż zwykły budyń, to popularny w Teksasie (oraz innych stanach USA) deser. Poniżej przedstawiam jego uproszczoną i mniej kaloryczną od tradycyjnego przepisu wersję. Ten łatwy w przygotowaniu deser, od czasu do czasu, jest elementem finałowym naszego domowego obiadu. Z powodzeniem może być też serwowany jako poczęstunek dla gości.

Ilość porcji: 2

Składniki:

• 1 podwójne opakowanie budyniu waniliowego* (te, które kupuję w lokalnych sklepach spożywczych ma 144g), mleko;
• 1 banan pokrojony na plasterki;
• okrągłe biszkopty waniliowe;
• łyżka bitej śmietany (opcjonalnie)**.

Przygotowanie:

1. Przygotowujemy budyń według przepisu na opakowaniu - zawsze dodaję pół szklanki mleka mniej niż jest podane w instrukcji, dzięki temu masa budyniowa jest trochę gęstsza.
2. Po ostudzeniu wstawiamy budyń do lodówki. Przygotowujemy dwie miseczki deserowe (lub jedną większą).
3. Kiedy budyń stężeje, wyjmujemy go z lodówki. Rozprowadzamy łyżkę budyniu na dnie miseczki deserowej.
4. Układamy na tym pojedynczą warstwę biszkoptów waniliowych.
5. Na biszkoptach układamy plasterki banana (też jedną warstwę tylko).
6. Wypełniamy miseczkę budyniem, a na wierzchu kładziemy biszkopty waniliowe.

Jeśli mamy jedną większą miseczkę (zamiast dwóch mniejszych), po ułożeniu plasterków banana na biszkoptach, nakładamy na nie warstwę budyniu. Następnie potarzamy czynności: 4 i 5. Dopełniamy naczynie budyniem i dekorujemy biszkoptami.

Smacznego!

Uwagi

* Zazwyczaj używam budyń błyskawiczny, który bezpośrednio po wymieszaniu z mlekiem można wstawić do lodówki. Wszystko zależy od naszych upodobań i jakości budyniu, nie każdy budyń błyskawiczny jest smaczny.
** Jeśli chcemy, by deser był 'bogatszy', po schłodzeniu masy budyniowej mieszamy ją delikatnie z łyżką bitej śmietany. Osobiście jednak nigdy śmietany nie dodaję.

Banana Bread from Aldi

Of course, banana bread made from the scratch is the best but the one we have found at Aldi's is quite good too. Especially considering that the bread comes 'from the box'.

The bread mix contains real bananas. You only need to stir it/combine  with some water, oil and eggs. No mixer needed, just a spoon. I also add some raisins and chopped pecans to the bread mixture.
When baked, it tastes really nice so it can be served as a party treat (with no risk of being ashamed of its quality). If you prefer muffins, you can bake them using the mix and a muffin tin.
The bread is very easy to make and it is inexpensive too. We like to have it from time to time.

About Doing New Things & How I Won With Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Having moved to the US I experienced many 'first times': doing things and going to places, and also having different kinds of food. There was my first taco, my first Tex-Mex food, my first glass of Dr. Pepper, my first mac & cheese, and many more, including my first Banana Split. It is a delicious treat, however, it is so big that I am able to eat only a half of it. But I do like it!

The Banana Split in the picture was not my first one - just another one.

 Among others, I also learned about the Pineapple Upside-Down cake here (had neither heard about it nor tasted it in Europe). And of course I decide to make it. I found a ''from the scratch" recipe and baked it - first time. The cake looked very nice but, according to a Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Expert, it did not taste as it was supposed to.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake - attempt #1

 A year later, I decided to make the cake again, using a different recipe though. I did not know that I was supposed to flip the tin straight after taking it out of the oven. It looked quite alright and I just put the upside-down cake on a cupboard. The result was obvious to everybody who had made such a treat before (but not me, at least not then). All the juice was at the bottom of the baking dish. I called it 'a day of the swimming cake'. Of course my upside-down cake no.2 was not good enough to eat it.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake - attempt #2

 Another year passed, and the time came to bake it again. This time I decided to get a yellow cake mix to make things different. I used the same baking tin as usual. Well, unfortunately, it appeared to be too small and some of the brown sugar, light corn syrup and butter mix dripped from the tin on the bottom of the oven. To make matters worse, the baking time given in the recipe, which I followed, was wrong - much too short, so I started opening the oven and checking the cake too early. The result: the worst cake I had ever made. Anyway, a good side of that experience and all the previous ones was that I finally understood the Nature of the Pineapple Upside-Down Cake.
I was determined to make it right so I did not wait another year. After a few days I tried again - with a bigger baking dish and knowing all what I had learned. Attempt #4 was very successful, which was confirmed by the Pineapple Upside-Down Expert. I was happy! Now I know how to make it and bake it well. :)

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake - successful attempt #4

Our fav. Banana Bread

We love it. And there is still some for today's snack.

Banana Nut & Raisin Bran Muffins

Super Breakfast Treat

Our Banana Bread

sugar, butter, eggs, bananas, vanilla extract

flour, baking soda, salt

Vanilla & Cream Banana Pudding

First try - banana pudding verision #1

Pecan Banana Muffins