Deanna's Daughter

Brock and I were bantering about something when he stopped and said something to the nature of, ‘well, you don’t have to be so sassy about it!’.  Marlow immediately intervened and explained to her Dad, ‘Dad, you KNOW that Mom is always sassy!’.

Mom made dinner for everyone on Sunday and actually whipped up a turkey with all of the trimmings – crazy! I know! but it was such a treat!.  We then had leftovers for the next couple of nights but tonight I’m making Zucchini-Bacon-Macaroni Pie and will serve it with carrots from the garden and probably some beet pickles – I made a new batch a couple of weeks ago and will probably do some more next week.

This recipe is an old one from Mom and since the girls love their dates, and of course chocolate, I knew it would be a hit.  I cut it into slices and wrapped each separately for the freezer so that I’d have some easy, portable treats.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Date Loaf

12 Medjool dates, pitted and chopped

1 t. soda

1 c. hot water

Put all into a small bowl and mix well and allow to cool a bit before you use it.

1 c. sugar

2 T. softened butter

1/4 c. cocoa

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

1 1/2 c. flour

1/2 t. salt

Preheat oven to 350, grease a loaf pan and get out your electric mixture.  Cream together the sugar and butter and then add the cocoa and mix well.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat it all together.

Add the flour and salt alternately with the date mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed and mixing well once everything is in.

Pour into your prepared loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour – make sure a toothpick comes out clean in the middle.

We were in the middle of dinner when Waverly paused and got a funny look on her face.  She stopped eating and announced, ‘I’m not sure about this meat Mom, I don’t like the chew of it!’.

I found this recipe on the internet and even though I don’t remember where it’s from, I wanted to keep it – so here it is…

Cranberry-Orange Loaf

2 c. flour

1 c. sugar

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/4 c. butter, softened

zest from 1 orange

3/4 c. orange juice

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 1/2 c. frozen or fresh cranberries

Spray a 9 x 5 loaf pan and preheat the oven to 350.  Combine the 5 dry ingredients in a large bowl and use a pastry cutter to cut in the butter until it’s evenly distributed and the mixture is crumbly.

Add the egg, zest and juice and stir until just combined, then fold in the cranberries, being careful not to over mix.

Spread the batter in the prepared loaf pan and bake for about 55 minutes until the top is springy and a cake tester comes out dry.  Allow the loaf to cool in it’s pan for 10-15 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool completely.

We’re still trying to eat as many of our dinners outside as possible – this might not last for long.  Waverly was getting frustrated at having her hair blow around her face and so, very politely asked, ‘Wind, oh wind, please stop wind-ing – I’m trying to eat my dinner!’.

This is a favorite and a treat that all kids love.  I always had trouble with getting it cooked enough on the top, without browning the edges too much, so one day I decided to try mini-loaves instead of 1 regular sized one.  Turns out this recipe makes 3 (5 3/4 inches x 3 inches) mini-loaves, they freeze beautifully and are ideal for a quick snack.  Also, it’s a super fast recipe because you do all of it in your food processor – just do everything in the order as written.

Banana Bread (in the food processor)

3/4 c. walnuts or pecans – pulse in the food processor to chop and transfer to a bowl

3 medium bananas – pulse and then transfer to a bowl

1/2 hard margarine, cut into chunks

1 c. sugar

Cream together margarine and sugar in the food processor, it should be mealy in texture.

2 eggs – drop into the food processor with the margarine and sugar, add the reserved banana and blend.

2 c. flour

1 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

Add all to the food processor and pulse until all is well blended – you may have to scrape down the bowl.  Add the reserved nuts and pulse a couple of times.

Pour evenly into 3 small, greased loaf pans.  Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.  When baking is finished, let them sit in their pans for about 10 minutes before removing.  Cool and eat – or freeze (if freezing, wrap individually in Saran Wrap before placing in a freezer bag).