Hello. It's spring. Northern California is THE PLACE to be this time of year. I love it (except for the allergy torment that my boy David deals with. All of his sneezing breaks my heart! What I would not do to suffer in his place. He takes the meds but they don't really help. Poo.)Anyway, the sun is shining and it's a great day. I took all of the tools and construction junk off of our fireplace hearth today and moved the mess to our garage. Rich will probably grouse about it tonight ("I need that stuff - I'm still using it."), but it's a short walk from the family room to the garage and it's all still right there and accessible and he will get over it. I am a bad wife. But having the junk moved allowed me to give the brick hearth a good cleaning and arrange some cute stuff in front, and now the family room is all "put together." Starting to feel a little like home around here, kinda. Getting there. Not to mention that it will be nice to relax on the sofa in the evening and not have to stare at a bunch-o tools and what-have-you...
Hey you — Make this cake and eat it. You will thank me.
GRAMMA BERTHA'S BANANA CAKE (adapted from AllRecipes.com)
1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
3 bananas, mashed
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained (optional)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
1 cup sour cream
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 10-inch Bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the bananas, pineapple or chocolate chips, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; stir into batter just until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Top each portion with a dollop of whipped cream or your favorite cream cheese frosting. Serve chilled. This cake rocks. Enough said.
"Spring has returned. The earth is like a child that knows poems." —Rainer Maria Rilke
