Banana Loaf Bread (Half Choc-chip - half plain)

There was a n upset tummy going on at home the other day. So we had some left-over or should I say... un-appetising too ripe bananas. In Ambon, we call the banana Pisang 40 Hari - or 40 days banana. according to the farmer, it took 40 days to ripen hence the name. This is the first time i ever use this kind of banana but i figured that all banana (the eating ones) are basically the same. the difference may be in the taste and textured. So i gave it a go and was pleasantly surprised.
By the way, No need for mixer and it takes minutes to make this.
Right! now the recipe

Ingredients:
2 or 3 banana - if you are using the common eating banana (pisang meja/ambon) use the medium size. but I use 12 of those little 40 days banana (pisang 40 hari)
1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
1 sachet or 2 tbsp or powdered milk - i use 1 sachet or you can add or reduce to your liking
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar  - I reduce it to a shy 1/2 cup - please adjust to your liking
1 egg  lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt

You'll need
2 mixing bowl (1 for the wet ingredients and 1 for the dry ingredients)
A wooden spoon for mixing (or what ever you like or have on hand to use for mixing)

 Direction:

1. Make sure to heat up your oven first. Making it is quite quick and you need that oven heated before the bread enter it. Heat the oven on medium heat.
2. smear butter or margarine to your loaf pan or ANY pan you have and can be use in the oven
3. Dry ingredients : mix together the flour, powdered milk, sugar and salt. set aside (3-5 mins)
4. in another bowl mix the wet ingredients Mash the bananas with a fork - Add the vegetable oil - egg and vanilla essence - don't have to over mix... no need to put it in a blender or anything... I like my banana still a bit chunky.
5. Sprinkle Baking soda on the well mixed wet ingredients
6. Next you can either tip the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients OR the other way around... NO Problemo! just make sure the bowl is big enough to hold everything and make sure you mix them well.. 
7. Pour this mixture to your buttered loaf pan
8. Bake in the oven for 45 to 1 hour on middle rack, Or put it on the lower shelf first then half way transfer it to the top rack. 
9. When cooked, let it cool for a few minutes, remove from pan and slice to serve

 Mine was sliced 5 minutes after it is out from the oven... it was still steaming hot an I have to get everyone to hold their horses until I can get a picture of it... hehehehe
Tania helped in arranging the loaf bread for the picture... she also have the idea to put the banana and the choc chips around it... Good eye

Sugar Cookies (With special request for Pink Icing and Sprinkles)

WOW! How time flies... it is 1 year and few weeks more since my last post. The last post was when I was still in UK and now, THIS.... the only reason I can give you is.... Life Happens.

My life is great! I deal with the ups and downs. Doing my best to better myself. Trying my best to balance work, family, dreams and social life. At the moment, I need to work on my relationship with God. HE is the one and foremost the most important relationship I need to defend. Next comes my husband and my daughter. Then work, larger family and friends. Honestly if you put it that way, the #2 and #3 do not necessarily comes one after the other. They encircle and overlaps in the intersection of life. However, My husband and I are blessed to be able to work and spend time with our little girl together in one place.

Tania and I sort of develop a baking day of every 2 weeks if not once a months. it is also to support my plan to home-school Tania. Baking is our Arty, Crafty, Fun activities together. So This week we made a simple Sugar cookies because Tania saw a cookies with pink icing and asked if we can make one. I honestly not those mothers are great in baking... I think I am alright. My baking and cooking mostly work wonders but there are those odd times when it failed miserably. O Well...

Anyway, I got the recipe from my trusty favorite blog Elise from Simply Recipe. And They work wonders... Everyone in our house can't get enough of em'. I pretty much follow all her recipe to almost the T.

Ingredients

• 3 cups All purpose flour
• 1 cup  sugar 
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup soft butter - room temperature
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 3 tbsp cream  (I didn't use)
• 1 tsp vanilla 
  Icing
  
  • 1/3 cup Crisco (transfat-free) or a 1/3 cup of softened butter
  • 1 pound of confectioners sugar
  • 1 sachet of powdered milk
  • About 1/4 cup of water
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla

Method

(I am a bit lazy so I use electric mixer)

1. Sift the dry ingredients in the mixer bowl. Add the butter and other ingredients. mix on low speed until well blended. Cover the bowl with cling-wrap then keep it in the refrigerator for 1 - 2 hours. 
2. First floured the place where you are going to roll your dough. The take a handful of dough, sprinkle some flour on it and roll it to 1/2 to 1 cm thickness. 
3. Use whatever cookie cutter you have or desired and cut happily. Make sure the dough remained cold. Ambon, Indonesia is very hot and I have to make 2 bowls: while One bowl is rolled the other one stays in the fridge and then I alternate them.
4. Carefully lift the cut cookies to cookie sheets and bake for 5 - 10 minutes on low to medium heat. When the cookies began to turn the color at around the bottom. That's the best time to take it out from the oven. 
5. Let the cookies cooled completely --- (RESIST the urge to taste! or you might not have any for icing. 

For the icing: mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Then dip the surface of your cookies in it. Add sprinkles if you want. Let it dry. we bake in the lat afternoon and we iced it in the evening. By morning time all icings have hardened beautifully. 

For me I like it without the icing sugar. I also only Iced 2 dozen out of the 5 dozen cookies it produces, just for the sake of Tania's pink icing cookies.