Logan Wolfram

Enjoying Life for Dessert

Got milk?

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For most of you…this phrase may conjure up images of famous people with milk mustaches.


For our family over the past 4 years it has been a source of oftentimes fear. 

When Tid Bit was about 4 months old and had been suffering from severe eczema and then blood in his diaper, our awesome pediatricians recommended that he be tested for food allergies.  To make a long story short, among a laundry list of things, he tested positive for a milk allergy.

“Milk?!  WHAT?!  Milk is in everything,” I thought!

So since I was nursing him, I had to either stop nursing or cut it all from my diet.  So I cut it all out.  Which interestingly enough wasn’t as awful as I thought once I got used to reading labels and found some things that I could use as good substitutes.  It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I learned how to cook for the allergy for me, so by the time he was eating solid foods I had a really good handle on things.  (Aside here…If you have a dairy allergic child then email me anytime…I have LOADS of great substitutes I can share with you.  And for starters try this recipe for sugar cookies that I recently posted! You won’t even know you don’t have real butter in them!)

Anyways…milk/dairy has been a MAJOR no-no in our family.  And it only took one accidental sip of my husband’s milk when Tid Bit was not even 2 to show us why.  After about 15 seconds, Tid Bit turned blue, was choking and couldn’t breathe, and then after probably a minute of that (which seemed like an eternity) he threw up what had been liquid milk, but then had become a solid mass.  We stayed up most of the night both sleeping on his floor to make sure he was ok.  I’ve really never been so scared….ever.

So for over 4 years, we’ve been afraid of dairy.  We have lived in fear of something that seemed so normal to me for pretty much my whole life.

And even though my Little Bit is one now and it’s ok to give a one year-old milk…I’ve been afraid to do it because of the situation with my other fella.

What if, right?

What if he’s allergic too.  What if he reacts like Tid Bit did.  What if his body gets it and is poisoned by it too.  What if….what if…what if?!

But check this out….

This may just look like any baby drinking from a sippy cup to you.  But to me….to me, this is a picture of the faithfulness of God to my family.  This is a picture of my baby drinking real dairy milk for the first time, and while you can’t tell in this picture at all…he LOVED it.  And, better than that, it seemed to love him back!

I don’t know what made me do it beyond a really amazing group of friends around me this morning…but that was enough.  I thought to myself…”What if”…and the answer was “then God.”

And so my friends prayed over my baby before I gave it to him.  And we sang happy birthday to our friend’s son, and then Little bit drank some milk.  And I knew that the “what if’s” were going to be ok because my friends would pray if there was an “if.”  And “if” there was a problem, they’d get my other kiddo from school.  And “if” it wasn’t good, they’d keep me calm.  And “if” I was scared and Little Bit was too…they’d pray all of heaven down on us.  And “if”… if anything… I could trust God.

So I did.

And my baby can drink milk.

And THAT reality of a blessing may seem small to many of you, but it brought tears to my eyes.  Because you know what…. there is blessing when we KEEP overcoming…

Got milk?

We do!

– Logan


PS. Tid Bit is still dairy allergic, but we believe that God is going to heal him of that some day soon….and that my friends will be a day to really remember too!

Drinking in…a nice tall glass of fresh perspective.

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Most of you will read this in the morning, but I just have to end this day and today’s earlier post with the fresh dose of perspective that I got tonight.

I don’t think my perspective was totally off earlier, I mean, it was authentic and all, but now, it’s just better.

Fresher.

So get this…

“If we go through nothing, then we have nothing to overcome.
 We can’t overcome something that we never underwent.”

I wish I could somehow condense the 75 minute video that I watched tonight and make my words hold the same power for you that this anointed teacher’s words held for me.  I wish I could…because it was SO GOOD.

But let me do the best that I can and tell you what I want to go to sleep thinking about tonight.

I want to go to sleep remembering that God delights in me.  He created me (and you) to overcome adversity…or just the doldrums even. (Which is where I spent most of my emotional energy today….the doldrums that is.  I’m glad my day is ending outside of that pit!)

And I’ve been struck by some things I heard… and some things that keep coming to me.

  •  God blesses those who keep overcoming.  
  •  Overcoming is active…not passive.  
  •  It’s putting one foot in front of the other and knowing that my footsteps are known by The Creator of the universe!  
  •  There is blessing in perseverance.  And overcoming with perseverance. 

Let us be full of joy now! Let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.  And endurance develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character of this sort produces the habit of joyful and confident hope. And, such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.  (Rom 5:2-6)

I love that thought.  Mature character produces a joyful HABIT!  So then, perseverance produces a joyful habit?!…love that!  It’s so A=B, and B=C, so A=C!

“Are your ears awake? Listen… To him who overcomes and is victorious, I will grant to eat of the fruit of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Rev 2:7

Blessing in perseverance my friends….and perseverance produces conquering and overcoming.  Full of JOY I tell you!

SO…I think I will say this for myself and for all of the rest of you who relate all too well to the exhaustion of life…We are MORE THAN conquerors. We were designed that way.  And when life starts to get us down…Rise up and overcome.  Overcome… and then help someone else do the same!

much love,
Logan

Oh, and one more thing I wanted to share from tonight.  I think I could watch this video over and over.  I love this man’s voice, but it’s the words that bring chill bumps all over me.  It’s 3 1/2 minutes…but worth thinking about for a lifetime.

**With regards to today’s earlier post though, which was legitimate… just so you know…I will be getting in a little bit of “me time” in not too long.
I’d thought I might end this day with a glass of sangria.  This night cap was WAY better.

Sands through the hourglass….it’s just one of those days.

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Like sands through the hourglass….so are the days of our lives!

First off, I’m admiting to you that in college I watched this show.  What a colossal un-doing of all that higher learning I was there for! LOL!

But the quote is true isn’t it?  Time passes fast.  I love that and I hate that.  And, somewhere in there sometimes, the days begin to feel like sand passing through…just passing, and it’s easy to forget all the life itself that’s actually doing the passing.  And some days are just plain days aren’t they?

It feels like “one of those days” today.

I don’t know why.  It’s gorgeous outside.  My kids have been pretty good (other than when I was on the phone with the insurance company and Tid Bit kept asking me stuff.)  I’ve gotten some things done around the house.  But still, it just feels like one of those days.

I keep thinking that I need about 2 days where I don’t have to do anything for anyone.  I want to be completely selfish and sleep when I want, eat when and what I want, sew if I want to, make jewelry if I want to, shop just because I want to.  I want to go and try on clothes for a few hours that I don’t even care about buying.  Well…maybe buy a couple of things, but I just want to have the time to figure out what clothes I even like anymore.  I don’t want to just grab something that looks cute on the mannequin, who is 4 sizes smaller than me with no boobs, and think “let’s hope this works on me too so that I don’t have to drag my kids out again to return it.”

DO YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?!

I love my life.  I love my husband.  I love my kids.  But I really feel myself getting to the point where I just need some time for myself.  And not just in a 3 hour chunk.  I mean, like 2 WHOLE DAYS!

You know that you are reaching this point when you consider weaning just so you can get it. The time I mean. When you feel less patient, more tired, more easily set off, more selfish about the tiny things here and there.

Mothering is the MOST selfless thing I’ve ever done.  I think those of you who are moms out there would agree.  But have mercy… after awhile of day in and out, hour in and out, meal in and out, laundry in and out, cleaning up and down and all around, shuttling to and fro, fixing this and that….I need to find me again.

So I guess that’s why despite the amazingness of today’s weather, it’s still “one of those days.”

Like sands through the hourglass huh?

– Logan

Please for heaven’s sake…comment today?!  To make me feel better, and because I want to hear that I’m not the only person who finds myself feeling like this 13 amazing and exhausting months after having my last baby!

The Man Party

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Ever since my husband and a band of his buddies decided to have their own “Man Party” for the Super Bowl last night, I’ve been salivating over a blog post idea.  I can’t imagine that I’ll do my idea justice because as is often the case with ideas, the execution can fall short indeed.  Like re-telling a funny story where mid-way through you already feel stupid because you’ve ruined it…I worry that this will be the same.  So if mid-way through I feel like a dolt, you’ll understand why I may sound incomplete….just stop while you’re ahead you know?!

So the Man party was the first idea thrown out there.  Then another friend sent out an invite for a couples party…to the same group of people.

None of us wanted to reply to either because who wants to pick between awesome people?!  Not us!  I think the overlap was a total case of the accidents, but still….several of us caught in the in between and noone wanting to decide for sure.

Party number 2 conceded to party # Man, and thus the Woman party was birthed.

I think I don’t even need to delve into all the reasons that God made Eve.  Seriously, Adam needed some help.  God himself said so…”it is not good for man to be alone.”  And I have been giggling inside for a couple of weeks now over what it looks like at a man party where wives make ZERO effort to help out….we had our own party to plan after all.

And check out the spread at our party…I really should have taken more pictures, because this only shows a little bit of it all.  There were 2 tables, and the counter taken up by goodies.  We had bacon and cheddar potato skins, spinach pastry puffs, fried mozarella sticks, veggie trays, fruit trays, hot cheese dip, hummus, chicken salad croissants, boneless hot wings, jalapeno pimento cheese, homemade fruit pizza, cheesecake, homemade brownies, real Spanish sangria, sodas, herbed pita chips…and that’s not even all of it.  And notice the lovely serving dishes too?!  It was quite the effort made by about 10 women.  But that’s all…just about 10 of us.  This picture really doesn’t even do the spread justice.  I promise.

Here’s a taste of the men’s party below. Yeah…that’s what MY man took.  I know you wish you had an airbrushed cookie cake at your Super Bowl party!  Maybe you did…maybe you had a Man Party too.


So when The Hubs got home and I asked him about the Man party, of course they had fun.  They always have fun.  But when I asked him about the food, he laughed and said “there were a lot of chips and salsa.”

One guy brought some pizza.  Another brought some frozen wings that they then had to cook there.  (My girlfriend who’s husband hosted the party, told me today that the mess she’s cleaning up from the wing cooking is unbelievable!)  And there was this amazing cookie cake of course.

The Hubs told me he was getting hungry when I was describing our spread and even conceded a little jealousy.  Apparently the goal for the next man party would be that there is NOT a counter party for the women at the same time so that we can make sure their party is well fed.

HA!

I guess God knows what he’s talking about huh?  Not good for man to be alone.  And I think the men will all have the diarrhea over the next couple of days to remind them.

Happy Monday friends!

– Logan

What’s Cooking?! Dead Lady’s Dip

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I should have posted this Friday…but it was just one of those days where the baby didn’t nap, and in the end I was so tired that us grown-ups got take-out for dinner once the kids were asleep.  I didn’t have it in me to post anything else beyond the recipe that I did manage to upload.  Then I’d hoped to post yesterday (Saturday) but we had such torrential downpours overnight that it flooded our septic tank and as a result our house smelled like raw sewage yesterday. As I’m sure you can imagine, it was awful and we did all that we could to avoid being here for too much time.  So, if you’re checking here just one last time before you head to a Super Bowl party tonight…then you’re in luck.  If you’re reading this Monday morning before I have time to do a proper Monday post, then tuck this one away for the next time you need a quick, easy, yummy take-along for a party!

The story for this dip I think goes something like this.

There was this old lady who always made this most amazing hot cheese dip to take to parties.  She was NOT like me at all in that she was what I’d like to call a “Recipe hoarder.”  (You know the people…the recipe secret keepers.  What is up with that?!  I don’t want to steal your sunshine, and I promise I won’t make your most famous dish if you’re going to be there too…but for the love, realize that if I ask you for a recipe, then it’s because I’m paying you the highest compliment that I know how…I want to copy you!!!  Anyways…enough about my feelings on Recipe Hoarders.  I am not one and therefore will always give you all recipes.  I’ll even let you make them for something if I’m going to be there!)

Any-whooo, this lady was a Recipe Hoarder of the most severe kind.  She was going to take her recipe with her to the grave.  And I don’t know if she had a moment of weakness on her deathbed, or if it was some fanciful combination of narcotics that made her do it, but she shared the recipe with one friend, and then she died.  My grandmother was friends with the “one friend” who of course shared the recipe with anyone who ever asked, and THAT friends is how I can now share the recipe with you.  We call it “Dead Lady’s Dip” in my family because the broad had to croak before anyone could have it!

So without further ado…I give you Dead Lady’s Dip!

1 bar monterey jack peppered cheese (jalapeno jack)
1 bar sharp cheddar cheese
2 eggs slightly beaten
1 can rotele tomatoes(or about 1 c. salsa)

Grate all the cheese.  Grease a shallow casserole dish and put in grated cheese.  Pour eggs over cheese, and then can of rotele (or salsa) over top of that.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until bubbly.  Stir it up to serve.  Serve with a heavy tortilla style chip (I really like Tostitos Bite Sized Gold for this because they’re sturdy enough to scoop out the cheese without breaking!)

Enjoy!!  (Sorry I don’t have a picture here…I’m not actually making this one tonight b/c another friend is making her famous hot cheese dip for the party I’m going to.  She shares recipes too!  Thank heavens!)

PS. I’m hoping to convince The Hubs to take pictures at the Super Bowl party he’s going to tonight because it’s an All-Man party.  I’m going to the All-Wives of the All-Man party in a separate location, and i can’t wait to just see the difference in food spread.  The men have been left to their own devices…Lawd help them!

How to Make Homemade Chicken Stock

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I wrote “How to Make Homemade Chicken Stock” in a post a couple of weeks ago, but decided it’s important enough to deserve it’s own post.  Yesterday, I needed to make some more and had just bought a rotisserie chicken, so I thought I’d document the process for you in photos.  My friend Amy tried this for the first time the other day (Woo Hoo Ames!) and had some questions along the way…so in an effort to serve you all better, I hope all these pictures help!

PS. I just copied below what I’d written in the post before.  But now, I’m adding pictures!!!

First I’m going to tell you how to make homemade chicken stock…the cheater’s way!  Step 1. Go to Sams or Costco or the grocery store and get a rotisserie chicken. Step 2. Eat the chicken for lunch or dinner with simple sides. Step 3. SAVE every single piece of that carcass and the juice in the bottom of the pan. Even fill the bottom dish from the chicken with water to add to your pot and get every last flavorful dripping you can out of that thing!

 Step 4. Put all of that in a stockpot. (The one I’ve used here is an 8qt pot.) Quarter an onion. Cut some celery into about 3 inch lengths (I’d say maybe 3 stalks, and yes, the leaves can stay on the celery…they’re flavorful!) Put some carrots in too…maybe a cup or so. These can be cut big as well, or you can really cheat and use baby carrots. Put a couple Tbsp minced garlic, salt, pepper, I put some Lawry’s seasoned salt, maybe a tsp of thyme, and a Tbsp parsley flakes..

 Fill the pot up with lots of water, a  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer a long time UNCOVERED…at least 3 hours, and up to about 8 makes it really great!

 This is how my pot looked when I started at about noon. I even measured the water line so you can see what will happen over time.

This was after about 3 hours.  The stock had evaporated over an inch worth of liquid.

And then below after 6 hours it’d lost another inch!  The longer you cook it, the more concentrated it gets!

Concentration = loads of flavor!

The darker the color, the richer the broth.  When you’re done, strain out all the bones and veggies and store the stock.  I normally just freeze mine in about 6 cup (that’s 1 1/2 qts) containers, so I can use it whenever I want. Also if you’ve made it really concentrated, then when you make soup or something with it, you can usually add as much water as you have stock to make more.  So if you have 4c. stock, then add 4 c. water and your broth will still taste super rich.

This is what my finished product looked like after about 7 hours simmering once I ran it through a strainer to get all the bones and things out.

Make sure that you say things like “oui, oui” and “bon appetit” when you make this, you’ll be very European now making your own stock and all.

How to Make Homemade Chicken Stock

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I wrote “How to Make Homemade Chicken Stock” in a post a couple of weeks ago, but decided it’s important enough to deserve it’s own post.  Yesterday, I needed to make some more and had just bought a rotisserie chicken, so I thought I’d document the process for you in photos.  My friend Amy tried this for the first time the other day (Woo Hoo Ames!) and had some questions along the way…so in an effort to serve you all better, I hope all these pictures help!

PS. I just copied below what I’d written in the post before.  But now, I’m adding pictures!!!

First I’m going to tell you how to make homemade chicken stock…the cheater’s way!  Step 1. Go to Sams or Costco or the grocery store and get a rotisserie chicken. Step 2. Eat the chicken for lunch or dinner with simple sides. Step 3. SAVE every single piece of that carcass and the juice in the bottom of the pan. Even fill the bottom dish from the chicken with water to add to your pot and get every last flavorful dripping you can out of that thing!

 Step 4. Put all of that in a stockpot. (The one I’ve used here is an 8qt pot.) Quarter an onion. Cut some celery into about 3 inch lengths (I’d say maybe 3 stalks, and yes, the leaves can stay on the celery…they’re flavorful!) Put some carrots in too…maybe a cup or so. These can be cut big as well, or you can really cheat and use baby carrots. Put a couple Tbsp minced garlic, salt, pepper, I put some Lawry’s seasoned salt, maybe a tsp of thyme, and a Tbsp parsley flakes..

 Fill the pot up with lots of water, a  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer a long time UNCOVERED…at least 3 hours, and up to about 8 makes it really great!

 This is how my pot looked when I started at about noon. I even measured the water line so you can see what will happen over time.

This was after about 3 hours.  The stock had evaporated over an inch worth of liquid.

And then below after 6 hours it’d lost another inch!  The longer you cook it, the more concentrated it gets!

Concentration = loads of flavor!

The darker the color, the richer the broth.  When you’re done, strain out all the bones and veggies and store the stock.  I normally just freeze mine in about 6 cup (that’s 1 1/2 qts) containers, so I can use it whenever I want. Also if you’ve made it really concentrated, then when you make soup or something with it, you can usually add as much water as you have stock to make more.  So if you have 4c. stock, then add 4 c. water and your broth will still taste super rich.

This is what my finished product looked like after about 7 hours simmering once I ran it through a strainer to get all the bones and things out.

Make sure that you say things like “oui, oui” and “bon appetit” when you make this, you’ll be very European now making your own stock and all.

What’s Cooking?! Best Banana Bread EVER!

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Lucky for you it’s raining in SC today.  And when it rains, all I want to do is cook.  So today, I’m unearthing the rotten bananas that I put in my freezer to keep til I was ready and I’m making my favorite banana bread. (side note here…If you’re always throwing away rotten bananas because you don’t have time to make banana bread right when they get rotten, STOP IT!  Put those suckers in the freezer and then just microwave them to thaw them out…cut the end off and they squeeze right out, perfectly mushy and great!)

I love banana bread.  But I have been on a hunt for an amazing banana bread recipe since college.  I’m not kidding you.  I bet I have made 20 different banana bread recipes over the years trying to find one that knocked my socks off.  I have at least 4 pretty good ones that I have on recipe cards in my recipe book, and I have mixed up even those 4 countless times trying to create the perfect combination of ingredients.

I think banana bread needs to be moist, flavorful, kinda chewy, super banana-ey…just good.  And after years of searching, I’m done looking.  I’m not kidding you…I am done.  This recipe is HANDS DOWN the BEST banana bread that I have ever had.  I could eat my weight in it.  My whole family loves it so much that I normally double or triple it every time I make it.  I make it in big loaves, little loaves, and muffins.  It’s just incredible. It even has dark rum in it…are you kidding me?!  Unreal!  Why didn’t I ever think of that?!  And now, you have to try it and let me know how much you love it now too.

I will say though, that since I have a dairy allergic kid, I omit the buttermilk powder it calls for.  Also Tid Bit showed up for years allergic to tree nuts and while he’s supposedly not allergic to them anymore, we haven’t done a food challenge on it, so I still omit the nuts too….but I can’t imagine how it’d increase the total incredibleness quotient of this recipe to add them.  So if you put them, then gush for me on how amazing it was in the comments section.

Here you go…

Makes 1 large loaf.
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. dark rum (I use Captain Morgans)
2 large ripe bananas
2 eggs
1 Tbsp milk (I use soymilk here)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 c. unbleached flour
2 Tbsp dry buttermilk blend (I leave this out since we have the dairy allergy)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. finely chopped walnuts
1/2 c. coarsely chopped pecans
1/4 c. sweetened coconut

Rum Glaze (I am usually too lazy to do this part, but it sure is good if you do!)
1/4 c. sugar
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp water
1/4 c. dark rum

For Banana Bread

Preheat oven to 325F.  Grease a large loaf pan. (I always use cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper so that my loaves come out perfectly.)

Combine sugar, oil, rum, bananas, eggs, milk, and vanilla in a mixing bowl.  Beat until blended, scraping bowl occasionally.  Mix the flour, buttermilk blend, baking soda, and salt in another bowl.  Add to the banana mixture, stirring just until moistened: do not overmix.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle with the walnuts, pecans, and coconut over the top.  Bake about 45 minutes or until the edges pull away from the sides of the pan. (You can also make sure a toothpick comes out clean…I tend to think it takes longer than this to bake, but I have a crappy oven as you all know.)  Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then remove bread from the pan (pecans and coconut should be on top.)  Drizzle with the warm rum glaze.  Serve warm or chill for later use.  This also freezes beautifully!

To make the rum glaze:
Combine the sugar, butter and water in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave until boiling and boil for 1-2 minutes.  Stir in the rum.  (Or you may boil in a saucepan for 5 minutes, then add the rum.)

Now that you’re done…call a friend to come over for coffee and really enjoy your amazing bread!

– Logan

Filed Under: Eat

What’s Cooking?! Best Banana Bread EVER!

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Lucky for you it’s raining in SC today.  And when it rains, all I want to do is cook.  So today, I’m unearthing the rotten bananas that I put in my freezer to keep til I was ready and I’m making my favorite banana bread. (side note here…If you’re always throwing away rotten bananas because you don’t have time to make banana bread right when they get rotten, STOP IT!  Put those suckers in the freezer and then just microwave them to thaw them out…cut the end off and they squeeze right out, perfectly mushy and great!)

I love banana bread.  But I have been on a hunt for an amazing banana bread recipe since college.  I’m not kidding you.  I bet I have made 20 different banana bread recipes over the years trying to find one that knocked my socks off.  I have at least 4 pretty good ones that I have on recipe cards in my recipe book, and I have mixed up even those 4 countless times trying to create the perfect combination of ingredients.

I think banana bread needs to be moist, flavorful, kinda chewy, super banana-ey…just good.  And after years of searching, I’m done looking.  I’m not kidding you…I am done.  This recipe is HANDS DOWN the BEST banana bread that I have ever had.  I could eat my weight in it.  My whole family loves it so much that I normally double or triple it every time I make it.  I make it in big loaves, little loaves, and muffins.  It’s just incredible. It even has dark rum in it…are you kidding me?!  Unreal!  Why didn’t I ever think of that?!  And now, you have to try it and let me know how much you love it now too.

I will say though, that since I have a dairy allergic kid, I omit the buttermilk powder it calls for.  Also Tid Bit showed up for years allergic to tree nuts and while he’s supposedly not allergic to them anymore, we haven’t done a food challenge on it, so I still omit the nuts too….but I can’t imagine how it’d increase the total incredibleness quotient of this recipe to add them.  So if you put them, then gush for me on how amazing it was in the comments section.

Here you go…

Makes 1 large loaf.
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. dark rum (I use Captain Morgans)
2 large ripe bananas
2 eggs
1 Tbsp milk (I use soymilk here)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 c. unbleached flour
2 Tbsp dry buttermilk blend (I leave this out since we have the dairy allergy)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. finely chopped walnuts
1/2 c. coarsely chopped pecans
1/4 c. sweetened coconut

Rum Glaze (I am usually too lazy to do this part, but it sure is good if you do!)
1/4 c. sugar
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp water
1/4 c. dark rum

For Banana Bread

Preheat oven to 325F.  Grease a large loaf pan. (I always use cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper so that my loaves come out perfectly.)

Combine sugar, oil, rum, bananas, eggs, milk, and vanilla in a mixing bowl.  Beat until blended, scraping bowl occasionally.  Mix the flour, buttermilk blend, baking soda, and salt in another bowl.  Add to the banana mixture, stirring just until moistened: do not overmix.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle with the walnuts, pecans, and coconut over the top.  Bake about 45 minutes or until the edges pull away from the sides of the pan. (You can also make sure a toothpick comes out clean…I tend to think it takes longer than this to bake, but I have a crappy oven as you all know.)  Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then remove bread from the pan (pecans and coconut should be on top.)  Drizzle with the warm rum glaze.  Serve warm or chill for later use.  This also freezes beautifully!

To make the rum glaze:
Combine the sugar, butter and water in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave until boiling and boil for 1-2 minutes.  Stir in the rum.  (Or you may boil in a saucepan for 5 minutes, then add the rum.)

Now that you’re done…call a friend to come over for coffee and really enjoy your amazing bread!

– Logan

Filed Under: Eat

What’s for Dinner?! Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup

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First, I have to just step on my soapbox for just a quick second since I have your attention.

I had to go to Sam’s Club today.  We’re big fans of bulk shopping around here.  It’s a lot cheaper.  And I buy our produce there all the time…it’s good, fresh, and costs a lot less.  Plus, my kids and my husband really love the samples they do there!

Anyways, Tid Bit was getting hungry when we went.  It was only 11am, but I think he was hoping I’d get him a cinnamon pretzel.  I told him if he was hungry I’d get him a hot dog but that’s it.  So we were standing in line to get one when I was done with the main shopping part. He kept poking his finger into a bag of red, orange, and yellow peppers I bought while we were waiting. (Aside…I’m going to teach you how to make some killer stuffed peppers here soon too.)  I didn’t want him to mess them up and so I said “Do not do that again, or we will leave without getting a hot dog.”  So what do you think he did since I’m such a fabulous parent and all?  He obeyed perfectly and then apologized.

Ok, so that’s not actually what he did…at all. He poked his finger right onto that gorgeous waxy looking red pepper…didn’t poke it hard, but he tapped it.  A test…hmmm…I think I know who always wins those.  So what did I do then you may ask?  Well, Kudos to me today… because I did just as I said and wheeled that cart right towards the door, which had to be like a whole football field’s distance away from where we were.  And Tid Bit lost it….screaming.  Thinking maybe if he screamed louder then I’d relent I guess.  So I held my head high, looked straight ahead, walked with purpose, and seriously contemplated that the next time that happens and I have the WHOLE FREAKING WORLD staring at me and making judgements about my parenting…I think I’m going to add in a pageant wave… just for effect.  Bring it people…watch me wave!

Sorry about that, but I just had to get it out.  I know you’re really here today because you want a good recipe.  I’m in the process of making it myself so to keep you from waiting right now (and to make sure I get it posted today) I’m going to add in the pictures of the process later this evening.

This soup is probably one of my all-time favorites.  I love hearty and flavorful soups and this one meets both of those requirements.  It is also one of those that is even better the next day!  The original recipe says to cut the sausage into rounds, but I cut the sausage lengthwise and then crosswise to make half-rounds because I like to have bites that have a little bit of everything each time!  It’s also really gorgeous…look at this picture.  This is the one that originally snagged me because it was on the cover of Bon Appetit Magazine several years ago.  So if you don’t know yet if you trust me when it comes to recipes, then for this one, trust Bon Appetit.

And just in case you’re wondering when you get to the part where you can choose linguica or chorizo sausage…that will depend on your ability to tolerate a little spicy heat.  My personal preference is the chorizo, but that tends to be on the spicy side for my kids, so I go with the Linguica because it is more mild.  Best case scenario I think for the whole family though is to mix the two, but that means you are buying a package of both and dividing them which gets pricey for the first time you make this. (You can totally freeze the extra for another time though.)

The cook times on this are pretty exact too which is nice.  You can serve this up in less than an hour from when you start it.  I’d recommend doing all the prep work earlier in the day though because chopping everything takes about as long as cooking it all.

I cut enough potatoes to fill a gallon size ziplock bag. Also, this Gaspar’s brand is the linguica & chorizo that I really like!

I just realized that since the day I posted this turned out to be a crazy one, these are the only pictures I took of the process!  Sorry!

If you read the post on how to make your own chicken stock then this is the perfect place to use it! 

And please also, for crying out loud, when you get to the part about cutting an onion and you start to take out a paring knife, look back HERE because you might benefit from an onion cutting tutorial! 

And now, I give you…the recipe!

SWEET POTATO AND SAUSAGE SOUP
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 10- to 11-ounce fully cooked smoked Portuguese linguiça sausage or chorizo sausage, cut in half lengthwise and then crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
2 medium onions, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams; about 2 large), peeled, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 pound white-skinned potatoes, peeled, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
6 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 9-ounce bag fresh spinach

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage; cook until brown, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Transfer sausage to paper towels to drain. Add onions and garlic to pot and cook until translucent, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add all potatoes and cook until beginning to soften, stirring often, about 12 minutes. Add broth; bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Using potato masher, mash some of potatoes in pot. Add browned sausage to soup. Stir in spinach and simmer just until wilted, about 5 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper. Divide among bowls and serve.