Friday, March 12, 2010

Guest Post with Feminine Wiles




It is with great pleasure to introduce you all to the Lovely Cheri of Feminine Wiles she is a fellow NC blogger her blog is all about life and raising children and boy can she cook. She is always eager to help me with cooking questions on twitter, love her enjoy and be sure to visit her blog.


When Rebecca invited me to “guest blog,’ I was both flattered and flummoxed. Chow And Chatter is well-read, well-established and well-regarded. Feminine Wiles, on the other hand, is far from taking flight. More caterpillar- than butterfly-like, really.

As I was reminded this morning, though, I shouldn’t disregard the essential and all-powerful nature of the “girlfriend network.”

I’d been doing the usual SAHM runaround, eventually landing at the orthodontist’s office. While Son went back to be serviced and await the despised just-a-few-more-weeks news, I cracked open my beloved MacBook to tap out a few notes.

Weird. Why was the screen so dim? I squinted, but only for an instant, because I don’t want to admit that my opthalmologist was right in saying I’ll soon need glasses.

Hmm. Squinting, but still dim. Fine. I tilted, and then, re-tilted the screen. Surely it was a matter of finding the just right angle. Maybe 79 degrees. Maybe while squinting.

I bobbed my head, birdlike. Left. Left. Right. Forward. Forward. Whoa. Better stop that before someone in the waiting room thinks I’m trying out for a Bojangles commercial.

I was still befuddled when Son and his orthodontist came out to deliver the usual and dreaded just-a-few-more-weeks news. Oddly, they both regarded me very curiously – as if they’d been privy to my squinting chicken act.

After I scheduled Son’s next appointment, we exited the office, and I instinctively reached up to pull down my sunglasses. Duh. What a dingbat. I’d been wearing my sunglasses in the orthodontist’s office. The computer screen wasn’t dim. The computer operator, however, was dimwitted.

Why didn’t someone tell me?

No girlfriend would let me walk around like that. Even 12-year-old Darling Daughter knows that membership in the “girlfriend network” is unconditional. It’s our obligation to tell another “girlfriend” when her tag is hanging out, when her bicuspid is coated in spinach, when her zipper’s gapping and revealing those cute pink panties, or when toilet paper trails her stiletto.

This past weekend, I found myself with an abundance of past-their-prime bananas. I used Twitter to issue the call to “the network.” The girlfriends – most of whom I’ve yet to meet – responded quickly. Suggestions – for freezing and smoothies – flowed. Recipes – for cobbler, for banana pudding – were tweeted just as quickly. (Rebecca, of course, shared her own recipe for luscious Banana Brownie Cake. Thank you, Rebecca!)

I’ve made Banana Bread since I was 12, but The Ambient Chef’s version turned out to be the best I’d ever made – moist, crusty and super simple to make.

And I feel sure that neither she, nor Rebecca, nor AprillWrites or StepfordLife or CookingVirgin would never have let me wander around that orthodontist’s office with my sunglasses on.

Or trailing a few squares of Charmin. I’m just sayin’.

The Ambient Chef’s Mom’s Best Banana Bread

Ingredients:

  • 2 very ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 2 cups sifted flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 generous pinch nutmeg
  • 1 stick butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a loaf pan, well.
  2. Mash bananas with lemon juice. Set aside.
  3. In a small bowl, stir or sift together flour, salt, baking powder and nutmeg. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. When well combined, beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in mashed bananas to combine well.
  4. Stir in dry ingredients until combined.
  5. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 1 – 1 ¼ hours, or until loaf tests done.
  6. Cool 10 minutes in pan on rack, then remove to rack to cool completely.






Bookmark and Share

25 comments:

  1. This is a fabulous banana recipe... No, good girlfriend who have let you keep your sunglasses on at the orthodontist's office. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. so soft and perfect bread...Nice to know cheri through your post rebecca...was a wonderful guest post

    ReplyDelete
  3. A very soft and moist banana bread for the weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  4. How Funny, I made apple bread today and my little girl asked if I could make banana bread for her. I've never made banana bread before . This recipe comes at the right time :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Caterpillar, huh? Well, it doesn't take long for a caterpillar to spread its wing into a glorious butterfly.
    I really enjoyed this short and sweet guest post!
    Unfortunately, bad timing! I JUST baked banana muffins with my last 4 bananas...aaahhh!! I'll have to get another bunch.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love banana bread...this looks so delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's very nice to meet you and I'm so glad Rebecca has introduced us to another fellow North Carolinian. I hate to admit it, but I've never made banana bread and I don't know why. Yours sounds delicious and would be perfect for breakfast this morning.

    BTY, I do some strange things myself too, just like your sunglasses. I just blame it on being blonde. Works every time.
    Sam

    ReplyDelete
  8. This looks so good. I'm going to get some banana tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Haha, aww, I hate when something like that happens! Usually it's something in the teeth for me, but you're right - I can always count on my friends to give me the point :) Your BB looks fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  10. The BB does looks moist and scrumptious.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Loveeeeeeeee banana bread. Superb job FW....

    ReplyDelete
  12. So funny. Yes indeed, I do love my girlfriend network what would we do without them? Well go about with our sunglasses on inside obviously!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hello, nice to meet a new blogger with such lovely way of story telling or is it called narration. Lovely recipe

    ReplyDelete
  14. It will be great for weekend breakfast. Delicious, soft and yummy!
    Enjoy a lovely weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  15. thanks all will pass your comments onto Cherie isn;t she sweet?
    Love Rebecca

    ReplyDelete
  16. Such a light looking bread, will get over to her blog, thanks Rebecca!

    ReplyDelete
  17. thanks rebecca for dropping by my blog.

    You've got some nice recipies here... and it looks great too

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh, I love a good girlfriend story! Thanks for the banana bread recipe, always can use a new version.

    ReplyDelete
  19. 3 hungry tummies will tell me
    Ron: thats so much
    Christie will tell Cheri

    ReplyDelete
  20. I would love to try your banana bread!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hope you all do try the banana bread! Banana bread is one of the first things I learned to make (over 35 years ago), but this version is particularly good -- I think because of the butter (rather than shortening or oil), which results in a very light, but crispy crust. We have nut allergies here in our house, otherwise, I'd also stir in some walnuts (1 cup, coarsely chopped).

    ReplyDelete
  22. Thanks, too, for everyone who offered girlfriend support! We've got a powerful network, and I'm glad and grateful we're in it together!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Oh dear! I've done that wearing sunglasses inside wondering why it was so dark. This bread looks wonderful!

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails