Banana Bread

I make this so many times and the recipe is in my head.
Before I become senile, I'd better write it down.

Banana Bread

Preheat oven for 350 F (180 C)

Mix
3 old bananas (mashed)
1 stick of butter (melted)
1/2 cup sugar (or less)
2 cups of flour
2 tsp of Baking soda
1 Table spoon of Baking Powder
(if you want, 1- 2 eggs, but I omit here for lesser cholesterol)

using the base mixture above,
I always make the variation , according to what I have at home, until it becomes the consistency I want.

almond, pecan, or walnut (peanut is not my favorite---taste cheap).
orange peel and orange juice
lemon peel and lemon juice
milk
semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Bake in the oven (350 F or 180 C) until the top looks brown.
To make sure, insert a stick to the center, and nothing sticking to the stick, it is baked.

Cream Puffs (シュークリーム）

OUR FAMOUS CREAM PUFFS.
Chou a la Creme

Preheat the oven 400 F (200 C).

Chou (puffs)
      one cup water
      2 Table spoons of sugar (30 g)
      1 stick of butter ( 1/2 cup)
      1 cup of flour
      4  to 5 eggs (beaten)

1. in a sauce pan, bring to boil water, sugar and butter.
2. remove from the heat, and pour in all the flour at once until the dough looks like the mashed potato.
3. little by little, add beaten eggs. (amount varies, depending upon the exact amount of water or butter, or temperature etc.) until the dough mixture becomes the consistency of thick glue.

                    (#2:  looks like the mashed potato)

4. at this point, you can put the dough into the ziplock bag, but I just eye ball and spoon them. (most importantly DO NOT double-spoon. If you did, the final puff will be double puffed, too.)
5. 400 F (200 C) oven for about 30 minutes, until the dough is puffed (DO NOT PEEK and LET IN THE COOL AIR INTO THE OVEN UNTIL COMPLETELY PUFFED).
6. put them the cooling rack and cool.

CREME
you can make the cream by yourself, but I cheat a little.
Use Vanilla Jello.
        1 box of Instant Vanilla Jello (large box)
        1 cup of milk
        1 cup of whipping cream (do not use cool whip)
using hand mixer, mix these three well until cream becomes smooth and good consistency.

Assemble
Stuff the cream into puffs, and wrap individually with plastic wrap.

Variation
when piping with ziplock bag, draw the number 2 with the dough. and bake.
the head part is the top of number two, and stick the bottom part of number two into the cream to make the Chou look like a swan, particularly after dusting with white power sugar. (black swan, add cocoa).

     

Buen provecho! Bon Apetite!

My daughter and I made the Lasagna from the recipe that my mother-in-law used to make.

We made for my father-in-law for Christmas gift, so that he can still taste his wife's Lasagna after she passed away. 

Then during Christmas holiday, I was thinking that WOW the person who passed away can still alive with us through her recipes..... And I wanted to leave MY RECIPE to my kids....so that they do not have to ask me on the phone....hehehehe

My first recipe is

"Lasagna by Ann Egnor"

for 5 oblong (9x13) glass dishes

2 boxes of Lasagna

8 packages of Mozzarella Cheese sliced

Group A----cook together

8 pounds of chuck beef

1TBS garlic powder

1 TBS dry onion flakes

1 TBS basil

3 large (29oz) cans of Tomato Sauce

3 (12 oz) cans of Tomato paste

4 TBS black pepper

Group B---mix together

3 large (24oz) of cottage cheese

1/2 cup dry parsley

1/2 cup Romano grated cheese

1) Cook 28 long pieces of lasagna for 10 minutes in boiling water

(We will use 3 strips per layer for 2 layers per dish.)

The FIRST layer

1 and 1/2 cup meat sauce from GROUP A

2 and 1/2 strips lasagna

3 strips of Mozzarella cheese

cottage cheese mixture from GROUP B

The Second Layer

1 and plus cup of meat sauce

2 and 1/2 strips of lasagna

3 strips of Mozzarella cheese

Then end with 1 and plus cup of meat sauce.

2) sprinkle with Parmesan cheese

Bake one at 325 - 350 F for 20 min.

Freeze the other four.