Banana bread or cookies & icecream?

I've been cooking up a storm lately so my boys are very happy! Have tried out a few new recipes as well as some old favourites.

One of my favourite never fail recipes is for caramel banana bread. Despite the name this banana bread is not too sweet and is super moist.

Caramel Banana Bread

Ingredients:

125grams softened butter

3/4 cup of brown sugar

2 eggs (lightly beaten)

1 cup of mashed banana (about 2 large bananas) preferably slightly overripe

1 & 1/2 cups of self raising flour

3/4 cup of sour cream

1 teaspoon of bicarbonate soda

1 tablespoon of milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius (fan forced oven). Grease a loaf pan.

2. Using an electric mixer cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in one egg until well combined and repeat with 2nd egg.

3. Add the mashed bananas, one cup of flour, sour cream and the bicarbonate soda to the sugar mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Add in the remaining flour and milk and mix well.

4. Pour into loaf tin and bake for approx. 50 mins until cooked. Test that a skewer comes out clean if inserted in the middle of the pan. Leave in pan for approx 5 mins to cool before turning onto a wire rack.

5. Serve warm. Enjoy!

Cookies & Icecream

A new recipe I recently tried is from Our Best Bites - an oven baked cookie and icecream recipe they call Pizzookies. Here is a photo I took before my boys digged into the warm cookies, icecream and chocolate fudge sauce:

Ingredients:

Cookie dough (chilled ready to use from supermarket or make your own)
Icecream of your choice
Chocolate/caramel sauce

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius (fan forced oven)
2. Fill ramekins about 1/2 way with cookie dough
3. Place ramekins on tray and bake for approx 10-12 mins - make sure dough is still soft.
4. Allow to cool for a few minutes then place ramekin into a larger bowl (so you don't burn your fingers!) and top with a scoop of icecream and chocolate/caramel sauce.

PIZZOOKIES INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS FROM http://www.ourbestbites.com/ - I trust these are as yummy as my boys say they are! (Shock horror I don't like choc-chip cookies and not much of a fan of icecream icecream - which makes it easier for me to cook things I know the Big Guy and Little Guy like that are a bit naughty).

More party and Christmas ideas

It's a cold rainy long weekend here in Sydney and with nothing urgently requiring my attention I've been thinking about the little guy's birthday party again and playing around with a few food table ideas:

How cute are those little wafers! A favourite of the big guy I purchased them in Woolworths in a box of 6 snack packs.

Also found this caddy which will be perfect for holding cutlery and napkins (not sure which printable to use):

This is a photo of the inside of the caddy:

And filled:

Sorry about all the white! I have zero photography skills and not many suitable places to take photographs inside (and its pouring with rain outside). These are the best shots I could take with my little point and shoot.

The caddy is actually an undersink storage caddy I recently bought at Target (found in the laundry section with the pegs, coathangers etc) - a bargain at only $10.00. I'm a big believer in re-using, re-purposing and finding alternative uses for items. The glass jar shown above is one of two I also purchased recently from a homewares outlet and they were filled with scented tealight candles.

I've also been thinking about Christmas again and have been browsing Hostess With The Mostess. Love this simple and beautiful place setting:

And one day I might be game enough to try and make some cakepops. How gorgeous are these from Bakerella: