Banana-Pear Bread

It's hump day and I don't even know where that name came from. But I can see what they were trying to get it at...maybe. Anyway, today's recipe is a spin-off from Eating Well's Banana Bread recipe. So essentially we have most likely went from Eating Well to Eating Overly-Well, if you know what I mean.

Here's out it all began. I had this one lingering overly ripened banana just wasting on the counter and then I found a beat up raggedy pear left for dead in the corner of the fridge. I've always wanted to attempt a banana bread but never found any motivation until I met this couple. I knew the recipe called for four bananas but hey, that's not what my kitchen afforded me so a pear had to do.

For the pear I poked a couple fork holes into it and put it in the microwave for about 40 seconds on high. Keep an eye on it. Once that pear was softened, I discarded the stem, core and seeds. I mashed my pear with a fork but next time I will probably pulse the pear into semi-chunks in a food processor because the skin took more time to break apart.

The ingredients for this recipe has been modified but the preparation is straight from Eating Well. Have fun!

Here's what you will need:

2/3 C packed brown sugar (make it 1 Cup if this doesn't sound too sweet for you)
1/3 C hot, strong brewed coffee
1 1/2 C of mashed banana & pear (will be a bit soupy)
1 large egg
1 large egg white
3 Tablespoons canola oil
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract (My favorite is Madagascar vanilla)
2 1/4 Cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Teaspoon baking powder
1/4 Teaspoon of baking soda (and a pinch more)
2 Teaspoon cinnamon
1 Teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 Teaspoon of ground cloves
1/2 Teaspoon of salt

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.

• Dissolve brown sugar in coffee in a bowl. Stir in banana-pear mixture. Whisk together egg, egg white, oil and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the banana-pear mixture. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt in a separate bowl. Add to the banana-pear mixture and stir just until combined.

• Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick (a steak knife for me) inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes (baked mine for about 40-42 minutes, you know your oven best). Let cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Invert the loaf onto a rack and let cool completely. 

Guilty Pleasure tip: Heat slice in microwave for 15 sec, top with Cool Whip!

Fancy Pumpkin Pie Crust Design

Every year since 2008 I make it a point to bake at least one pumpkin pie during Thanksgiving. I guess it's been instilled in me from home. My dad is a huge fan of pumpkin all year long. But during Thanksgiving is when my mom would bake pumpkin pie and have my dad taste test them like he was judging a pie competition (at least that's how it looked to me). Anyway, I'm working on my crust and pie filling for next year when they can be in the States and hopefully have dinner with us.

My pie recipe is still in the works but the basis of it is from Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie recipe. I just add little more spices to it like my go-to Jamaican Allspice from Whole Foods. As for the crust I used Crisco's butter flavored baking stick's recipe. Very easy to follow.

Last year my crust was just a typical looking crust but this year I got fancy with the pie. My inspiration was the pie slice pic on a Libby's pumpkin can. The pie crust was made up of all these leaves overlapping each other into this beautiful piece of food art. So here is how I replicated that design:

What you will need

• Unbaked pie dough (try making your own if you haven't, it's pretty fun)
• Rolling pin
• Flour to keep rolling pin from getting sticky
• Sharp, thin pointy knife
• Egg wash
• A Christmas Playlist. Preferably with Harry Connick Jr. crooning "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" (Oh why Harry, I thought you'd never ask but I'm already taken by my trumpet playing hubby. Tickling the ivories don't cut it for me nowadays...lol) Okay back to crust talk.

First roll out a thin, not too thin, layer of the pie dough. Next use the tip of the knife and individually cut a simple leaf shape. Then gently press in the veins of each leaf. To keep crust from building up on the knife, you can dab a little corn oil on the tip.

Once the leaves are cut and prepped, press the interior end of the leaf into the crust gently.  Remember to overlap each leaf, press the ends into the crust and repeat until you are back where you started. Brush the leaves with egg wash and pour in pie filling. Bake according to recipe instructions.

I covered my middle boo boo with a couple leaves.

I'm sure you can come up with other creative shapes and I'd love to see them. Send them to Thefulltimewife@gmail.com.  

Stay warm and cuddly!!

Cinema Sentinel: Tangled

Hi there...how was your Thanksgiving day? Did you get the turkey and pumpkin pie? Or did you go for asian cuisine like my Aunt Ro does every year? Well, whatever you ate hope it was as good as your little hearts anticipated.

My husband and I had a great dinner with kindred new friends (it's so great to meet new people and feel like you were meant to know them). We had fantastic red wines and all the fixins' that make a turkey/beef dinner memorable; plus I also made my pumpkin pie with a little bit of crust decor this time. As you can read...I am truly proud of my artwork. I'll be posting those soon.

But for now I just wanted to share a new Disney film that's sure to become a classic. Ever since I was a little squirt my father made sure we had access to almost all the Disney cartoons despite living in Thailand during the 80s. We were never in lack of great cartoons like The Sword in the Stone, Cinderella, Three Caballeros, Make Music Mine, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White...the list goes on and on. But in every film there was a formula that never failed and it's something that's been hard to find in most cartoons nowadays. There was magic and wonder, good and evil, and good always won.

I think most of us who grew up with Disney cartoons will understand that nostalgia when you hear the reprise of "When You Wish Upon A Star" towards the beginning of a movie as the Magical Kingdom Castle icon appears (80s/90s version, latest version). It is a feeling that can only be evoked by Walt Disney's imagination, vision and collaboration with some of the best of his time.

 Anyway, I can go on and on about this but I wanted to express to you how good it was to watch Tangled and feel like I was a kid again watching Sleeping Beauty for the first time. There was never a dull moment during the film. Each character introduced were distinct and unforgettable. The physical humor was highly entertaining without it being so slapstick. And the parts without dialogue are probably some of my favorite scenes. Bring some tissues just in case because the executive producer of this film is John Lasseter (Wall-E, Toy Story 3, Monsters, Inc., Ratatouille) and the songwriter is Alan Menken (Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas). I mean HELLO?! we're talking about an All-Star production team that only converges once every decade. Can't miss!

Folks, this is a story worth paying to see with family and friends or by yourself because it's that good for me. It truly recaptures all the magical qualities of the Disney we've grown up with and yet keeps it fun and contemporary for the new Mouseketeers out there. I hope you get the chance to see it. Have a wonderful weekend and come back again to see my pie crust artwork (proud mama here).

*Hugs & Warm Desserts*

Holiday Gift Wraps and More!

My dear friend Monica gave me such a great birthday present last year. She let me choose between a couple of "food" magazines and the one I liked best, she bought a subscription for. Thank you Mo!

Well, yesterday I just received a copy of my Food Network December edition. Oh my goodness, my eyes just feasted on all the holiday goodies and gifts available. Going through the magazine has also started my Christmas wishlist for myself and my loved ones.

Anyway, you must grab yourself a December copy because it is spectacular. I'm talking about 100 Gifts for Food Lovers, Giada's Perfect Presents and Bobby Flay's Coconut Cake recipe (my little heart's about to explode just reading the ingredients). Haha. So one of the things among many other things that caught my attention was their gift wrap ideas. Yeah, no longer the typical red and green for me sir. I'm going creative and fun.  I searched all the sites that were shared and found more things to enjoy and most likely giving this Christmas season.

I'm thinking I might wrap sisters' and girlfriend gifts with this paper from Capri Designs:

The Candy Swirl design

Then for the family members maybe a little Whimsy wrap: 

The Merry Little Something design

And for the men in my life who have been both naughty and nice (mostly nice), Paper Source has just the right idea:

The Gingerbread Men design

Last but never least Food Network introduced me to what I like when it comes to online stores and gifts...FredFlare.com! They showed off their holiday bacon gift wrap but I found something even more special to me:

Cupcake ornaments. How cute!

Oh yeah and one more thing, if your man loves pizza as much as mine then check out this gift from ThinkGeek (love this company):

Food is the Final Frontier!

Thanks for reading and this blog will become more frequented once we get internet set up in our home. For now I've been living off of our apartment's wi-fi and my iPhone. Oh just in time for the holidays. Loves & Hugs!

Holiday Must Try: Libby's Old-Fashioned Soft Pumpkin Cookies

How I love the holidays...pumpkin, spice and everything nice. 

So I had the pleasure of baking my first treat for Fall...Libby's Old-Fashioned Soft Pumpkin Cookies. Believe me folks, this is the real deal!

I'm posting their recipe and how they did it to the exact instructions. The only things I modified was lessoning the nutmeg, using an entire 15 oz can of Libby's Pumpkin and adding a teaspoon of my Whole Foods Jamaican Allspice. It was a good choice knowing how much my husband loves spices and flavor. Oh yeah and I was out of powdered sugar for the glaze so we went without. Other than that, follow the recipe and you are sure to be enjoying this treat in a jiffy (does anyone use this word anymore? Oh well, I will).

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 cup Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Glaze (recipe follows)

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees F. Grease baking sheets.
COMBINE flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets.

BAKE for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Drizzle Glaze over cookies.

FOR GLAZE:

COMBINE 2 cups sifted powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in small bowl until smooth. 

For more recipes like this one visit VeryBestBaking.com. 
Don't know how to bake a pumpkin pie yet? I made my first pumpkin pie straight from a Libby's Pumpkin can and used my girlfriend's pie crust recipe. I'll have to ask her first to see if I can post her delicious never-fail pie crust recipe. Until then...thank you VeryBestBaking team and Happy Baking to us all!

Proud Aunt Moment: My cute little niece made the candy corn ornament. 

A National Cathedral Must-Own For Me

The next time I visit The National Cathedral I will have enough money to splurge on something that caught my eye. First of all, I've visited this beautiful place more than three times already. I've been through the main worship area, spent some quiet times in the Bishop's Garden, took the elevator up to the top floor and enjoyed a festival or two during the summer months. But never did I realize that they had quite the gift shop downstairs had I taken a complete tour. What a goober!

Here are some trinkets and whatsits you can find in their gift shop the next time you visit:

Pretty ornate decorations, perfect for the upcoming holiday season. And the Child Angel is an adorable great gift for any angel collectors.

There is something to love about the simplicity of wooden figurines and especially if they are of revered saints. Left to Right: St. Jude, St. Julian of Norwich, St. John of the Cross.

You can't visit the National Cathedral without seeing her minion of gargoyles. Aren't they just the cutest things? And believe it or go see for yourself, there IS a Darth Vader head mounted there. My husband was determined to look for it one Sunday and sure enough there he was...Lord Vader.

Here are some more things I found serene and beautiful...

I'm not sure what they call this but I like to call it the Rosary Cross. I'm sure someone can give me the actual name. But this would be a great gift to give a friend of the faith. 

Finally, the thing I want most above all things from this gift shop would have to be this book, Cooking with the Saints (heavenly ahhs). C'mon, how neat is this book? I love cookbooks that are specific and have their own flare to it. Just like the postcards I bought from Graceland that had all of Elvis Presley's favorite foods. Now I can cook and eat what the saints ate. Awesome. If you have this book please do share with me your favorite recipe.

Well, my friends this has been the National Cathedral Gift Shop tour courtesy of The Full Time Wife. Until next time, Faith, Hope and Love...above all Love!

Red Velvet Cupcakery

I am back now after a long period of time and I don't really like to be away from my blogging if I don't have to be. But I had to due to huge life changes for my husband and I. We've moved from one coast to the other and it's been quite the adventure. Ask us and we'll tell you.

The week before we left the East Coast my husband's wonderful sister and her friend came to visit us and of course we gave them our Family Food Tour. Visiting the hotspots like Ben's Chili Bowl (of course!), 2 Amys & never missing a beat...Red Velvet Cupcakery.

I remember when I heard of their store opening at DC's Penn Quarter right next to their sister company TangySweet. In fact I think I signed up for some kind of daily deal online and that's how I found out about their premier. My first taste of Red Velvet's cupcakes was last spring and there has not been another cupcake store around DC to beat them since, at least that's what I firmly believe.

We entered the quaint storefront and were greeted with one of my favorite aromas in the world, chilled dairy mixed with spices of fall and chocolate. Oh it's such a wonderful experience every time. I'm telling you, it's so good you have to share this place with everyone you know.

My husband and I went all out and ordered 4 cupcakes: Southern Belle (a signature recipe of theirs and I promise you, you will not regret it), Devil's Food, Cookies N' Cream and their featured Poached Pear. My sister-in-law and her friend both ordered the Peanut Butter Cup. A delicious time was had by all.

So the next time you decide to visit DC definitely make it a must to visit Red Velvet Cupcakery. There are some other well-known cupcake stores in DC but not all stores live up to their hype. I know by personal experience and talking with locals about their favorite cupcake stores. Red Velvet is a gem you shouldn't pass up.

Current Locations found on their home page:

Washington, DC: Penn Quarter
501 7th St. NW
tel: 202-347-7895

Washington, DC: Dupont Circle
2029 P Street, NW
tel: 202-822-2066

Tucson, Arizona: Downtown
943 E University, Suite 165
tel: 520-829-7780

Tucson, Arizona: La Encantada
2905 E Skyline Drive, Suite 287
tel: 520-829-7780

Reston, VA Town Center
11939 Democracy Drive

They've announced on their website that plans are being made for two store openings in Northern Virginia. Lucky them, now can they please open one on the West Coast? We need lovin' too.