Salivating Saturday

Banana bread is the easiest quick bread in the world to make and what better way to make use of those old bananas that no one wants to eat. I like banana bread but chocolate banana bread-watch out, cause I will fight you for the last crumbs. The chocolate is not overpowering and with a little bit of butter-SO GOOD!

Chocolate Banana Bread
 Ingredients

1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips (dark or milk, your choice)
2 large eggs lightly beaten
1/2 cup melted butter, slightly cooled
3 ripe or overripe bananas well mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place oven rack to middle position. Butter and flour (or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) the bottom and sides of a large loaf pan.


In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda an salt.


In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. 


Fold in wet ingredients into dry ingredients. The batter will be very thick and slightly chunky. Now fold in nuts and chips.


Bake until bread has risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 65 minutes

Feel Good Friday!

Howdy pardners! It's Friday  and guess what? I have a deep secret to share with you. I'm a little embarrassed, but I figure I'm among friends, so what the heck. I have secretly always wanted to be a cowgirl. As I look out my window and watch the traffic, I yearn for a wide open space to do my cowgirl thing.

 

Isn't she the cutest? I'm pretty sure that I look this cute when I am out on the range-and by range, I mean my backyard. My friend Becky stitched this up for me when we first met. She's good people and does some awesome stitching! 

 No one captured the wild west and rodeos like Erwin E. Smith. His photos show real cowboy and cowgirl life and the colorful pageantry of wild west shows. 

Even though I can't live out my fantasy of roping and riding (at least right now), I watch American Cowgirl and get my quick fix

I'm pretty sure I need this shirt to be a real cowgirl.

I definitely need these boots

And maybe this horse...I need to start off slow, I don't want to get bucked off.

Oh my little wranglers! One day I will live out my dream of having a little piece of land. Do a little farming, a little riding, a little gazing of OMP in his wranglers...oops, probably should kept that one to myself. Until then, I will just have to keep looking up at the stars and wishing. Yeehaw!

The Moments That Take Your Breath Away

Hi everyone! I'm so sorry that I have been MIA for the past couple of days. Reality once again has gotten in the way of me having fun.  OMP and I loss a family friend  and quite honestly, it has hit us like a ton of bricks.

The loss of a friend not only breaks your heart but also has you questioning your own mortality. It makes you wonder if you have everything in order and even more so, makes you think about the things that you haven't done yet. Here's the thing about life-it is short and it can be taken away at any minute, hell, any second.

The most amazing thing about death is how it reminds us to live. It reminds us to love. It reminds us how limited time really is. Last night, I sat on the couch with my husband, we held each other, with dogs crawling all over us, and all I could think of was how blissful it was. How fortunate I am and how I now had a wonderful memory of my family for the future. If I left this world tomorrow, this one moment in time has been captured and will bring a smile to OMP's face for the rest of his life. How beautiful is that?

I'm not trying to be morbid or a downer, on the contrary, I am trying to get you to see how wonderful you are and how wonderful everything around you should be. You need to smell the flowers, jump in more puddles, down more pixie sticks and pop rocks! Catch a snowflake on your tongue. Look up at the stars. My only request is don't do it alone! Take a loved one with you-it could be your snuggle bunny, your silly cat, or the lazy dog. Just let someone share that memory with you!

The people we love can be taken away in an instance and that truly tugs my soul in different directions. I weep for the loss and celebrate life in the same breath. I try to reason with the loss and figure out a way to make my own life more meaningful. The one thing that I do know is that every little minute should be celebrated, even the crappy ones. Those crappy minutes can teach you a lot, but that lecture is for another day. Life isn't the breath you take, but the moments that take your breath away.

Feel Good Friday!

Awww man! The weekend is here and I am happy about that! Did you survive? Are you ready to get a little dirty?  I know I am!

This is just too sweet. The bunny is a pin. Refabulous does beautiful embroidery (check out her butterfly), super cute pin cushions and this little guy...

I have become a gardening nut and can't wait to move to the country to have a little hobby farm with goats, chickens, a wonderful barn...until then I can The Fearless FarmGirl blog. Patty is very sweet and I love reading about her adventures in gardening and making treats for her dog. My favorite entry is the one about WalMart.

Time to start planting your seeds and getting your plants ready for spring. Even if you live in a tiny apartment, you can still grow something-a little herb garden, tomatoes, a strawberry pot. Try it! You will find such a reward in getting dirty and growing your own food. Burpee seeds are well known for their catalog and are probably the most commercial out there. If you are looking for something wonderfully rare and exotic, check out Heritage Harvest. Both offer great seeds and advice on their sites.

I need this gardening apron. NEED IT!

EEEP! I can't wait to get my gardening on! Maybe I'll even start with some indoor herb gardens this weekend. A little rosemary in my life, a little bit of thyme on the side.....Enjoy your weekend-get out there and GROW!

Pixies! Pixies! Pixies!

Just like the title says....I deliver. I found this pattern years ago and it was one of the first things I stitched up for OMP.

A Little Bit of Love

Love is everywhere today. Boxes of chocolates are flying off the shelves, love poems are being written and smooches are being had all over the world. Now, I love Valentines Day, but I hate romance movies. They are so over the top ridiculous, the dialogue pains me to no end and the stories are week and insulting... with that being said....here are my favorite movies for lovers.

My first choice for a great couple's movie is Grease. How can you not call this a wonderful Valentines movie? It's classic, plus you and your sweetie can sing all the songs together while acting out the scenes...oh yeah, a little role play to spice up the romance. Seriously,  trust me on this one. If you pop this dvd into the player, your scoring points will go through the ceiling. You two can decide who's gonna be Sandy and who's gonna be Danny-I'm staying out of that one. 

Okay, fine, so singing and role playing isn't your sort of thing. You want something a little more classic but will still give you a chuckle. How about Bringing Up Baby? This film has two of my favorites-Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn in it. You've got a little bit of science, some romance and a terrier! How can you go wrong with a terrier in a movie-you can't, you just can't.

My last love movie has one of my favorite romance guys in it. Almost all of my favorite movies about love have this guy in it. Say Anything, Better Off Dead, Gross Pointe Blank...I'm talking about John Cusack. This time he stars in the quirky  comedy romance High Fidelity. The music alone will make you so very happy and in the mood.


Alright my little loves, time to for me to get my groove on...awww yeah....that's what I'm talking about...Happy V-day. XOXOX

Scrappy Love Sunday

Ladies.....he's single. I know, hard to believe.