A Tall Glass of Lemonade

Yesterday it was so nice and Katy and I decided to make homemade lemonade. We took 6 lemons and rolled them and then sliced and juiced them. We cooked 1 quart of water and 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar in the microwave for 2 minutes to make a simple syrup. Then I combined the lemon juice with the simple syrup and added a pinch of salt and poured it over ice. Katy sliced another lemon for garnish and Voila! Yummy. Now it is 40 degrees and we are thinking of building a fire-Isn't God amazing!

Tomatoes and Peppers

Our garden looks absolutley horrible. Being gone for 10 days certainly didn't help it any, but the weather here is so dry, that everything looks pretty rough. I did manage to bring in a small amount of tomatoes this weekend. We have hundreds of them on the vine that haven't fallen prey to blossom end rot yet, but I am not sure they will make it. They are still so green. Need to make some fried green tomatoes. Yum! I will just put this small amount up in the freezer. I did put up 13 small bags of chopped green peppers this weekend as well. I like putting those through my food processor and storing them in about 1/2 cup amounts. I do the same thing with onions. It makes sauteing them for sauces and dishes very simple. Pop out a couple of bags and you are good to go! The other item we have plenty of is banana peppers. They are similar to a weed in their growth process. They need little to no care and will grow anywhere in rampant amounts! I make a banana pepper mustard that is out of this world for dipping and for sandwiches and I've even used some in deviled eggs to give them a kick. I will include my recipe here in case you have banana peppers coming our your ears too! Enjoy.

Sweet or Hot Banana Pepper Relish

9-12 banana peppers cleaned and chopped

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup prepared mustard

3/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup honey

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp all purpose flour

1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp water

Cook the peppers in the vinegar for 5 minutes. Then add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Cook for about 10 minutes longer. You will need to stir frequently so that it doesn't stick to your pan. Let cool a bit and then put in containers. Store tightly sealed in refrigerator. This keeps very well. You could can it so that it could be stored on a pantry shelf or be given away as gifts.

Super Moist Banana Bread

Well I just love it when the bananas don't get eaten and I get to make some bread. It makes the whole house smell scrumptious! I am including my recipe and some pictures of the process. If you are not a cook, pictures always help I think. I have found that gathering all of my ingredients first makes the process much smoother. I also clean as I go along. It is much easier to sit and enjoy that yummy warm bread when the dishes are done and the supplies are put away. So if you have some aging bananas that seem destined for death, put them to good use today!

First you will need to preheat your oven to 350.

Then gather the following ingredients:

1 stick of butter at room temp ( I never use margarine, so I don't know if it changes the recipe)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

4 ripe bananas

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla ( I always use pure vanilla, but imitation will work)

1/4 cup sour cream (I think this addition is what makes it so moist)

1/4 to 1/2 tsp cinnamon (depends on your taste)

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Optional items-2/3 cup finely chopped pecans and/or 1/3-1/2 cup chocolate chips

Combine the bananas, sugar and butter. I put my broken bananas in and run those for a minute to mash them, then put in my butter and sugar. Add your eggs one at a time. Mix until combined. Then add your vanilla, sour cream and spices. Once those are incorporated, add your flour mix (soda, salt, flour). Then if you like pecans or chocolate chips, you add those.

I use a great Martha Stewart mini-loaf pan to bake mine. They just look nice once they are done and they are easier to freeze (if you have any leftover). You could use a loaf pan or muffin tins. You will need to adjust the cook time though.

Mini loaf pan-30 minutes Loaf pan- 50-60 minutes Muffin tins-check at 15 minutes