Simple Banana Nut Bread

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe for you fine folks.  Here's a super easy and delicious one that Trav and I made the other night to get rid of the scary looking bananas I had taking up space in the freezer.  I know that sounds terribly appetizing, but they work great for banana bread.  Anytime you have bananas that are on the verge of going bad, put them in your freezer whole and save them for a rainy day when you just have to have some yummy banana bread.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Crisco

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

2 bananas

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp lemon juice

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 chopped nuts (I use pecans)

Preheat your oven to 350.

Cream crisco and sugar. 

 Add eggs and beat well.  Take a second to kiss your sweet little helper.

 Mash up your bananas with a fork.

Add bananas to mixer along with milk and lemon juice and mix well.

 Add dry ingredients and mix well.

 Stir in chopped nuts.

 Pour into well greased loaf pan,

 and bake at 350 for approx 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean in the center.

Your bread will rise significantly while baking.

Allow the pan to cool for a few minutes, then gently lay pan on the side and ease the bread out to cool on a clean rag.  Slice up into thick pieces, and serve with butter or my favorite, cream cheese.

Nummmmmmmy. 

And TOTALLY fat free.  Yep...

Enjoy, my friends!  Thank you so much for your continued support.

XO

~Penny Wenny

4 Years Strong

4 years ago today I married my best friend.

Time is a funny thing.  It feels like it was yesterday and yet at the same time, I can't remember life without him. 

I do remember having a permanent smile glued to my face the entire day because I knew that I had made the right decision saying yes to this incredible man, and felt so confident in what we we had committed to.

 Our bodies were absolutely frozen as we shot pictures right after our ceremony in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple, but our hearts were warm.

We had a beautiful wedding reception surrounded by incredible family and friends.

I felt secure knowing that although I was leaving my home and security I'd always known from my Dad, I was going to be protected and loved by this amazing man.

Lucky for me, he still makes me laugh every single day.

To my Sweets, thank you for the best 4 years of my life.  I look forward to an eternity more with you...

Love,

Me

My Favorites from 2011

Happy New Years, friends!  I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that this New Years Eve was the first I can remember where I actually didn't even pay attention to the time, and realized it was a new year when our movie ended around 12:30.  Is that a sign that I'm getting old, or just boring???  Don't answer that...

It dawned on me after I realized that I had missed the ball drop, the kiss, the excitement of the New Year that I am so happy to be where I am in my life.  I certainly enjoyed my single and even married but without kids years, but I don't miss the constant feeling of being let down after setting such high expectations for holidays like New Years in particular.  It was a great feeling to know that I am so content where I am in my life right now.  I am blessed with an incredible and loving husband, a hilarious and tender hearted little boy, wonderful friends and supportive neighbors.  Who could ask for more? 

So, I thought it would be fun to take a walk down memory lane and share some of my favorite projects from this past year. 

Hands down the biggest and possibly craziest project I undertook was our Master Bedroom Makeover. I did this entire makeover in about two weeks time in order to enter it into a design contest, and thanks to the support of so many wonderful readers and fellow bloggers I took second place in the contest.

We did a LOT of work in a short amount of time, but I am absolutely smitten with the end result.  It quickly became my favorite room in the house.

The matching Faux Mirrored Metallic Nightstands from my Master Bedroom were a project and a half themselves, but also worth the effort and mistakes learned along the way.

I shared some fun baby shower ideas from this Nautical Themed Baby Shower that I hosted for one of my good friends.

I feel like my biggest growth this year in the project world has been in reupholstery.  I've learned a lot, and continue to get better with practice and experience.  My Reupholstery series shares some of the tips and tricks I have learned for those who are interested in tackling upholstery projects themselves.

This Chevron Chair was another crowd pleaser and one that I really enjoyed doing.

Another insane project for me was the Dining Room Set that I transformed for my own kitchen.  It also required a ridiculous amount of time and elbow grease, but I am so in love with how it turned out. 

This Antique Dresser that I refinished was a great learning experience for me and turned out to be beautiful and timeless.

I did several different dressers this year, but my personal favorite by far was this Heavily Distressed Desk.  It was a quick and experimental one day project that turned out to be one of the hardest pieces for me to let go of when it sold.  I'm still a little bit sad that I didn't keep it for myself...

And for the foodies like me out there a few of my favorite recipes I shared are Peanut Curried Chicken,

Easter Bunny Shortbread Cookies,

and the BEST Salsa ever,

So there you have it my friends.  It was a fun filled year for me with lots of projects.  I have big plans for next year and will share some of my goals with you this week.  Bring it on, 2012.  I'm ready for you...

XO

~Penny Wenny

The DIY Showoff

Southern Hospitality