Sorry, we have no bananas

I am a fan of banana bread, and we happened to have 3 bananas sitting on our counter just asking to be made into banana bread (aka, we had 3 bananas that neither of us had eaten and that had started turning brown). My tried and true banana bread recipe is actually a vegan recipe and is quite delicious. I've probably made it a dozen times over the last four years. It also fools me into thinking it's somewhat good for me because it contains wheat germ.

Today I decided to try something new and made some Chocolate Banana Bread courtesy of AllRecipes.com. I just ate a piece as dessert for dinner, and I must say it might beat out my tried and true recipe for the best banana bread ever. It's pretty heavy on the chocolate taste, and therefore kind of rich, so I can't picture myself making it all the time, but it will definitely be added into the banana bread rotation.

Chocolate Banana Bread
NOTE: The recipe on All Recipes makes 2 loaves. I halved the recipe, and used half white sugar and half brown sugar. Otherwise the recipe is unchanged.


1/2 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3 bananas, mashed
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking soda
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup lite sour cream
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together margarine, sugar and eggs. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Sift in flour, baking soda and cocoa; mix well. Blend in sour cream and chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean.

Acorn Squash Soup w/Pasta

Fall is not entirely upon us, at least not yet. With temperatures in the upper 70's today, I found myself wishing the weather was a little cooler. I want it to be cool and crisp and sunny, not it's-so-hot-I'm-constantly-sweating sunny. I want to curl up with a warm cup of coffee and a good book. I want steaming hot, warm-you-on-the-inside soup.

So today I decided if fall won't come to me, I'll come to fall. Soup was in order, and lucky for me I had two acorn squashes handy from the farm share. This recipe turned out to be quick and easy, especially with being able to use the handy-dandy immersion blender. I would highly recommend this recipe if you've got some winter squash you don't quite know what to do with.

Acorn Squash Soup w/ Pasta



8 ounces pasta
2 acorn squash (medium size), split, seeded and quartered
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup grated carrot
1 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
3 cans (13 1/4 oz size) chicken broth

Topping
1 cup sour cream or yogurt
1 tbsp sugar

1. Cook squash in one inch of water in covered saucepan for 15 minutes, or until tender. Cool. Scrape out pulp and put back in pot with water.
2. Add margarine, onion, carrots, sugar, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon. Cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook until vegetables are tender.
3. Add 3 cups of the broth and puree all in a blender or food processor (or even better, use your immersion blender). Return to the pot and add remaining broth, bring to a boil and add uncooked pasta.
4. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, or until pasta is done.
   
5. Before serving, blend sour cream or yogurt and sugar in a separate bowl. Put dollop on top of each bowl of soup. Serve hot.