all time go to banana bread recipe

munchkins
Originally uploaded by everydayobjects

I love making banana bread and I have one go to recipe. Everybody loves the moist cake and the sweet smell of bananas.

Banana bread recipe from Everyday Food Magazine

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature, plus more for pan
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan; set aside.
In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and
sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, and beat to incorporate.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to
the butter mixture, and mix until just combined. Add bananas, sour cream,
and vanilla; mix to combine. Stir in nuts, and pour into prepared pan.

3. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes
out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Let rest in pan for 10 minutes, then
turn out onto a rack to cool.

- Makes 1 big loaf

Variation - I usually like baking it in small cupcake sizes

perfect

perfect
Originally uploaded by everydayobjects

Spring weather is in full swing. Although we still get coat weather days, we have been getting a lot sunshine these days. Everything is abloom and there are flowers (and weeds) everywhere. Sunshine and spring make for good photo days.

I have been taking a lot of photos of flora lately. I primarily like taking photographs using natural lighting. The flowers (or weeds) in the park or sidewalk practically present itself as perfect subjects.

Right is my current favorite picture. The photo was taken from a neighbor's front garden. I love it when I do not have to "style" the subjects. The yellow flower (or is it a weed?) and bud were practically waiting to be photographed.

blue chair

blue chair
Originally uploaded by everydayobjects

Kicking the year right by working on my photos. I spent some time digging up photos taken from spring 2008 and tried to get as much from it as possible. I was happy with the results and the photos I have posted. I need to shoot more and worry less about how perfect a photograph is.

p.s.
this is my current favorite photo

cookie jar

The sun was shining bright but the weather outside was very cold. I spent most of the morning taking photos of cookies! You can view the photos here.

It was good to take photographs again and go through my process. The window by our nook is big enough to give good natural light during the day. The space is not big but enough for me to do the "beauty" still shots I normally do. After taking the photographs, I upload it to my computer where I do minimal processing on Photoshop. I try not to over obsessed with what I have or else I will never get anything done. When I satisfied with what I have I then upload the photos to flickr for posting and archiving.

The hardest part of the process is getting the idea from concept to memory card. What I have in mind does not always translate to something good or maybe even something possible for me to do. I enjoy going through this creative exercise.

find me something to blog

I spent the last three nights re-tooling the blog. I wanted a three-column layout and blogger didn't come with a canned template. Fortunately, I found a template I liked from this blog - - designs blogger buster. I kept the color scheme since it works for me as well. It turns out copying and pasting the code for the new template was the easiest part of this project. Deciding what elements on the peripherals took most of my time especially updating the header for the blog.

I vaguely understand html code. Although blogging has become a mostly push button activity some understanding of coding can be helpful. I get lost in the see of tags and brackets and lose focus as to what it all means. I end up doing a lot of trial and error to at least make the blog look a little better than what a three year old can do.

In the end I am pretty pleased with what I have. I like the structure, the flow of the information around the blog, the color scheme. Now I just need find something to blog.