CHRISTMAS MORNING FROSTED NUT BANANA BREAD!

You know your college student is home for the holidays WHEN......

***Her formerly clean floor looks like this......... 

***This is what you find, still underneath the covers, AT NOON......

***The back-of-the-door shoe contraption is full, once again (sister LOVES her some shoes!)..........

***All of the cheese in your refrigerator MYSTERIOUSLY disappears........

Welcome home, Little Miss Thing! Only a few precious days to spend together until you are off to your dreamy semester in Paris.............

Laissez les bons temps rouler!...............

***********

So I have an AMAZING recipe to share with you today, but I am going to tell you the longish tale of how I actually found this recipe in a very rambling, round-about way, so please bear with me.

One day I was at one of my favorite places on the planet, Barnes and Noble, drinking a skinny Venti Latte and checking out the magazines. One magazine caught my eye...this one:

It's a little bit expensive (I think this quarterly mag. usually runs around $14.99), but SOOO worth the ducket, because if you are into crafting and art, or maybe just setting up a personal space for yourself to do whatever your heart desires, this magazine is super inspiring. Anywhoooo, I happened to come across across an article about a woman named Cindy who had a lovely old home and shop in Skaneateles, New York. Which is only a couple of hours from where I live. Cindy has a blog named Hidden Pond Farm (I've written about her a lot, verging on a scary obsession, I know that....), and I started following it. Then I started commenting on her posts, and before you know it, well, we became friends. Now, whenever I visit Skan-town, as Cindy calls it, I always like to pay her a visit. Check out her 150 year old farmhouse (this was taken on kind of a cold and gray day, but that's just how so many winter days ARE here in upstate NY).......Cindy is notoriously camera-shy, so this is all I've got for you......

Recently, Cindy was featured in ANOTHER magazine, this time focusing on her kitchen and her cooking. This magazine is a sister of Where Women Create, called Where Women Cook, and it can be found on newstands, nationwide.....

If you love cooking and kitchens and food, then this will surely be your new favorite magazine--promise! The spread on Cindy's kitchen will be coming up shortly ; I'll be sure to let you know, as soon as I stop salivating all over the article.

In the most recent issue of Where Women Cook, I was intrigued by a recipe for Frosted Nut Banana Bread that promised to become a family tradition. So of course I had to make it, and let me tell you that if you would love something special for the holidays (or anytime, really), this recipe is IT! The bread is soooo moist and delicious, and then, well now, HELLO cream cheese frosting! So decadent!  I also love that this is pretty much a one-bowl recipe...very little to clean up.

To begin, mash three ripe bananas you just have lying around going to waste........

Beat together butter, eggs and sugar in a large bowl......

Add vanilla, CREAM CHEESE, chopped pecans, mashed bananas and WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIPS--oh yum!........

Fold in, by hand, flour, baking soda and salt, just until blended......

Pour into a greased bread pan............

And bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until done in center..........

Let cool. Mix frosting ingredients together...want a lick?............

And frost cooled bread on a serving plate............

How fabulous would this be on Christmas morning, served with perhaps some scrambled eggs, fresh berries and coffee.............?

I have been storing ours in the refrigerator, and look who I caught sneaking a bite.............

Here's the recipe...I hope you enjoy it as much as we have...thank you, Where Women Cook!

FROSTED NUT BANANA BREAD

Makes 1 loaf

Bread:

1 stick butter at room temperature

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

8 oz. cream cheese, softened in microwave

1 / 2 cups chopped pecans

3 medium ripe bananas, mashed

1 / 2 cup white chocolate chips

1 and 1 / 2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 / 2 tsp. salt

Frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened in microwave

1 tsp. vanilla

2 and 1 / 2 cups powdered sugar

For bread, combine butter, eggs and sugar in a large bowl. Beat until creamy. Add next 5 ingredients, ending with chocolate chips; mix thoroughly. Add flour, baking soda and salt; mix again. Spray large bread pan with spray oil; pour batter into pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until center is done when tested. Let cool for 20 minutes; remove from pan and let cool on serving plate. For frosting, mix ingredients together by hand until smooth. Frost cooled bread. Store in refrigerator.

TODAY I'M SO GRATEFUL FOR....

***The fun girl's night out with friends Lisa and Barb, this past Friday night. Too fun, despite the fun they had, at my expense, laughing at my crooked ears!

***That our daughter's flights home were on time and uneventful, and that her luggage arrived with her. A rarity these days....

***That all of my Christmas shopping is DONE--now all I have to do is bake, rest, and enjoy my family......