Nana's Banana Bread

5 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups mashed, very ripe bananas
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bottom only of 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2.) Beat butter in large bowl with an electric mixer set at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat well. Add egg, egg whites and vanilla; beat until well blended. Add mashed banana, and beat on high speed 30 seconds.
3.) Combine flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder in medium bowl. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with cream, ending with flour mixture. Add walnuts to batter; mix well.
4.) Pour batter evenly into prepared loaf pan. Bake until browned and toothpick inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
5.) Cool bread in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan; cool completely on wire rack. Slice and serve with butter and jam.

My family and I enjoyed this recipe. It is different from the banana bread that we usually make. We usually just use granulated sugar not brown sugar. But I think I like it better with brown sugar added. If you wanted to you could add chocolate chips in the batter and bake. You could also add more chopped walnuts to the batter if you wanted to. I like to serve the bread when it's hot so the butter melts into the bread. I hope you enjoy this recipe too.

Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Pie

1/2 cup chocolate syrup
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups crisp rice cereal
1/4 cup sour cream
1 quart chocolate chip ice cream, softened

1.) Coat bottom and sides of an 8-inch pie plate lightly with butter.
2.) Combine chocolate syrup and chocolate chips in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high until hot, about 45 seconds. Stir until smooth. Reserve 1/4 cup of the chocolate mixture.
3.) Combine remaining chocolate mixture and cereal in a medium bowl and mix to coat cereal. Press mixture over bottom and up sides of prepared pie plate. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
4.) Combine reserved chocolate mixture and the sour cream in a small bowl and mix well. Spread half the ice cream in the prepared pie plate. Drizzle with half the sour cream mixture. Top with remaining ice cream and drizzle with remaining sour cream mixture. Freeze pie, covered, until firm, about 1 hour.

My family and I enjoyed this recipe. It is chocolaty but it’s not to chocolaty. I did make a few changes though. For the drizzling I only put the chocolate on part of the pie to make that part not so chocolaty. I didn’t quite use 1/2 cup chocolate syrup to make it a little bit not so chocolaty. Other than being a little chocolaty it was a good recipe so I hope you like this recipe to.

Peanut Creme Bars

1/3 cup margarine
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
1 7-ounce jar marshmallow creme
1 cup chunky peanut butter
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon shortening
2 tablespoons chopped peanuts

1. Beat margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Add flour; mix well. Press onto bottom of 8-inch square baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

2. Combine marshmallow creme and peanut butter, mixing at medium speed on electric mixer until well blended. Carefully spread over crust. Melt chocolate and shortening in small saucepan over low heat. Spread over marshmallow creme mixture. Sprinkle with peanuts. Chill, makes about 20 bars.

My family and I enjoyed this recipe. I didn't think this recipe needed to be changed because I thought it was good to begin with. But if you wanted to you could add more peanuts on the top of the bars. You can also use a 9x13-inch pan and just double the recipe if you wanted more bars at a time. I hope you enjoy this recipe too.

Stawberry-Lemon Swirl Pie

2 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened strawberries
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
Several drops red food coloring (optional)
2 3-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups light cream or milk
1 4-serving-size package instant lemon pudding mix
1 9-inch graham cracker crust
Sliced strawberries
Fresh mint sprigs (optional)

In a large bowl mash the 2 cups strawberries. In a small saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch. Stir in the water and mashed strawberries. Cook and stir till mixture is thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Stir in the lemon juice, butter or margarine, and the food coloring. Cover surface with clear plastic wrap. Cool, and then chill.

In a small mixer bowl beat cream cheese with an electric mixer till fluffy. Beat in cream till well blended. Add pudding mix; beat on low speed for 1 minute. Spoon half of the pudding mixture into the prepared crust. Top with half the strawberry mixture. Repeat layers. Using a spatula, gently swirl top two layers to marble. Cover; chill to store. Garnish with strawberry slices and mint. Makes about 8 servings.  

My family and I enjoyed this recipe. I didn't really make any changes because I thought it was a good recipe to begin with. I did use the red food coloring and some mint for the top of the pie. If you wanted to you could buy a pie shell, instead of making your own with the graham cracker crust. I hope you enjoy this recipe too.

Dilled Macaroni and Cheese

1 16-ounce package rotelle, larger shells, ziti, or elbow macaroni
1 1/2 pounds sharp cheddar cheese
1 bunch radishes
2 medium-sized green peppers
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
2/3 cup milk
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

1. Prepare macaroni; drain. Meanwhile, with a sharp knife, cut cheese into 1/2-inch cubes; cut radishes into slices; cut green peppers into 1/4-inch-wide strips.

2. In large bowl with spoon and whisk, mix well mayonnaise, milk, dill, salt, and cracked pepper. Gently stir in macaroni, cheese, radishes, and green peppers until well coated. Makes 8 main-dish servings.

My family and I enjoyed this recipe. I made some changes to this recipe though. I used dried dill instead of fresh chopped dill. Instead of useing cheese cut into cubes I used shreaded cheese. The salt, black pepper, radishes, and green pepper I added to taste. This is also a cold salad so you need to cool the noodles. I hope you like this recipe too.

Spaghetti "Aio E Oio" With Fresh Tomatoes and Basil

1 pound spaghetti
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup extra virgin plive oil
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
finely chopped red chili pepper, to taste
1/4 to 1/2 pound very fresh plum tomatoes
small handful fresh sweet basil leaves

1. Cook pasta in salted water. Core and skin tomatoes. Cut tomatoes in half and seed and juice them, cut in small dice.

2. Put olive oil, salt, tomatoes, hot pepper (if using it), and garlic into a large bowl. Drain pasta and add to bowl. Add basil, torn in smaller pieces if leaves are big. Toss pasta well, adding more salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Serve immediatly.

My family and I enjoyed this recipe. I did make some changes to the recipe though. I used garlic powder to taste instead of chopped garlic. I desided not to use any chili pepper in this recipe. I also used dried basil leaves instead of fresh basil leaves. It tasted good but I wanted to add cheese to it to which also tasted good. I hope you enjoy this recipe too.

Nutty Banana Dessert

1 envelope Unflavored Gelatine
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 eggs, separated
1 cup milk
1 medium banana, mashed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (1/2 pt.) whipping or heavy cream, whipped
8 tablespoons Nut topping
1 medium banana

In medium saucepan, mix unflavored gelatine with 4 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon; blend in egg yolks beaten with milk. Let stand 1 minute. Stir over low heat until gelatine is completely dissolved, about 5 minutes. Stir in mashed banana and vanilla. Pour into large bowl and chill, stirring occasionally, until mixture mounds slightly when dropped from spoon.

In medium bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form; gradually add remaining sugar and beat until stiff. Fold egg whites, then whipped cream and 6 tablespoons nut topping into gelatine mixture. Turn into 4-cup bowl or mold; chill until firm. Garnish with remaining banana, sliced, remaining nut topping and , if desired, additional whipped cream. It makes about 8 servings.

My family and I enjoyed this recipe. I didn't change very many things at all and it tasted great. I desided to use the heavy whipped cream instead of the regular whipped cream. I also used the additional whipped cream on the pieces that my family wanted more on. Other then at the dessert was really good. I hope you enjoy it too.