New KitchenAid? Let's Make Banana Bread!

I have a list called, "Mom, when you die you are giving me this..." and it is a list of kitchen items.  It consists of things like her All-Clad, Japanese dishes, China, a wooden bowl, a wooden pasta fork, and her KitchenAid (and various other items, as well).  She laughs every time I say it, and realizes I'm not kidding. My mother is the one who brought the wonders of cooking into my life, and I want that legacy to continue even after she's gone... When I make my first sukiyaki for my family, or a nabe.  Or ever time I make pasta.  But of course, that will be a long way from now. Seeing as my mother is in perfect health (and I'm happy about that) and I don't want to get married until I'm 90.

Anyways! So I get a call last fall from my mother (which was odd because I'm always the one who calls her) and she tells me, "You're grandmother has a present for you."  And I'm slightly shocked, but not all-to surprised.  My grandma is a fantastic woman, but she normally doesn't give presents. Just money (which ash always helped me in many many ways).  I promptly ask my mother what it is and she says, "Her KitchenAid."  I'm shocked.  Out of everything I want in my life, the KitchenAid is the one thing I knew would take me 500 years to purchase (since they're awfully expensive).  I laughed. I cried. I nearly had a myocardial infarction.  I was in cooking heaven, and this was at the same time I was discovering my absolute love for food and had a $5.00 hand blender.

Look at the color on the loaf - so golden!!

When I came home over Christmas there it was - in my grandmother's garage - a nearly brand new, barely used, professional "with-the-arms" KitchenAid with all the fix-ins.  I was nearly jumping out of my snow boots.  And to top it all off? My grandma offered me a go around at her cookbook cabinet.  I got about 100 cookbooks, mostly for baking, and I left with that KitchenAid.  But my tiny apartment could not accomodate, so I didn't bring it down until last week. And the first thing I do? I make banana bread, of course!

Banana bread is one of this things that instantly takes me back to my childhood.  I love the smell of the dough, and as it bakes it makes everything around it aromatic.  My mom always made it for swimming meets, so we could have a sweet, yet starchy, boost of energy at the end of the night.  This recipe was stolen from my neighbor many, many years ago.  And I will admit that it needs a change.  I made it and I was confused, because my bread was flat.  And I researched baking soda and baking powder (because the recipe called for baking soda) and there it was - baking soda requires acid, baking powder already has cream of tartar in it.  So, you may need to add a little cream of tartar to this recipe to make your bread nice and fluffy.

Banana Bread
Ingredients
3 large, ripe bananas
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup Crisco (I used 1/4 cup unsalted butter)
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Beat bananas until they are mashed in a small bowl.
In a stand mixer, beat eggs until light.  Then add sugar and butter and mix well.
Then add the flour, salt, and baking soda and mix well.
Mix in the mashed bananas.
Spray or grease 2 loaf pans and pour mixture evenly between the two.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown and they pass the toothpick test.

Enjoy this delicious banana-y bread!

Look at that air pocket!

Ciao e Bella Cucina!
Katherine

Fresh Herb and Campanelle Ribbon Bake

Because food makes you feel better and cooking is the best therapy, a friend and I decided to mix the two together and have a cooking-fest. We wanted to make something italian, amazing, and fresh, and we came up with this awesome recipe!

Ingredients:
Lots of olive oil
1 lb lean ground beef
1 bottle of Classico Fire Roasted Tomato and Garlic pasta sauce
1 package of campanelle pasta (serves 8)
1 8 oz package shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded parmesan romano blend
1 8 oz package ricotta
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves (not packed)
1 tbsp fresh oregano and parsley
Salt

Directions:
In a small bowl or mortar and pestel, crush garlic, oregano, parsley, and about 2 leaves of basil with 1/4 tsp of salt until it makes a thick paste. Set aside.
While cooking the pasta, pan fry the ground beef with 1/2 of the above mixture. Add about 1/2 tsp of salt in to the meat while cooking it.
Roll and slice the basil. You can chop it finer if you would rather have it that way. Add it in to a bowl with the ricotta cheese, about 1/4 cup of olive oil, the other 1/2 of herb mixture, and about 1 tbsp of the parmesan romano mixture. Set aside.
Once the pasta is finished, rinse it in cold water to stop cooking. Then mix the pasta, cooked beef, and half of the jar of pasta sauce in a large bowl.
Preheat oven to 350°.
In a large glass baking pan, spread 1/2 of the remaining pasta sauce in the bottom of the pan with about 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add in half of the pasta mixture and spread evenly throughout the pan. Then spread the ricotta cheese mixture and on top, sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese bag.  Then add the other half of the pasta mixture.  Top with the rest of the mozzarella and 1/4 cup of  parmesan romano mixture.
Cook for up to 30 minutes.