A few days ago I was talking on my September 98 Moms list that I would likely mix up a batch of banana bread since we had some ripening bananas that no one wanted. Fellow list member, and friend, Lisa, passed on this recipe to try instead.

I whipped these up quickly (literally, under 10 minutes!) and they were fresh out of the oven when the kids got off the bus this afternoon. My four, and two neighborhood friends all gave them a big thumbs up!

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

2 extra ripe, medium bananas, peeled
2 eggs
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1 cup chocolate chips*
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Puree bananas in blender. (Note: I just mash mine with a fork.) In
medium bowl, combine bananas, eggs, sugar and margarine until well
blended. Stir in chocolate chips and vanilla. In large bowl, combine
flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir banana mixture into
flour mixture until evenly moistened. Spoon batter into well greased
muffin pan. Bake at 350 degrees 25 - 30 minutes or until wooden pick
inserted in center comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins.

*original recipe called for blueberries

The only thing I may change the next time I make these, is to use slightly less chocolate chips, or maybe add some nuts to the batter. Additionally, I used butter instead of margarine, and I don't think it made a difference.

Also, Lisa reports that the original recipe can be credited to Great American Favorite Brand Name Cookbook

Three days without internet access. Oy.

Lots of food, Lots of family, LOTS of children, Lots of shopping.

First the food...

Mom made everything besides the mashed potatoes (I brought those.) And while I love my mom's Thanksgiving feast.. I think I've just grown accustomed to my own menu. I missed my apple raisin stuffing, and my way of making green bean casserole (I use fresh or frozen beans, mom uses canned.) I had to practically twist Mom's arm into letting me bring the potatoes, how do you think she would react to my suggestion of making the turkey and stuffing?

I tried Ree's recipe for mashed potatoes when she posted it earlier this month, and I can't rave enough. There are never leftovers. And if there is, they reheat perfectly. Usually leftover mashed potatoes, get gloopy, lumpy and disgusting, but not these. We finished ours off on Saturday evening for dinner and I swear they tasted better than they did on Thanksgiving day!

Lots of family. Got to see my dad, my aunt and uncle.. sisters, one brother, and nephews and niece. It was a lively house with all the children.

Shopping. We (Jill, Danny, Jess, Jay, and myself) were at Penney's when they opened at FOUR A.M., just so my sister could get that silly free snow globe *sigh*. Then Walmart.. then Target.. then Toys R Us. I didn't get the deals I usually snag, because, well.. there just weren't many this year unless you were buying a large screen TV. But the crowds were immense... the worst I've ever seen. And people were just rude to the extreme, though we did encounter many very nice, courteous, and helpful folks.

Toys R Us really ticked me off because items I wanted, were listed on the shelf tag, much lower than they rang up. Not just once but twice. A High School Musical "Gabriella" doll that Cassidy asked for, was 14.99 on the shelf. Rang up at over 20 (I put it back.) A hideaway popup tent for Connor that was 12.99 on the shelf rang up at 22.99. I put that one back too. I swear they do that on purpose.

And at Sears, I tried to buy one of those small exercise trampolines for Connor since his OT has been suggesting we purchase one. It was on sale for 19.99, but the shipment never arrived. The salesman told me I could buy it then for the sale price and pick it up when they came in at my local store here in Syracuse, but the damn "store locater system" wasn't working, so we couldn't get the order to go through.

We had a great time though.. and went to the Glider Diner in Scranton for breakfast. Fries with gravy.. for breakfast.. YUM. As I've said a million times when people ask why I go shopping on Black Friday... its all about having fun with my family. A great deal is just the bonus.

See, I skip a few days, then return with lots of pictures..

Behold.. Momos. Mine aren't as pretty as the ones on the wiki link, but I bet they taste better! And you can be sure, I definitely ate more than three. I only put three in the bowl for the purpose of taking a picture!

Fellow fans of the Loopy Ewe will recognize what arrived in my mailbox on Saturday. See, once you place your sixth order, you become a "Loopy Groupie". I knew about the tote bag, but I wasn't expecting BONUS yarn! Whoa Sheri.. very nice surprise! And truth is.. I didn't even realize this was my sixth order, so my "Loopy Status" really was a surprise! If you are the type that cares about what I bought... I ordered the SKNITches Kettle Drum "Cherry Bark" bamboo/merino/nylon sock yarn there on the right. The surprise sock yarn is two skeins of Shibui superwash merino in the "Breeze" colorway. Squee!

I couldn't pass up the hand painted fiber sale at Spunky Ecclectic. Isn't this colorway amazing? See? My favorite colors! Three bundles of blue faced leicester (I swear this is my new favorite fiber!) Amy's colorways are beautiful.. and the selection of fiber, vast. More Squee!

I knit this hat for myself last week, using the Sublime merino silk cashmere dk that Byrony sent me over the summer. Well apparently my ability to pull off the hat look has expired. Good thing Cassidy can though! What a ham, huh? And thanks to Rosa for linking to bighugelabs where I made the mosaic. (What a find!)

Want to know which pattern? You can get the pattern here.

Lastly.. Talk me out of driving back over to Marshall's in Fairmount to buy these shoes. I tried them on yesterday. I almost bought them before I talked myself out of it with my usual mental argument : Shoe whore - You idiot, Christmas is coming - Heating season - Gas up to 3.31 a gallon - We really want to buy a new sofa - And the TV is on its last legs - But I waaaaant them - $110.00 retail, compared to the $38.99 price tag at Marshalls...

See the inner struggle at work here?

Wonder if I can sell off some yarn to buy the shoes because I.can't.stop.thinking.about.them!

When Richard asked me what I wanted for my birthday dinner, I set to task looking for recipes I thought I might like to try. This one looked very intriguing. Being a sweet potato fry purist, I was skeptical about the basil salt, and the garlic mayo dressing. But maaaaan, these were amazing. I mean really amazing. I could make a meal out of these alone.

Go. Make them. Now.

Then come back and thank me for directing you to the recipe.

In a few days, on Sunday to be exact, I will celebrate my first annual 39th birthday. This is a big milestone, no? Well, maybe it isn't since I plan to celebrate the same birthday every year from here on out.

So I'd like to entertain a little reversal here, and have a little contest. No answering questions, no donations to charities, just leave a comment telling me about a favorite birthday present you've received. I'll pick one at random on Sunday, November 4th and put together a little surprise package for the winner. See, as much as I love receiving surprises.. I adore putting together surprises for others. If the winner is a knitter or spinner, perhaps you'll get a nice fibery surprise in the mail. If you're not, maybe an Amazon or iTunes gift certificate... I have lots of ideas!

And here, I'll get you started. What is my favorite birthday present? Cassidy! She was born just a few months shy of my 30th birthday, and I had always wanted a baby before I turned 30 (weird.. I know!) But besides all of that, Richard and I were both surprised, since we had always thought our path to parenthood would be a difficult one. We were looking at facing lengthy and heartbreaking fertility cycles.. then there it was.. a positive pregnancy test, all on our own. And after a rocky first trimester, when we were expecting the worst to happen every day, despite bed rest and progesterone supplements, we were truly blessed... just in time to fulfill my 30th birthday wish.

Now, go, and tell me all about your favorite birthday present! As you can tell, it doesn't have to be a "thing", it can be "the perfect day", a great meal... anything.

P.S. Scorpios Rule!

and I'll likely take the weekend off from blogging unless I end up with something fun to share. But before unplugging, I offer another list of really cool sites..

Loren, my good friend and frequent commenter here, has started a new blog called The Other Side Of New York, where she'll talk about all sorts of fun things to do upstate. Give her a visit and be sure to subscribe or bookmark!

This cupcake hat at Chile Con Yarne. Too cute for words. Be sure not to miss the viking hat and pineapple hat either!

CNY Menus. I use this site way too often, but its a great resource.

A knitted donkey pattern. Doesn't this just scream out to be knit by me? Well, it will be.. I bought it. And I'm tempted to buy the panda, lamb, and kangaroo too.

Sheri posted this recipe for Italian shredded beef on her blog, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. So easy, and damn tasty. I was skeptical.. how could something so easy be that good? But I'm a believer.. and so is the rest of the family. Alex took one bite, had a look of food euphoria and immediately asked that we make it again. We served it on uber soft kaiser rolls and had a green salad on the side. YUM!

Have a great weekend y'all!

So Richard and I were married seven years ago today. And how did we celebrate the occasion? We installed the ice maker kit on the new fridge. And we played Mario Kart on the Game Cube with the kids. Then just sort of laid around the house in general until it was time to go grocery shopping . (What? Not festive enough? It was the perfect Saturday to me!)

Usually we get all kick ass culinary on our anniversary, but nothing sounded good enough to put in the effort. Instead we had ala carte dinner from the Wegmans deli (I know.. how lame!) I had a chicken filet in French lemon butter cream sauce. Richard, an Italian pork cutlet, and as a side we actually did make this, bow tie pasta with pesto, tomato and feta (a keeper of a recipe.. oh so good!).

The original plan was to make spanakopita, but if you've made it, you know its sort of labor intensive. Since my head and sinuses are so congested right now.. the thought of standing in the kitchen layering phyllo dough for an hour started to make me hyperventilate. Maybe next weekend

Now its time to get in jammies, watch a movie, knit a little bit and hit the sack early.

No, its not the seven year itch. Its just that half of us are still pretty sick *cough cough - sniffle sniffle*

I don't have them.. but I need some.

I've been trying to come up with some ways to prepare meals for the kids, to tempt them into trying healthier foods. Cassidy and Alex, being pretty adventurous eaters don't usually require "tricks" to get them to try something. Dyan and Connor, on the other hand, ages 5 and 3 really require some coaxing.

For example, Dylan could live on spaghetti, boxed Kraft shells and cheese, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Though he does share Daddy's fondness for good slow cooked oatmeal, and he does love all kinds of fruit, I'd really love to get this kid to eat some veggies, and not have to hide them. I'm a little shocked still that he can be this opposed to vegetables since his tastes and texture preferences are very similar, if not identical to Richard, who loves vegetables of all kinds.

I've already decided that once school starts, we're going to go the way of bento style lunches. Cassidy really packed on weight last school year, and while I don't think its all the horrible school lunches, packing a fun healthy lunch for her will at least help. I think she'll balk less at her packed lunch if I pack it in a fun creative way vs, the old American standard of PB&J, a yogurt cup, banana and juice box.

So I'm toying with the idea of a fruit and veggie fondue night, maybe to take place on our regular pizza night. And I think I'm going to try making some onigiri balls, with some sort of veggie hidden inside. One thing is for sure, my kids love foods they can eat with their hands. And they love dipping foods.

Ideas? Someone? Please?