Banana Nut Muffins

Big Hoot gave me a food processor for Christmas and I am LOVING it. I have only a hand mixer and a blender, both of which seem ready to die, so I am learning to use the food processor instead. This past week, as the title suggests, I made banana nut muffins. We had TONS of bananas on hand from our co-op and I needed to use them up. I thought muffins would be handier as a grab and go snack than a loaf of bread. I used the following recipe from Food Network. My notes are shown in italics.



Banana Nut Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 overripe bananas

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup pecans, chopped *I used walnuts instead.

*I added 1/2 t. of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly butter 2 muffin tins.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together like you mean it, for a good 3 minutes. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins to fill them about halfway. Give them a rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.

Bake until a toothpick stuck in the muffins comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before turning the muffins out. Serve warm or at room temperature.

*I used a food processor rather than a mixer and 'whipped' them together in mere seconds. I used a 1/3 c. measuring cup to ladle the batter more evenly into the tins. My muffin tins made 18 muffins. I had a few larger ones and they didn't set as well in the center. In the future I plan to better mash the bananas they had me set to the side and add some chunkier nuts to the top for 'decoration'. Stored in an airtight container it seems they will last about 5 days, though they are getting a little sticky and are better microwaved a few seconds these last 2 days.

Christmas Clothes

I made matching pajama pants for Lil Hoot and I for Christmas - because I found some great fabric (Smores from Moda Fabrics by Me and My Sister Designs) and had enough to make us both a pair. Nothing fancy and no real 'pattern' - just found some instructions for how to make them based on what I already own. It was a real learning process and next year's pants will be much better, I'm sure. Plus - I hope to not be sewing them up on Christmas Eve.
I also made Lil Hoot a Christmas dress. Poor girl didn't have a single dress in her closet and I wanted something fun and funky, fitting for her personality (and mine) for Christmas. First I searched around here for fabrics in craft and quilting stores but found nothing...and then it dawned on me - duh - search Etsy! So I found some GREAT fabric (Be Merry by Riley Blake from My Mind's Eye) at Fabrics I Love (Gina is great to work with by the way). Lil Hoot's dress is fully lined because I didn't want any seams to show. It was also my first time to make my own piping and bias tape. I did so because I wanted to use the snowflake fabric from the same line.

My Sister's Purse

Much of what I have been working on since November has been for gifts so I haven't been able to post pictures. Now though...I can!

First...my sister's purse. I started off with Made By Rae's Buttercup Bag pattern but quickly made several changes. First, I changed the fold of the pleats. Then, I added the ribbon, omitted the button flap, widened the bag with the addition of the velvet, and lengthened the straps (because my sister is tall). I did the straps how I always do them with the technique I posted previously, added ribbon to the strap and did a decorative stitch on that.

Lil Hoot's Ear Flap Hat

I used this pattern - Drops Hat in 2 threads - with a 100% wool (washable). It's knit with a double strand so it makes a nice thick fabric that blocks the wind and holds in all her heat.
Perfect for chilly morning walks when only her head is poking out from the Moby wrap and fleece jacket. I left off the strings from the ear flaps for now...maybe I will add them later. I haven't decided. It is still a bit big though so if she happens to be in the stroller then it has a tendency to slide over her eyes. I made the larger size on purpose though since the fabric is so thick and tightly knit it decreases the amount of stretch.
Even still, this hat should easily fit until the end of Spring.

In use on a sunny, but windy kind of day.

Many thanks to Forest (and his Momma) who inspired me to knit an ear flap hat for Lil Hoot.

Making Baby Food

This is my current research topic. Lil Hoot will be 4 months next week and just around the bend will be starting 'solid' foods. She won't be ready next week but I'm prepping for her to be ready sometime between 5-6 months. We will be discussing it with her doctor just in case she is ready to start before her 6 month appointment. So...my main source of information has been Super Baby Food but I have also read The Baby Food Bible and several baby food "cook books".

In all honesty, I'm pretty overwhelmed by the amount of information and guidelines. I understand why people decide it's too complex to feed their baby homemade food. But then I think, I manage to feed myself everyday and I will manage to feed her table food as a child, shouldn't I be able to figure out how to feed her as an infant too?

So here are my questions - did you make food yourself? If so, what did you make? How did you start out and when? Please share with me any tips or tricks that I need to know!

ETA: Do you have recommendations for utensils, sippy cups, dishes, storage containers, etc.? Please share!

Thanks in advance!