Banana bread (and some more Coffee and Walnut Loaf)

I've been horribly absent for ages now and the truth is that I just don't have the time to blog, so things have been put on hold for a while. I'll try and get my half-finished reviews done, but no promises.

Sorry for the crappy photos - per usual

A few weekends ago, I made another Coffee and Walnut Loaf because it's so awesome and I had a go at this one for banana bread at the same time, courtesy of Recipe Rifle. Esther Walker has about four different recipes for banana bread on her website, and so feel free to try whichever tickles your fancy. This one looked the easiest and had fewest ingredients.

I scaled all the ingredients down and used about three-quarters because my tin is a funny size and I was scared that it wouldn't all fit in. Definitely the right choice, but I should probably used more banana.

Anyway, this is fabulous and ridiculously quick. Partly because I measured out all the ingredients while I was waiting for my coffee-and-walnut-loaf-butter to warm up, but whatever. The mashing up of the bananas isn't the most glamorous of jobs but it's so worth it once this is done baking because it smells awesome - and tastes even better.

As it says on step two, don't get freaked out when the mixture gets sublimely dry. I still added about a teaspoon's worth more of milk, but don't bother. It all turns out A-okay so just keep going. I didn't bother with the chocolate or walnuts, but will definitely give it a try next time. It did turn out a little burnt in some places, but in my opinion, that just adds to the authenticity. If you have baking paper, then use that instead of greasing your tin: less messy and makes getting your cake out of the tin a dream!

Running Wild by Linda Howard & Linda Jones

Running Wild (2012)
Linda Howard & Linda Jones
Grade: A-
Genre: romantic suspense
Sex scenes: mild
Source: own

Carlin Reed is on the run – again. For the past year, she’s been moving from place to place, working cash-in-hand, keeping her head down so she can stay off the radar and out of the hands of Brad Henderson. What was two innocent if slightly boring dates on her part became a fully-fledged obsession on Brad’s as he becomes convinced that Carlin belongs to him. When a friend dies in her place, Carlin knew that no matter where she ran or where she hid, Brad, the cop and computer-expert, would always find her.

Zeke needs a new cook – again. Libby moved out several months ago after years of service and ever since, none of her replacements have been right. He has laundry up to his ears, no clean underwear and the chilling prospect of Spencer’s cooking three times a day – only marginally better than his own, which is the only reason that Spencer has been saddled with that burden. Zeke needs a new cook and housekeeper fast – before they all get food poisoning.

Coffee and Walnut Loaf

This is a fantastic cake/loaf. I'd call it a cake, but it's a loaf shape and so my instinct is to call it a loaf. Call it whatever you think best - it's still the same thing.

My dad wanted something with walnuts in it for his birthday, and so I took a look through my limited number of cake recipes, mostly taken from Recipe Rifle, as always. I'd already tried the Carrot cake and while it was fantastic, it just takes too long to make. The Coffee and Walnut cake was the only thing left and it's so straightforward it should be criminal.

Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas

Dream Lake (2012)
Lisa Kleypas
Grade: C+
Genre: contemporary romance
Sex scenes: milder than might be expected from Lisa Kleypas
Source: own
Friday Harbour: (1) Christmas Eve at Friday Harbour, (2) Rainshadow Road
   
After getting divorced when her husband left her for another man, Zoë Hoffmann has sworn off men for good. She has teamed up with her feisty, outgoing cousin Justine to set up a B&B on Friday Harbour and business is booming. With Zoë in charge of all the cooking and baking, she’s in her element and very content with life.

Zoë’s mum abandoned her when she was young and her father followed suit by passing her off onto his mother. When she gets news that ‘Upsie,’ as she calls her grandmother, has had a series of mini-strokes, developed vascular dementia and will require constant care, Zoë doesn’t even consider any other option but moving Upsie in with her. Upsie owns a small lake house in Friday Harbour, but years of neglect and disuse has made it uninhabitable and it will need extensive repairs in order to adapt it to Upsie’s needs. Luckily, Justine knows just the man for the job: Alex Nolan.

Sausage Rolls

 

 

(sorry for the crappy picture. It was taken with my crappy phone because I don't actually own a camera)

We had a picnic for SIFE, a society I belong to, to thank all the advisers/sponsors etc who've helped us through the year. Granted, only one actually turned up (yay Ali of Barefoot Wine! with wine!) but it was an awesome event anyway. This is an annual thing and in the past, they've gone out to dinner, but we decided this year that we would have a picnic where all attending SIFE-ers would bring a dish. Okay, so we did plan this during the heatwave, thinking that it would actually be nice and hot for an actual picnic, so our hopes of having it outside were dashed considering just how awful the weather has been for June. And typical, every day since Tuesday has been really nice and sunny, if still a bit cold.

Chocolate brownies

 

Recipe Rifle for the recipe.

Cinnamon Buns

These are fucking amazing. You need a lot of time to make them, but so worth it when you have them fresh from the oven.

Scones

 

I like to bake and came across a recipe for scones a little while ago that I thought I would try once I got home. It's really quick and simple and you can eat them with whatever you like. We had cream and jam while they were still warm from the oven, but I forgot to add dried fruit which you could add if you like. Sometimes we toast scones and eat them with butter, but if you just want to have them plain, then they're your scones.