banana-walnut pancakes

Quick post.
Wanted to get these posted for Sunday morning pancake time! In case you needed ideas for breakfast/brunch.
Saw my friend Nick over at Macheesmo.com had just made and posted these. I knew instantly I had to make them.
Who doesn't have brown bananas laying around? Use them in these pancakes.
Took his recipe (which is very good btw) and added extra cinnamon and walnuts. Perfect.
You must try these.
(lighting on photos is bad, we have nothing but rain here--can't remember what the sun looks like)









banana-walnut pancakes
adapted from Macheesmo.com
print recipe

1 cup browned banana, about two bananas
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 TB brown sugar
1/2 ts salt
1/2 ts baking powder
1/2 ts baking soda
1 ts cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 ts vanilla extract
3 TB unsalted butter, melted plus some for frying up pancakes
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Peel bananas and measure out exactly one cup. Then mash them in a small bowl. Add liquid ingredients (milk, egg, melted butter, vanilla) to bananas.

Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients and combine well.
Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat. Add a small knob of butter.
Once butter is melted, scoop in 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake. Depending on the size of your griddle or skillet you should be able to make more than one at a time.
Cook until pancakes are firm around the edges and have large bubbles forming on top, about 3 minutes. Then flip.
Cook for another 1-2 minutes on the second side.
Serve pancakes immediately with warmed maple syrup and top with the chopped walnuts.
Should make about 6-8 pancakes.

friday links

With the warmer weather coming up, here are a few quick meals I've come up with using foods from Trader Joe's.
Some you might like, some not so much, but it should give you other ideas for quick and simple meals.


I'm seriously addicted to these little rice balls. I've used them in many a stir fry dish. They are so good with this sweet chili sauce--I use that sauce on almost everything.


Have you tried the creamy polenta?


One of my favorite snacks.


An excellent sandwich--trust me on this one.


Another winning sandwich combo.


You simply must try this salad dressing--it's that good. Very gentle pear flavor, with the just the right amount of gorgonzola. So good!


This is what I use for ALL my pizzas. Thanks to Esi for turning me on to it. I buy this in bulk.

From around the web:

The perfect lunge

50 awesome pre and post workout snacks. Great list.

Outside Magazine breaks down some of the best diet plans. Well I shouldn't say diet but more of a lifestyle eating. They were tested for a year.

Chicken & cashew lettuce cups (bookmarked!)

Bratwurst foodporn. Bratwurst in pretzel bun (from serious eats)

Mini taco salad bowls!! (thanks Pam)

Houses on their own tiny islands.

Anyone tried the Tracy Anderson method?

New York's state prisons (now closed) for sale as a home? Hmmm.

30 minute chickpea, coconut, cashew curry.


Chocolate cupcakes with biscoff buttercream! (from the little kitchen)


Hot Dog cookies! I just love these. (from CakeSpy)

Double dark chocolate granita.

How to make a succulent sea terrarium. So cute.

How to make Chaat. A lot easier than I thought.


One of my friends turned me on to this ginger beer. It's so good. If you love ginger, then you're going to love this.


Anthropologie, one of my favorite places to not shop at because of the high prices. But I do love admiring their new arrivals from afar. I just adore this dress for summer.


Everyone needs a long black skirt. This is perfect for almost any top; casual or dressy.


This bathing suit is so retro it's adorable. I'm tempted to get it.


They are lounge pants, but I would totally wear them as regular pants since the colors are so summer.

Have a great weekend kids!

strawberry-white chocolate cream scones

I rarely see strawberries used in scones. Why is that? Do people not like this combo? Do they think strawberries do not go in scones? They go well with shortcakes? And shortcakes are just a couple uncles away from a scone in the biscuit family--right?
Granted I can see where strawberries might taste horrid in a scone, if the strawberry isn't chopped to the right size (huge chunks are a turn off in a scone UNLESS it's a chocolate chunk!). Or if the strawberry isn't ripe enough.
Strawberry season is in full effect and I'm having a great time celebrating. Those giant strawberries are my favorite, they are always the sweetest.


The white chocolate chunks brown up a bit and give off this almost creamy-like taste. Really good!


Keep the dough as cold as you can and never overwork/overmix the dough. Overworking leads to a tough scone. We don't want that.


Leftovers (should you have any, make a great crumble for shortcake parfaits!).



Congrats to the winners of the Pie It Forward cookbook giveaway. #12 (all that's left are the crumbs) and #40 Amanda!

strawberry-white chocolate cream scones
print recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 ts baking powder
1 ts salt
4 oz butter, grated or cut into small pieces (kept cold)
½ cup fresh strawberries, cut into ½ inch chunks
¼ – ½ cup white chocolate chunks (add as much or a little as you like)
¾ cup heavy cream
1 egg
Course sugar, for coating tops of scones, optional

Grate or cut up your butter in to small chunks; keep in fridge until ready to use (keep the butter cold).
Cut up your strawberries into ½-inch chunks. Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.

In a large bowl (or your food processor), combine and mix all of the dry ingredients. Add in the butter chunks and mix until your dough resembles pea-sized chunks. Add in the heavy cream and mix until dough just comes together; do not overmix. It’s normal to have chunks of butter. If you overmix you will have a tough scone.

By hand, add in the strawberries and white chocolate chunks; mix till just combined.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Pat into a circle, about ¾-1 inch thick. Cut into triangles, I made 7, but you can make them a bit smaller or larger.

Place onto prepared baking sheet, with space between each one. Chill in fridge for at least half hour (this is optional of course, but the colder they are the better bake up).
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Make egg wash and wash the tops of the scones with the egg wash, then sprinkle tops with the course sugar.
Bake for 15 – 20 minutes, until the scones are golden brown on the tops.

strawberry shortcake w/ blue cheese biscuits

Why didn't I think of this sooner? Strawberries marinated in sugar and lemon juice, then served on top on a warm blue cheese biscuit.
Seriously a match made in foodie heaven.
The biscuit is not too sweet but rather more savory--perfect with sweet marinated strawberries.
I highly recommend this.
In fact, the next time I make this I want to add a drizzle of dark balsamic to the marinade. We all know how well balsamic vinegar goes with strawberries?
This doesn't go so well with whipped cream--tried it and din't really like (you can see some of the leftover whipped cream in photo).


Marinate strawberries with sugar and lemon.


The dough comes together fairly fast. Keep it cold.


Cut out any shape you want. Love the heart shape ones personally.



strawberry shortcake with blue cheese biscuits
print recipe

For the strawberries:
About 2 pints (10-15 strawberries) cut into 1 or ½ inch pieces
About ¼ cup or less of sugar
The juice of 1 – 2 lemons
(the amount of sugar you add is up to you; I usually use just under ¼ cup)

Marinate these for at least 3 hours (or more) before serving.

Blue cheese biscuits

8 TB unsalted butter, grated or cubed
1/2 to ¾ cup of crumbled blue cheese (use as much or as little as you like)
(just under) ¾ cup whole milk, cold
½ cup heavy whipping cream, cold
2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
¾ TB baking powder
giant pinch of salt

one egg (for glazing tops of biscuits)

Grate or cube your cold butter (I prefer to grate it then keep it cold in freezer until ready to use).
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Add in the butter, using a pastry cutter or fork, work it until you have sand-like crumbles.
Next mix in the milk, cream and blue cheese crumbles. Using a spatula mix till just combined. Please don’t overmix! Lumps are good!
I took a sheet of parchment paper, place some flour on it, then placed the dough on top. Using a rolling pin, roll dough out to about 2-3 inches thickness. Sprinkle flour on top, take plastic wrap and cover the top. Place in the fridge to set up/rest; c. hill at least ½ hour to 1 hour.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using a biscuit cutter, cut out biscuits, place on parchment lined baking sheet or non stick spray covered sheet.
Brush biscuit tops with egg wash, and bake about 9 - 12 minutes or until golden brown. They bake up fast so check them at the 9 minute mark.

Allow to cool before topping with marinated strawberries.
I do not recommend serving whipped cream with this as it does not go with the blue cheese biscuits.

friday links

It's Friday and it's time for the holiday weekend to BEGIN.
I'm so happy. We (cape cod) finally have sun.
Our springs consist mainly of rain, rain, then 1 day of sun, then more rain.
It's taxing on the mood for sure.


Cape Cod national seashore, down by nauset lighthouse.





We had a lot of rain, gloom and darkness for the past three weeks. So glad it's gone!




Deep sea fishing boats in harwich port, ma are ready for the season.


Our town was conducting gas line testing. I had to capture this on photo, it was such an intense flame and the magnitude of heat that came off it was frightening. I was about 200 feet or more away and could easily feel the intense heat.

From around the web:

One week coffee is good for you and the next week it's not. Here's another article on how coffee can deter skin cancer? On the fence with this one.

How to plant an upside down tomato planter (this way looks so much easier).

Dental x-rays linked to common brain tumor? Hmmm.

Homes in bizarre places. The cement factory converted into a home is wild.

An article on how long a nap should last. LOL!! (as if)


Aren't these ocean art prints so pretty? Perfect for a white wall bathroom or office. From Society6.com


For the wanderlust in all of us, how about this one? A reminder to get outside and travel. Also from Society6.com


This one I love. If I could collect maps (new and old) for a living I would. I have a small bathroom that just begs for this wallpaper. Check out the other wallpapers, quite unique and will give you some great ideas next time you go wallpaper shopping. From Lonnymag.com

Grilled chicken recipes for weekend grilling. From Seriouseats.com

Swedish meatballs done right. Not those soggy, mushy crappy kind. These are done by chef marcus samuelsson.

Are you a macaroni salad lover? I am too, but I'm fussy and want the flavorful kind. Here is a list of good ones, more importantly: macaroni cobb salad! Bookmarked!

This video on youtube is AMAZING!. If you're afraid of heights do not click. If not, then enlarge that screen.

Want to try a different BBQ sauce this holiday weekend? How about tandori BBQ sauce?

Avoid depression while bathing suit shopping! Some good tips (I think).

Energy drinks they do cause depression--this one I firmly believe. All those chemicals are just not good for you. Great article.


Excellent round up of mango recipes from whole foods.


Recently I tried one of the Blue Print Juice raw drinks. They aren't bad. This one pictured has beet juice in it and I thought I would gag, but I didn't. Would love to try the whole cleanse routine; pricey little suckers though.

MIT engineers solve the problem of backed-up ketchup bottle. Hmmm. (love that it took an engineer to solve this) .

Plant eater paradise: 2012 Best Summer Cookbooks.

Ice cream recipes that need NO ice cream maker. Excellent list.

True cost of eating healthier? Guess what? It's cheaper!


One of the best buttermilk dressings I've come across. Heirloom tomato-basil salad with buttermilk dressing. From whole foods.



Eat Raw Eat Well: Excellent book on eating more raw foods. Nothing crazy or wild, no crazy grocery lists to be had. It's really all about a gentle way to ease you into more raw food eating that actually tastes good. I was quite shocked at how all the recipes looked good.

Have a wonderful holiday!

Don't forget to enter the cookbook giveaway for the book Pie It Forward from Gesine Bullock-Prado. Did you read the interview? Good reads.