Family Recipe: Nancy’s Banana Bread
A friend recently gave us banana bread which the girls absolutely loved. After finishing that loaf I dug out our family recipe to make another loaf. Grandma Willa shared Nancy’s Banana Bread recipe with us many years ago. This delicious banana bread is always a super special treat around our house. It is a wonderful recipe to pull out for a breakfast treat when you have guests staying with you or your hosting a get together for a group of friends. I love that it is easy to put together too.
Nancy’s Banana Bread:
- 2 cups Flour
- 1 tablespoon Water
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 2 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1/4 cup Walnuts (optional)
- 3 Bananas, mashed
Mix all the ingredients together. Place in greased and floured bread pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
They Really DO Love Me!
Recently I went on a quick road trip to Orlando, Florida with some friends. They were moving their items down from North Carolina to Orlando and I was able to spend time traveling with their sweet family. It was great having a few hours to catch up with friends. They have three adorable children who traveled very well in the van. We stopped for lunch at McDonald’s and let them run around then they crashed in the van for a couple hours. It was wonderful having some time to relax and talk with another Mom friend while traveling. For dinner we ate outside at a great place called, Crispers, they have a delicious chicken salad wrap if you ever get a chance to go there! Thankfully everyone made it safely to Orlando and in good spirits. The kids had school the next day so they quickly took their baths and were tucked into bed. The next morning I flew out of Orlando back to Greenville, SC.
It was nice having a relaxing time with friends. Although it was a quick trip it was enjoyable and reminded me of the many amazing blessing I have in my life from my spouse to my children, family and friends. When I arrived home I was greeted by a VERY excited Skipper! She was bouncing all around me and eventually gave me a lick on the hand before I was able to give her a treat. Glad to have such a warm welcome home. Since Jake was at work and the girls were at school I was just planning on having a quiet day of catching up in the office. When I got to the top of the stairs I found my first “I Love You” note, I quickly found out that I had “I Love You” notes scattered across the house to welcome me home. Jake even made the bed before heading into work. My keyboard had a note on it and underneath the note was one of my favorite candies – Milk Duds. So thankful for a husband who takes the time to show me his love and to know that my family really does miss me when I am away even for a short trip. I am also grateful for a husband who is willing and knows how to get the girls up, ready, and off to school (which can be an adventure some mornings)!
Here pictures from my short trip and love notes from my family, simple yet beautiful and perfect! Jake really knows how to melt my heart!
I had a series of “I Love You” notes all over the house!
- On the Kitchen Counter
- The Kitchen Floor
- Dining Room Table
- Office Chair
- Keyboard
- Hallway
- Bathroom
- Bed with a treat underneath
- Bedroom floor
- Entryway
- In the Printer…..as soon as I printed something a hidden “I love you” note popped out of the printer…super sweet! The girls thought this one was so funny!
Thankful for my sweet family and that they took the time to show their love to me. It was a lot of fun coming home to the special surprise. I had a wonderful time with our friends as well as coming home to my great family (yes I know I am bias).
Celebrating Valentine’s Day!
We love Holidays at our house! It is a wonderful time to celebrate with those you love and making more wonderful memories together! We started our weekend of fun on Friday. Jake and I had the opportunity, through swapping babysitting with friends, to go out for our Valentine’s celebration on Friday, February 11th. I will be sharing a little more about our adventure throughout the week. It was amazing time with my man and many great new memories were made. On Sunday we made blueberry heart pancakes with strawberry sauce and had the left overs this morning for breakfast!
Batter’s ready on for the pancakes, love turning everyday food into a fun celebration for special occasions! If you are excited the whole family will have a blast too!
Brina helped get the blueberries out for the batter. She got them out of the freezer, measured the blueberries, and mixed them into the batter before cooking the pancakes. Even better is we talked about the memories behind the blueberries we were using. We picked the blueberries fresh from a friends yard during a fun evening together. Thankful for friends, fellowship, memories, and the opportunity to enjoy such amazing fruit during the winter season.
The blueberries are so delicious! The girls always love it when we add them to their pancakes and I like that they are getting extra fruit!
We purchased the heart shaped pancake form at Dollar Tree several years ago and still use them regularly (it came with a star and bear shape as well). The girls enjoy getting super special shaped blueberry pancakes.
The pancakes were delicious with the big juicy blueberries in the shape of a heart!
We pulled our flash frozen whole strawberries out. The girls and I had a great time picking them at a local farm and froze the ones we didn’t eat right away. One of our favorite ways to eat pancakes is with frozen pureed strawberries instead of syrup, healthier and delicious!
Once the strawberries had thawed for awhile I pureed the strawberries to use as sauce to dip the pancakes into. The family loves it and tastes amazing. We typically just puree the strawberries, if you want it a little sweeter you can add a little bit of sugar or honey.
Everyone got their own strawberry dipping sauce dish for their blueberry pancakes. Yummy!
The fresh blueberry pancakes are ready to eat. For an extra bonus we have hugs and kisses sprinkles as well as strawberry sauce for dipping! Delicious! What a fun way to start off the Valentine’s Day celebrations as a family!
Candy Cane Smile Pancakes!
Now that our Christmas festivities are done with family and friends I am trying to come up ways to use some of the extra goodies. Somehow throughout the various Holiday celebrations we accumulated a stack of candy canes and as we begin the first quarter of 2011 we are having fun finding ways to use up the remaining ones. Instead of sprinkles on the girls pancakes we decided to have candy cane smiles. They loved having minty pancakes for breakfast and the smiles added extra cheer for everyone, smiles really do spread cheer! Do you have a creative recipe or way of finishing up the last few candy canes around your house?
Merry Christmas!
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas! I am looking forward to a wonderful day with my sweet family. Jake doesn’t have to work today and the girls are excited about celebrating the Holiday. Each Christmas is slightly different since we occasionally travel during Holiday season. This year we will be having a relaxing breakfast with the family, open the stockings, then read the Christmas story and take our time enjoying the day together. It is important to us to discuss with the girls why we celebrate Christmas so they can have a greater appreciation for this special day. May today be full of great memories, laughter, and precious time with your family.
Merry Christmas!