Grilled Cheese is not just for 2 year olds (but they like it too!)

So, we like a grilled cheese sandwich
Well, everyone but Mark.  Gosh I don't know what is wrong with my otherwise perfect brother in law, but cheese is not his thing.  It's like a birth defect of some kind, and we all just feel so sad for him.

Anyhow- back to the cheese.  We like grilled cheese- and for those of you from Lancaster County- here's how you do it:

Go to Panerra and buy a loaf of sourdough or asiago cheese bread.  Sure you could get other bread. But WHY would you? unless you are going to make it from scratch which is just a whole other level.
This is the easy yet delicious method- so trust me and just go to panerra and buy their bread and have them thinly slice it.

Then go to Central Market (best farmers Market in PA). And go the Weaver's stand and get 1lb of bacon, a hunk of sharp cheddar and some french brie.  Also - stop at one of the veggie stands and buy the best tomato you can find, some spinach, a pear, and well, whatever you would want stuffed in your grilled cheese.

Now - go home (or to your in-laws house) and cook that bacon (or make your husband do it- that's my usual approach) slice up your veggies and the cheese.
Butter 2 slices of bread and layer on whichever combination of cheeses and fruits or veggies you like.
Then grill on a hot grill until cheese is melty and the bread is browned and toasty.

My favorites were:  Brie on sourdough with bacon and pear.  That could have been even more delicious with a tablespoon of marmalade or some sort of fruit jam.

I also Loved the cheddar tomato and bacon- on either bread.
If you can get them to- make your in-laws provide some delicious white chicken chili to go with said sandwiches.  So so good.  Everyone-----the 2 year old, the three year old, the 6 year old, the 30 and 40 and 60 year old, the 72 year old-- EVERYONE- loved them.  Oh.  EXCEPT MARK!  cause he has a small birth defect.  Still - we love him.
Try it.  Grill some cheese with bacon. it'll rock your world.

What our Monkeys love...

My kids love bananas.  

Red bananas, yellow bananas, little bananas. 

Under ripe, overripe... my little monkeys love a banana. 

 It was even one of Ike's first words-- only he called then Baneenas.  So when he started talking more and would talk to his "Nanas" (grandmothers) he called them Neenas or Ninas (they each spell it differently).  And all of his cousins call them that too.  

So at our house there is much love for neenas and baneenas, and now for that special use of the way too ripe baneena:  Baneena bread (yeah, banana bread by any other name still tastes as sweet).  Maxie calls it banana cake, and I think she is on to something with that.  

Another odd note-- 

part of why I haven't made this before is that, when my dad retired he took to making banana bread.  A lot.  And when he got Alzheimer's disease, he made a loaf every 3 days or so (no joke) he didn't even let the bananas get ripe.  Well, we all got tired of banana bread, and we all dreaded seeing that loaf.  

It's been 5 years since anyone in my family made banana bread.  Dad is gone, and we are healing both from the loss and the damage that disease did to our relationships.  My kids had never had banana bread before, and dang it,  it's right up their alley.  And, I guess I'm ready to let go of some woundedness and bake things that are lovely and maybe reclaim a little of the Church family in me in the process.

So here was my first attempt at making my mom's recipe for banana bread, just like my dad made it so very many times. It's pretty standard, very little spice (cause that's how we always rolled at the Church household) and it is just delicious 

baneena-ey, cakey, goodness.

Baneena Bread:

1/2 cup oil

1 Cup sugar

2 eggs beaten

3 ripe bananas, mashed with a fork

2 Cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 Tbsp Milk

1 tsp Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350˚.  Grease and flour a loaf pan(9x5x3)

Beat oil and sugar together.  Add eggs and banana mash, beat well.  Add sifted dry ingredients, milk, and vanilla.  Mix well.  Pour into the loaf pan and bake in preheated oven for about 1 hour.  Cool well and store overnight before cutting ( though we couldn't wait that long, and it was delicious just an hour later as an after school snack.  The monkeys will attest to this.)

Now, for those of you who wondered about the reviews on the chocolate birthday cake from the last post, well, it was good.  It was chocolate cake.  

The buttercream was delicious if risky (did ya catch that raw egg yolk in there?  Yeah, risky with the population that lives here at Chez Crazy House)....we lived, and we enjoyed it.  But it comes down to this.  That cake was still chocolate cake. Ike loved it, I was not impressed.  My take = meh.  it wasn't anything I'd bother to make again.  

Now, as for the brownies I made to send on to the Mexican Independence Day celebration-- they were in a class of goodness all to themselves.   More on that next time. :) 

French Toast

Today we took Challah Bread with Raisins (a round loaf, though I wish we'd had a long loaf instead) and made our Stuffed French Toast.  Here's how it works:

Ingredients:
Bread
8 oz Cream Cheese
4 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teasoons of Vanilla Extract
1 tsp sugar
(dash of cinnamon if you like it)

In a small bowl- take softened cream cheese and mix with 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 teaspoon of sugar.
In another bowl whisk together 4 eggs, 1/2 cup heavy cream, and  1 teaspoon of vanilla (and cinnamon if you like it)

Slice bread into half inch thick pieces.

spread cream cheese between two pieces of bread and make "sandwiches"
Dip them into the egg mixture
fry in a greased pan over medium high until done.
Serve with good quality maple syrup or powdered sugar or both! :-)