Nicole's Banana Cake

So one of my favorite things to do is cook - but above all I love to bake! So I typically volunteer to make dessert for our family gatherings at holidays.  For Easter this year I decided to make a dessert I have made for my family before - partially because I hadn't had it in so long!! The recipe is actually a Better Homes & Gardens recipe but to me it will always be Nicole's Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.  I snagged the recipe in graduate school from my friend Nicole (of Sean and Nicole - see blog list at the right) who had made this delicious cake for a department potluck we had.  It is pretty simple and simply scrumptious!  Unfortunately I neglected to take a pic of the cake before it was cut into but here's a shot of one slice!

Originally found at: BHG.com (cake)

Banana Cake
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup shortening (I use butter!)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

Grease and lightly flour two round cake pans or a 9x13 pan.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add bananas, buttermilk, shortening and vanilla.  Beat at a low speed until combined.  Add eggs, beat on medium for 2 minutes.  Pour batter into pans.  Batter will be very thick!

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes for round pans or about 35 minutes for a 9x13 pan or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes and then remove from pans to cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat until smooth, apply generously to cooled cakes! :)

I love love LOVE this cake so I hope you do too!! Many thanks to Nicole of course for sharing!!

LOVE at First Sight

"Here's to the corkscrew - useful key to unlock the storehouse of wit, the treasury of laughter, the front door of fellowship, and the gate of pleasant folly." - W.E.P. French 

Hey there friends! As promised I'm hoping to share some of my "loves" with you! And I feel perhaps I need preface this post with the reassurance that I don't overindulge, and I am very responsible when it comes to this love but....

I do LOVE my vino!!

So, in honor of that affection, from time to time I'll share some wine reviews with you!  Keep in mind, in my opinion, wine is very subjective.  My sister is a bit of a wine lover as well (I learned at the feet of the master) but we don't always see eye to eye on what wine we enjoy.

This past Friday was the culmination of my first week on the new job so in celebration of that I cooked my first big meal in my apartment and picked up a bottle of wine.  Unfortunately the meal didn't turn out so hot, so even better that I had the wine!  :)

One of my favorite wines of all time is the Francis Ford Coppola Director's Cut Cabernet Sauvignon from 2008.  I'm usually a white wine drinker, but this rich, red wine is still my go-to for special occaisons.  However, as you can expect, moving is rather expensive and so my budget has been a little tighter as of late, so when faced with the $35 price tag for Director's Cut (modest really for most wines) I was a bit hesitant.  So as I perused the wine aisle at Hy-Vee, what to my wondering eyes did appear but a wine which at first glance was another Director's Cut??

Turns out, the wine, also a Cabernet Sauvignon from Francis Ford Coppola, is called Director's and is from 2007.  AND it was only $18.00 a bottle!  What's not to love?  Surely it was love at first sight!

Despite the dinner being a bit lackluster (fingers crossed that the next recipe I hope to put up here turns out!) the wine was wonderful.  Rich, just like my fave, but a bit spicy and with hints of blackberry.  The bottle mentioned a couple different berries, but I for the most part noticed the blackberry.

So if you're on the hunt for a great red wine, at a reasonable price, I highly recommend the Coppola Director's!

I'll be baking dessert this week for our family Easter dinner on Sunday so stay tuned for one of my favorite sweet treats!!  

Live.Laugh.Love.Lincoln

Hopefully by now you all have discovered the new blog address and new title!!

It probably would have been easier to direct you here if I had just started a new blog, but quite honestly i didn't want to go through all the work of getting the design and the fonts and the colors just right when I know I loved what I have!!  :)

So here we are!! I finally have internet so I thought it was time to get going on the new blog.  Live.Laugh.Love.Lincoln.  My hope is that through this blog I can share several things.

First, Live.  To steal an idea from my cousin who also lives in the area, I'm going to be a tourist in my own town, much like I did (tried to do) in Aberdeen!

Laugh.  Let's be honest, there were a few laughs in the last blog too (i.e. Clark, SD) so I hope to share some good laughs and maybe some funny stories along the way.

Love.  I might have some ulterior motives (here's hoping!) but on this one I plan to share with you some of my loves!  I'm a foodie so I plan to share recipes, restaurant reviews and the like.  I'll also share other loves like travel, friends and family!

Hope you all are doing well!!