Roasted Banana Pudding

I'm not a huge fan of bananas.

Unless they are dunked in chocolate, of course. But I found this recipe in Cooking Light magazine and I just had to give it a whirl. They always make their recipes SO appealing, don't they? I'm a sucker for great food photography.  But Roasted Banana Pudding? I was intrigued. Roasting intensifies flavor...........as I quickly found out after just one bite of this absolutely scrumptious dessert. Try it once, and you'll go bananas too!

I used a large footed trifle bowl.........for presentation of course, but that's just the "Martha" in me. Really, any deep bowl will work. Here's the "hijacked" recipe....

5 -7 ripe unpeeled medium bananas (about 2 pounds)

1 box Jello Vanilla or Banana Pudding

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 (12-ounce) container frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed and divided

45 vanilla wafers, divided

Mini chocolate chips (optional)

Butterscotch or caramel topping (optional)

Take six or seven large bananas (skins on) and place them on a cookie sheet, then cover them with a piece of parchment paper. Place them in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove three bananas from the oven and let them cool down. They will be blackened and very very HOT!  Hot bananas everyone! Get your red-hot bananas!  See? That doesn't work....it just doesn't even sound good.

Unless you're a monkey.

Peel the bananas and slice into 1/2 inch slices.

Bake the remaining bananas for an additional 20 minutes. Remove them from the oven and let them slightly cool, then peel them and mash them with a fork in a small bowl with the vanilla.

Here's where the Cooking Light recipe hits the skids. I cheated. Instead of making the pudding from scratch.................I used Jello brand Banana pudding.  Yea, yea, I know.  I've always taken the road less traveled. you experience so many fun things that way! Where was I? Oh yes. The pudding. 

Prepare the pudding as directed on the box and refrigerate. When it's cool, mix the pudding with the mashed banana mixture and the entire container of whipped topping. Place in the fridge for about 30 minutes then roll up your sleeves and get ready to layer it up! I should have used a smaller bowl, because technically speaking, it really should be filled right up to the tippity-top. So maybe the next time I'll double the recipe. You can never have too much.

Start the first layer by covering the bottom of your bowl with some of the banana custard mixture.

Then cover that layer with about 20 Nilla (or your favorite brand) Vanilla Wafers.

Breathe.

Then cover that layer with more of the banana custard and sliced bananas.

Then repeat.

Breathe.

Repeat.

Breathe.

Repeat.

Exhale.

Wait!

"When did she slip in those chocolate chips?", you ask??  Hey, I'm a risk taker and a rule breaker....especially when it comes to chocolate. I also used ginger snaps to garnish the top layer. Then before I served it to "my peeps", I drizzled each portion with some warm caramel sauce.

So good.

 I have no regrets. 

And neither will you.

Day Trippers

We missed the boat.

Literally. 

                                                              We did.

You see....it all started like this. We had a plan, my friend Sandra and I. It was an awesome plan. On one of the days in my vacation week, we were to take a day trip on the high-speed ferry from Boston Harbor to Provincetown. What a great plan, right? A boat ride, a little shopping, a little lunch, a little people-watching, then home again on the boat.

I suppose you could say that we became somewhat derailed the night before. At Girl's Night. With lots of good food. Like Honey Stung Drummies, and fresh fruit , and yummy cheese and crackers and Marbled Brownies and Sandra's "Secret Satanic Dip", and Smoked Turkey with Cilantro mayonnaise on Cranberry Walnut Bread with Roasted Banana Pudding, Pie Fries and icy cold pitchers of fruity Sangria and Mike's Hard Lemonade. Whew. What can I say? When my "peeps" get together, there's always too much food.

We always complain and vow to never do it again. Until the next time....when we inevitably do it again. Don't worry. I'll share those recipes with you soon.

Since Sandy and I were headed out early to catch the 9am ferry out of Boston, she stayed over my  house.Thinking that 90 minutes would be more than enough time to travel the 21-mile route into the city, we left my house early, happily chatting about the day ahead. After sitting in stop-and-go traffic for more than an hour however, we grimly realized that our proverbial ship had already set sail for Provincetown.

Without us.

Crap.

Now what? A Whale Watch cruise was initially thrown into the mix....until we realized that we would both have to buy sweatshirts before we boarded the boat. After all, even though it is late July,  the air temperature five miles off the coast can be brrrrisk!  Um...do they make sweatshirts that say, "We missed the boat to P-Town and all we got was this *;%# sweatshirt" ? Should we go to Gloucester?  Rockport?  Or should we just continue with our original idea and make the 3 hour drive to Provincetown? No. No. No.  Wait.................what about.....................

 Newport. As in Rhode Island.

Although it's a mere 1 hour and 15 minute ride from where I live, I have never been there. I know. I know. Insane.  But I've been in a deep, deep relationship with Cape Cod most of my life....and as you know, when you are in a committed relationship, you have no need to look elsewhere. Until you break up. Then you're free to roam. And explore. 

....and so we did.

...and I think I'm in love again.

Luckily, Sandy spent happy summers in Newport as a child, and was quite familiar with our surroundings. It was a good thing, as I was just too awestruck to be of any help.  We visited one of the famous Newport Mansions...........The Breakers. It was the Vanderbilts summer "cottage". See it there in the picture?? With the red roof?  First castle on the left.  (Name that movie!)

Photography was not allowed anywhere inside the house, but this is the view from the upper balcony.

I was awestruck.

Sandy was overwhelmed. :)

Even as she lay flat out on the ground, doesn't she look fetching in my new hat?

We followed up our mansion tour with a simply delightful lunch at a restaurant on Bowen's Wharf, located on Thames Street in downtown Newport. 

Sigh.

It was simply charming. Seated at an outside table, the pedestrian activity gave us something to watch while we waited for our lunch to be served. 

 We saw lots of hats.

 And dogs. And dogs wearing hats. At one point, Sandy even thought she saw Oprah......but when it turned out to be just a maintenance worker with dreadlocks, we chalked it up to the heat of the day.

And the beer.

We also saw lots of people on mopeds and scooter-cruisers with the words "Rent Me" blazed across the fenders. 

Yup. 

We did.

In fact, we couldn't believe how much we crammed into our day.  Funny how things have a way of working themselves out sometimes, right? I left Newport thinking that I couldn't wait to go back. I couldn't wait to explore more of the city, stroll through another mansion or two, or just stare at the incredible views.

All you have to do is pull up a chair.

Pass the Pie Fries, please!

Did you ever see or taste something so delicious and painfully simplistic, you wonder how in the heck you never thought of it sooner???  Yeah. Me too.  That's how I feel about these.

Pie Fries.

I saw them in a magazine and instantly thought, "What a freakin' fabulous idea!" and wondered why I hadn't thought of it sooner. My Nana used to bake the scrap pie dough for us when my sister Kathy and I were little....and we sat at her kitchen table and happily munched on them with a glass of cold milk. But it ended there. So, how could I forget about them? So simple. So fun. But then again, the best things in life usually are, right?

Although I would usually make it from scratch, I cheated and used refrigerated pie dough.....so shoot me.

Unwrap and roll out each pie dough section, then cut them into "Fry-sized" pieces. I wanted to use a fluted pastry cutter, but was horrified to discover that I DON'T OWN ONE. How did this happen??

Then I sprayed the cut sections with butter (or you could just melt butter and brush it on), and sprinkle generously with sugar and cinnamon.

Then break up the sections and place them on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet.

Pop them into a pre-heated oven at 375 degrees for between 12 and 20 minutes (depending on your oven) You want them to be golden brown and a little crispy.

Isn't this the silliest thing you've ever seen?? I used canned apple pie filling as a dipping sauce and it was absolutely scrumptious! Like a little bite of apple pie. Only cuter.  You could use any type of pie filling really.....pumpkin, lemon, blueberry, cherry, etc. 

Pie Fries.

 So simple.

 So good.  

Thanks, Nana.

I Did It Again.

It's true.

I didn't think I'd ever be ready.

I didn't think I'd ever get over the heartbreak of losing Emily, 

......but this may help.



I wasn't going to do it. But I could feel my protests gradually weaken under my sister's patient and  persistent voice saying it was "the right thing to do".   She's an 11-week old Boston Terrier who's sweet and spunky. I named her after one of my favorite people......a special aunt with whom I share a special bond. And now I get to say her name everyday.

Meet Gracie!