Lovin' From the Oven

Banana Bread with Walnut Streusel

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I just got back from Vegas, yet again, from a girls’ trip! This time, there was a lot more relaxing and plenty of shopping. We had no set schedule and rented a car so we didn’t have to walk five miles a day. The whole trip was a lot of fun, being able to hang out with my mom, her favorite sister, and my favorite cousin! My cousin and I were basically looking into a time capsule as we watched our moms interact. It was going to be us thirty years later.. and we couldn’t love it any more! I would be thrilled to even be half the woman my mom is.

Oh, this is my 200th post! HOORAY! Thank you to everyone for following along and pushing me through everything. I wouldn’t be here without you guys! I have a story to share with you all for my 200th post:

I went to Vegas with hopes of buying the Speedy 30 with strap monogram idylle limited edition in fusain (since I saw it two weeks ago) as a birthday present to myself, only to find out that it was sold out in ALL of Vegas! I was SO disappointed. I told my dearest boyfriend my story and asked him to make my day better. What did he do? He sent me this picture:


With the caption “It’s Bo!” (Bo is our dog, for reference). Of course, on my little phone screen, I had to squint to see what was next to Bo. I just about had a heart attack.. “Is that a Louis Vuitton bag I see?! He couldn’t have.. could he? He did?! What the heck is in the bag?! When did he get this?!” I had to show my mom to see if she saw the same thing I did. Yup, it was confirmed.. there’s a definitely a Louis bag in the picture. The more I asked him about it, the more he kept saying how I was crazy and how he had no idea what I was talking about.

I was seriously dying for the next 24 hours, waiting for my plane ride home. When I finally did come home, I had an hour left of my birthday and spent it with my boyfriend. That’s when he gave me this not so little brown bag. I sat myself down on his stairs and just held it. You guys might call be crazy, but I may or may not have cried a little bit from happiness. I untied the ribbon, pulled off the tape, and opened the box. What did I find? This!

The Monogram Speedy 30!!! I still cannot believe this just happened. This. Just. Happened. Apparently he went shopping by himself to the Louis store on Rodeo, only to see that they were sold out of all their Speedys. If you know him, you’d know that this was well out of his comfort zone. Since they didn’t have it at the store on Rodeo, he went to another store and picked up the last Speedy 30 they had there. He wanted to get me the Damier Azur Canvas one (He knew that that was the print I sold my old Speedy to buy), but since they were sold out, he took this one so he had something to give me in time for my bday. My bf told me I could exchange it for the Damier one if I wanted, it’d just take two weeks for me to get it. But of course, how could I give up something that my boyfriend picked up himself for me? I don’t have the heart to exchange it— I love it SO much.
So basically, I’ve just been dying in heaven ever since and in shock of how lucky I am to have such an amazing boyfriend. Seriously. Oh, and apparently there’s a Speedy shortage on all of the West coast, if you were curious. They sold all of their winter supply already and won’t be getting more til Christmas.
Well, that’s my little story. Sorry if I bored you, I just had to share! This beautiful bread is adapted from My Man’s Belly. Haha I just laughed out loud reading that sentence. Nothing comes from my man’s belly, everything just goes in it. So maybe it’s a little too late and I’m cracking myself up; it happens sometimes. Somehow, I have a list of three banana breads I turn to, and this one is one of them! Simplicity at its finest. No chocolate, no add-ins, just bread. I even made it three times in one week once; it’s that good!

Banana Bread Recipe

  • 2 2/3 Cups All Purpose Flour
  • 1 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 12 Tablespoons (1 and a half sticks) Unsalted Butter
  • 2/3 Cup Sugar
  • 2/3 Cup Honey
  • 3 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
  • 4 Large Eggs
  • 2 Cup Bananas – Mashed (6 bananas)

Streusel Recipe

  • 1/2 Cup All purpose Flour
  • 1/2 Cup Chopped Walnuts
  • 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar (packed)
  • 3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter

Banana Bread Recipe

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
  2. Butter and flour two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 loaf pans.
  3. In a medium bowl, blend together the first four ingredients.
  4. In a large bowl, beat on high speed, the butter; sugar; vanilla; and honey. Beat for 2 – 3 minutes or until light yellow in color and lighter in texture.
  5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients in thirds. Blend until combined (the texture will be grainy, like sand).
  6. Slowly add in the eggs and beat to combine.
  7. Fold in the bananas.
  8. Once thoroughly combined, pour into the buttered and floured loaf pans. Spread the batter evenly.

Streusel Recipe

  1. In a small bowl, add all ingredients.
  2. Blend with the back of a fork until a coarse crumb forms.
  3. Sprinkle the streusel topping on top of the banana bread.
  4. Bake for 50 – 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  5. Let cool for 10 – 15 minutes before removing from the pan to further cool.

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Williams Sonoma Quick Gingerbread Spice Bread & Appendicitis

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So if you’ve been following my twitter, you might know that I spent last night in the hospital for the first time of my life. On Saturday night around 9PM, I started getting really bad abdominal pains. It started out around my navel so I thought a little Advil would cure the problem. I took some and then slept for about 2 hours before I was awakened by even more stomach pains. I stayed up til about 5AM tossing and turning, even vomiting three times before I was able to sleep for another 3 hours.

I was up by 8AM and the pain was still there. Weird, right? A simple stomach cramp does NOT last nearly 12 hours. Now, it had moved down to the lower right side of my abdominal; My left side didn’t hurt at all. After a little googling, I diagnosed myself with possible appendicitis. I told my mom and she took me to Urgent Care at about 10AM.

I saw the doctor and he poked around my abs for a bit and asked a couple questions. He said it could have possibly been appendicitis, and if so, I was in for a long day. My mom and I weren’t going anywhere, so we told him to do what he had to do. Little did I know what I was really in for.

I was sent to get my blood drawn, take urine tests, and then finally for a cat scan. For the cat scan, they made me finish three bottles (nearly one liter) of this nasty thick drink. I had one hour to drink all three of them because that’s how long it takes to go through your intestines. The purpose of the drink was to coat the insides of your intestines so it shows up better in a cat scan. Let me tell you, it is seriously one of the nastiest drinks ever. Sure, it kinda tastes like cake batter, but it was so thick that you would want to gag after one sip. Here’s the nasty chalk drink:
They also pumped iodine through me so that my body would show my veins and arteries clearer. After the cat scan, it was confirmed.. I had appendicitis. My appendix was 9mm when it was supposed to be 6mm. So then, the doctor got the surgeon to come discuss my options with me. She asked me a couple of questions and came to the conclusion that I could have appendicitis, but it’s still too early to tell for sure. It could be something else, like a cyst on my ovary because they have the same symptoms. I could either A: have the surgery and just take the appendix out, while having her check out my ovary at the same time in case the appendix wasn’t the problem, B: have them monitor me at the hospital to see if my conditions get worse and then have the surgery, or C: go home and then come back if I feel worse for a surgery. The way I saw it was that I was getting a surgery either way, so I’d rather have it done ASAP. That was it– she scheduled my appointment for 6PM that same night (yesterday). Here’s me and my momma just prior to going under the knife. My pops and boyfriend also came to support me (poor boy, it was the same day as our two year anniversary!).


I chose to have a microscopic surgery, where they do three little incisions rather than one huge one. They put me to sleep and the next thing I knew, everything was done. I was rather droopy and had to stay overnight at the hospital so that they could monitor me. They pumped me with an IV throughout the entire night and I was already walking at midnight. My doctor told me that it was definitely appendicitis, and she could tell during the surgery because the base of it was all inflamed. My surgery went very well and luckily, I was able to be released the next morning.

The doctor won’t let me work or go to school since I have to have time to recover. Apparently recovery time is two weeks. Ughhhh. So I’ll be stuck home blogging whenever I can (I’ll also be updating all my NY eats at my other blog, The Darling Foodie). This is where the quick gingerbread comes in. I was actually craving dessert and knew that I didn’t have the strength to completely make something from scratch, so I used a mix. My brother, being the nice brother that he is (he’s 16), saw me about to bake and offered to make it for me so I wouldn’t stress my stomach so much from all the stitches (it’s so hard to sit up and down!). He was so worried for me during my surgery and was waiting at the door for my parents to come home to fill him in on how it went. How sweet is that? I also came home to balloons and a card from a my little sister. I have an amazing family, it’s true. 🙂

My brother doesn’t bake much, so when he started pouring the mix into a bowl, I asked him why he didn’t use the mixer. His answer? “The directions say to mix it with a wooden spoon.” Hahah, how cute is that? Anyways, the bread was made and I made the glaze to top it all off. It was very gingery and cinnamon-ish. Perfect for this rainy day! Here’s the recipe for the glaze from the back of the bag:

1 cup of sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tablespoons milk

Whisk all the ingredients together and drizzle over cooled bread. Let it harden for an hour before serving.

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Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

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I have a confession to make. I, Kim, am a TravelZoo addict. I don’t know if you’ve heard of this website before, but it’s basically deals on airfare & hotels.. kind of like expedia or travelocity. I spend hours browsing through the website imagining what my next destination will be. I’m currently eyeing a 3 night vacation to Hawaii in May and am SO tempted to book it. It’s such a steal! I’ve been there twice before, but my boyfriend has never been. I would book the vacation in a heartbeat– it’s just a matter of convincing the boy to go with me (he currently just got re-hired at Apple so asking for so much vacation already is kind of nonsensical). Well, I also don’t have all the money in the world and really should save it, so we’ll see.

In other news, my parents graciously gave me a two year membership to 24 Hour Fitness! Thank you Costco for having that package for $299. It comes out to $12.50 a month for a gym membership. Yeah, believe it!! I’ve never really worked out before, except for last summer when I became a gym rat (well, I really only went to swim laps), so having a gym membership is big news to me. My goals are to get toned. I know what you’re thinking.. how am I gonna fit that into my already busy schedule? I’m hoping to get up at 5:30 AM or so and be able to go to the gym before work. I’m really determined right now since it’s all brand new. Hopefully it stays that way!

This… is the most amazing banana bread. No nuts required! Although, you can add them if you prefer. You can even add chocolate chips! It’s very flavorful and moist with a bit of a slight crunch from the topping. If you’re a fan of cinnamon sugar, I’d highly recommend it! I already made it twice in a week. My dad just had oral surgery, which means he can’t really eat much. I made this for him to keep him from being bored to death eating solely mashed potatoes and soup. Make sure to use overly ripe bananas– it makes a difference! Recipe is adapted from Sandwich Hoss.

 

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Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

Ingredients

    For the bread:
  • 3 over-ripe bananas, smashed up
  • 1/3 cup melted butter
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • dash of salt
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
    • For the swirl:
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 Tbs cinnamon

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter and four a loaf pan. Mine was 9 x 5, but you could use any sort, I suppose. Just keep a close eye on it in the oven, and adjust the time as needed
  2. Mix bananas, butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla together. sprinkle baking soda and salt around on top of the banana mixture. Then gently stir in flour. Be careful not to over-mix!
  3. In a small dish, mix together the 1/3 cup sugar and 1 Tbs cinnamon.
  4. Add 1/2 of the batter to the loaf pan and then sprinkle half, or a little more than half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture all over the batter in the pan. Add the rest of the batter, and then sprinkle the leftover cinnamon-sugar on top.
  5. Bake for 50-60 minutes, but remember, if you’re using a different-sized loaf pan, be careful and keep a close eyeball on it!
https://lovintheoven.com/cinnamon-swirl-banana-bread/

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