Hello, dear readers! I’m happy to announce that I am back from a brief blogging hiatus! I’m just bursting with new recipes to share with you all, starting with this delicious treat for a chilly fall morning. My freezer is full of ripe bananas that I’ve stashed away for a rainy baking day. I was perusing this banana bread recipe and decided to tweak it into some delicious Cinnamon-Pecan Banana Muffins. Fall is in the air, and I just love a deliciously spiced muffin to pair with my morning coffee at this time of year. So welcome back to VV, and I hope you will stick around for some more of my vintage-inspired recipes.

Read the rest of this entry »

When people find out that I have a food blog, they wonder why I do what I do. They often say, “Really?! A whole blog just about recipes and food?”

To which I answer, “Yes, a whole blog just about recipes and food.”

We food bloggers all have our reasons for doing what we do. For me, it’s about reaching out to people around the world and connecting with them through the shared experience of food. It’s about coming together around the dinner table as a family, as friends, even as an internet community. It’s just pretty darn cool that someone in Oregon made my mom’s squash casserole so that their kids would enjoy eating vegetables . . or that someone in England made my zucchini bread for a neighbor who had surgery . . . or someone in Chicago make my mother-in-law’s chicken squares to prove to her boyfriend that she could actually cook.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dear readers, this past weekend was my very first farmers market selling bread on our town square. It was so much fun! The whole experience was an all-around success. I made new friends, got to know some local farmers, and even traded a few loaves for some fresh produce for next week’s baked goods!

In preparing for this fun adventure, I went to some of my tried-and-true go-to recipes. Here is my very best banana nut bread. I’ve been making it for 10 years or so, and it’s evolved with tweaks here and there. These little babies sold like hotcakes on Saturday morning!

Read the rest of this entry »

Banana bread should be many things. It should be very banana-y. It should be a beautiful golden brown. It should be studded with toasty nuts or melty chocolate chunks. It should be fresh, flavorful . . . homey. Must most of all? Banana bread should be outrageously, unbelievably moist.

Moist Banana Nut Bread
from BakeWise by Shirley O. Corriher

1 1/2 cups pecans
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 pinch cinnamon
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups mashed ripe banana
1/2 cup heavy cream

Place your oven shelf in the lower third of your oven, and preheat 350 degrees.

Arrange the pecans evenly on a large baking sheet. Place in the preheated oven and roast the nuts for about 10 minutes, until fragrant and lightly browned. Remove from the oven and stir in the butter and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Then allow the nuts to cool. Chop coarsely, and set aside.

Turn your oven up to 375 degrees now. Apply cooking spray and flour to a loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, vanilla, eggs, buttermilk, and bananas. Form a well in the middle of the flour mixture, and pour the liquid ingredients into the well. Stir until just incorporated.

Use an electric mixer to whip the whipping cream until it forms soft peaks. Fold the whipped cream gently into the batter. Add the nuts and fold those in as well.

Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for about 35 minutes, until the loaf is a light golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing the bread from the pan. Then let it cool completely before slicing. Enjoy!

The only thing better than a fresh banana cream pie? A banana cream pie whose crust is a giant chocolate chip cookie!! This is a fun recipe, great for parties, always a hit at a summer cookout or picnic.

Creamy vanilla custard studded fresh sliced bananas, cupped inside a chocolate chip cookie shell, and slathered with luscious whipped cream. You are gonna love it!

Banana Cream Pie with Chocolate Chip Cookie Crust
Based on a recipe from an issue of Bon Appétit, many moons ago

1 pound semisweet chocolate chip cookie dough
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 large egg yolks
2 1/3 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon dark rum
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 medium bananas, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
1 cup chilled whipping cream

Spray a 9″ pie dish with nonstick spray. Arrange about 3/4 of the cookie dough in the pie dish and press it evenly onto the bottom and up the sides, building a ridge over the lip of the dish. Sprinkle the walnuts, pressing them into the dough. Prick the dough all over with a fork, and freeze the dough for 1 hour.

Position the rack in the bottom third of your oven. and preheat to 350 degrees. Remove the cookie crust from the freezer. Spray a large piece of tin foil with nonstick spray, and cover the pie crust with it, sprayed-side-down. Fill with pie weights or dry beans. Bake the crust for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, remove the pie weights or beans, and the tin foil. Allow to cool completely.

In a large, heavy saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk in the egg yolks, and gradually add the milk, continuing to mix until smooth. Whisk over medium-high heat until the custard thickens and boils (about 6 minutes). Remove from the heat and add the butter, rum, and vanilla. Cool to lukewarm.

Spread 1 cup of the custard into the crust. Top with the bananas. Cover the bananas with the rest of the custard. Chill the pie for 2 hours.

Next, beat the whipped cream. Spread over the pie, and chill again for 1-8 hours.