Hostess Gift

 I'm an old fashioned girl at heart really.  I have always loved the idea of hostess gifts but very rarely do I get the opportunity to give one.  When we were invited to our ministers house a few Saturday's ago I was as excited to go and talk as I was to be able to bring a gift.  

The tag was the most fun to make and I have to say it turned out better than I thought it would.  I attached it to a jar of the Orange Honey Butter I had made the day before.  Underneath is a loaf of Oatmeal Banana Bread wrapped in plastic with a layer of Kraft paper over top (a brown shopping bag works great).  It was just so nice to be able to walk up to the door and have something to say thank you for inviting me into your home.

Oatmeal Banana Bread

1 C. all-purpose flour

1/2 C. stone ground whole wheat (or AP whatever is fine)

1/2 C. old fashioned oats with more for on top

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/3 C. buttermilk

1 TBSP. melted butter

1 TBSP. vanilla extract

2 whole eggs

1/2 C. light brown sugar

1/4 C. honey

2 medium mashed bananas (I like to leave them a little chunky)

1 1/2 C. frozen (or fresh in season) cranberries

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. cardamom (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease and flour a bread pan.

In a medium bowl mix together the flours, rolled oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a measuring cup measure out your buttermilk and add the vanilla extract and the melted butter

I like to add the cinnamon and the cardamom into my mashed bananas

 

With an electric mixer beat the eggs, brown sugar and the honey until well combined it turns thick and pale in color (approximately five minutes).  Mix in the spiced mashed bananas and the buttermilk mixture.  In two batches add the flour mixture.  Do not over mix you just want to combine these things.  Fold in the cranberries by hand and pour into the bread pan.  Sprinkle with more oats on top.

Bake for 1 hour or until a tester comes out clean.  Cool the bread out of the pan on a rack. 

A Little Brightness

Today is one of those gross ugly days that just make me want to hide.  It's the exact end this week deserves really.  Too much homework, too much time inside, too many meltdowns all the way around this week.       

Really I want to wallow in it but I know that I've already promised to go to the gym later tonight and that will make me feel loads better so I'm running on optimism and made something bright and yummy.  

In the Better Homes and Gardens canning magazine I kicked  moved earlier I saw this gem and decided that since we have all the ingredients the colors were just want I needed to brighten up my day.

All we have here is one stick of butter, a quarter cup of honey (local), zest from an orange and a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon.  Whip that all together and viola! sunshine in a jar!  Now on to dinner then getting ready for the gym wish me luck!

Yummy Honey

I found the ingredients for this delicious honey on this blog.  We decided we needed to try it since the entire family and the kids I babysit for spent the entire holiday break sick.  It is so unusual for any of us to be sick it was honestly a little frustrating.  So to the herbal medicine cabinet we go.  Gorgeous local honey, a nice lemon and a chunk of ginger root. 

 I used about an inch and a half of ginger and left it in decent sized chunks so that they could be fished out before going into someones tea or even for an addition to stir fry or soup. 

This is a regular pint jar we filled it to the 12oz line and then placed it in the fridge.  After about a week in the fridge we pulled it out and gave it a good stirring.  We added more honey to fill the jar and stirred that in too.  The flavor is incredible, nothing is too overpowering this can be eaten by the spoonful.

  

 

This will be the perfect thing to help get rid of the sickies!