And so it begins.

Hello friends and family who have indulged me by visiting my new blog!  

It's hard for me to believe that I actually got around to creating this, but this week, for good reason, has found me particularly inspired.  Two of my dearest friends, R & E, gifted me one of the loveliest and most thoughtful of all lovely and thoughtful gifts: a brand new 5-qt crockpot!  In addition, knowing my affinity for step-by-step instructions (yes, I admit that's a little weird), they wisely accompanied their gift with a book of basic crockpot recipes.  I am a lucky girl to have such wonderful friends!

As a result of their wonderfulness, I have delved deeper into the world of crockpot cooking than I ever knew I could.  And what a world it is!  My inaugural crockpot creation was banana walnut bread.  I mean, who actually figured you could cook bread in a crockpot?!  Let's see -- spaghetti sauce?  Yes.  Soup?  Obviously.  Chili?  Um, duh.  But bread??  In a pot??  No way.  But alas -- yes way!  And man, is it outta-this-world delicious!

And so, my first blog post has inspired my first shared recipe.  All I can say is -- this one's a keeper!  Deeeeeelish!

Ingredients:

½ cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup butter or margarine

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs, well beaten

2 tablespoons dark corn syrup

3 ripe bananas, well mashed

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

 

1. Grease and flour inside of slow cooker.  The recipe calls for a 4.5-qt slow cooker but my 5-qt one worked perfectly.  For a 5-, 6- or 7-qt slow cooker, you can always double the recipe.  To grease my slow cooker, I used EVOO cooking spray.

2. Cream butter in large bowl with electric mixer until fluffy. Slowly add sugar, eggs, corn syrup and mashed bananas. Beat until smooth.

3. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a small bowl.  Slowly beat flour mixture into creamed mixture.  Add the walnuts and mix thoroughly.  Pour into slow cooker.  Cover; cook on HIGH 2 to 3 hours.

4. Let cool, then turn bread onto serving platter.

Banana Walnut Bread

I cooked mine on HIGH for about 2 hours and 10 minutes and it came out perfectly.  I used a toothpick to check if it was done.  I then removed the ceramic pot from my slow cooker and let it cool for almost 30 minutes.  Then I flipped it over and the bread transferred perfectly to a serving plate.  This recipe freezes well so you can always make extra loaves and freeze them for later, or you can cut your bread into individual pieces and wrap & freeze them individually in order to better control your portions!  Or, of course, you can always do what I did -- eat it fresh!  YUM!

A piece? For me? Yes, please.

My next entry will entail my first crockpot disappointment.  I'm calling it the "worst crockpot chili recipe in the world" disaster.  Oy.  But, on the bright side, I'm learning that crockpot cooking is a lot like dating -- the more recipes you try, the more you realize what you don't like in a crockpot recipe.  Here's hoping finding the perfect recipe is a little easier than finding the perfect man!  :)