Mad for Plaid Recipes

Better Homes & Gardens (September) just featured some DELICIOUS recipes from fans to mark the new edition of America's favorite cookbook. Here are 2 that I tried and found quite yummy.

Banana Bread

"Make banana bread when your bananas get brown polka dots on them. If you wait until they are all dark, your banana bread will be bitter."

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4. tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp. ground ginger

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups mashed banana (4 to 5 medium)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup cooking oil or melted butter

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 recipe Streusel-Nut Topping (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of one 9x5x3-inch loaf pan; set aside. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and ginger. Made a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl combine eggs, mashed banana, sugar, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in walnuts. Spoon batter into prepared pan. If desired, sprinkle Streusel-Nut Topping over batter.

3. Bake 55 to 60 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean (if necessary, cover loosely with foil the last 15 minutes to prevent overbrowning). Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.

STREUSEL-NUT TOPPING In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup packed brown sugar and 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour. Using a pastry blender, cut in 2 Tbsp. butter until mixutre resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 1/3 cup chopped walnuts.

*I omitted the nuts from the bread and didn't add the streusel-nut topping. I had a hard time waiting until the next day to eat it! And so did Molly. She kept asking if it was ready yet...it was well worth the wait! DELICIOUS! Next time I might add the nut topping but use pecans instead of walnuts. I'll still leave the nuts out of the inside of the bread since my girls don't care for nuts.

Hot Fudge Sauce

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate pieces

1/4 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

1-5 oz. can evaporated milk (2/3 cup)

In a small heavy saucepan melt the chocolate and butter over medium heat. Add the sugar; gradually stir in the evaporated milk; stir to dissolve the sugar. Bring to boilin; reduce heat. Boil gently over low heat for 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Cool slightly. Serve warm over ice cream. (Cover and chill any leftovers for up to 3 days).

*This was the easiest hot fudge I've ever made. It was really tasty too. I think I'll add a bit of vanilla extract after removing from the heat next time to give it a bit more depth of flavor...or maybe a little orange extract...yummy! The consistency of this hot fudge was perfect!