Banana Pumpkin Nutella Bread

Hi everyone! I'm back!

Well.  Not really.  But, back long enough to write my own recipe post anyway.  I won't be home for good until early October but at least now it's a short trip for pleasure rather than business.

Before I jump into today's recipe, how about those fantastic guest posters of mine these past few weeks?  Which blogger's recipe was your favorite?  Serious big kudos to each of the wonderful bloggers that shared yummy recipes here on my page:

• Angelina at Whisks & Ruffles with her Beef with Black Pepper Sauce (yah for written down Asian recipes!)
• Jenna at Jenna's Cooking Journey with her Oatmeal Caramelitas (mmm caramel...)
• Caroline at The Barbee Housewife with her Bacon Ranch Chicken Taquitos (hello game day!)
• Jennifer at Mother Thyme with her Cream Cheese Coffee Cake (so scrumptious looking and easy to see why this was the fan favorite!)
• Angie at Coffee and Cannolis with her Mini Frittatas (freezer friendly and fillings are 100% adaptable!)
• Desi at Steak N Potatoes Kinda Gurl with her Grilled Fillet with Bourbon Butter (omg drool!)

The weather really changed dramatically since I came back to The States.  Sure, the fact that I came from the tropical weather of the Equator makes it feel even cooler but there are definitive signs of Fall in the air.  The mornings are cool and require jacket...and sometimes even heat in the car.  The leaves on the trees are starting to display beautiful Fall colors.  And, I'm feeling like making warm, comforting foods again.

In my book, nothing says fall more than pumpkin.  Hence, I'm sharing this recipe with you today.  It was just one of many recipes that I made with my homemade Nutella.  The bananas and pumpkin made it super moist and the Nutella gave it a great look and just enough chocolate boost.  Lovely to welcome Fall!

One Year Ago: French Onion Soup
Three Years Ago: Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip

Banana Pumpkin Nutella Bread

Photo Credit: Emily H.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 bananas (preferably overly ripe), mashed
• 1 cup canned or freshly pureed pumpkin
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 4 Tbsp Nutella, divided

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a 9x5 loaf pan by spraying with cooking spray.
2. Add sugar and butter to a mixing bowl and cream together until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs and vanilla extract, mixing well until combined.  Then add the mashed bananas and pumpkin.  Again mixing until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, add flour, salt, and baking soda.  Whisk together to combine.  Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until combined.  The batter will be thick.
4. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and dollop Nutella on top.  Using a toothpick, swirl the Nutella through the batter.  Bake for about an hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. 

Source: As seen on The World in my Kitchen and adapted by Mom's Crazy Cooking from Babble - The Family Kitchen

Guest Post by SteakNPotatoesKindaGurl: Grilled Filet with Bourbon Butter

Here we are with my final guest blogger.  Did you enjoy all of the new blogs that I shared?  As I said from the beginning, I hope you found a new one to love and follow.  There was a bit of something for everyone because bloggers come from all life-stages...from high school to young professional to mommy.  All of us are so different and yet we all share a love for cooking and blogging!

Desiree (or Desi for short) the voice of SteakNPotatoesKindaGurl, is a fellow Cincinnatian and Secret Recipe Club Group C member.  I'm always excited to meet others in the area that share my passion for food.  Desi and I even joked about how we annoy our (not-as-food-loving) friends by taking pictures of our food whenever we go out to eat.  I told her we really ought to get together for dinner or drinks sometime :).

When Desi sent me her recipe, I could practically smell and taste the steak through my screen.  Like...I wanted to go over to her house immediately to eat this thing!  My husband's favorite cut of meat is filet and yet we have never tried to make it a home ourselves.  We did take a cooking class together once at The Learning Kitchen where we made filet on a grill pan but that was the end of that (so much for using our newly acquired skills, huh?).  But now, between this recipe, her Filet Mignon with Creamy Mushroom Sauce, and the fact that we're buying 1/16th of a cow this fall, we have no excuses!  (Seriously, you can come back and ask me later if I made some succulent filet mignon with those cows...who...oddly enough are named T-Bone and Ribeye...but that will be a story for another day.)

I'd also love to try making her Bacon Pancakes with Maple-Peanut Butter Syrup (BACON!  And breakfast foods again with peanut butter for the hubby...surprised?  I think not.).  After all is said and done, I'd wash everything down with Cherry Limeade Slushies, my favorite drink to order when we go to Sonic Drive-In.

I'll be seeing you all with a personal post next week if I'm not entirely jetlagged.  Hello to all of my new (and veteran) readers!  Where do you come from?  Any other Great Cincinnatians?  Leave me a comment and stay tuned, okay? :)

One Year Ago: French Onion Soup
Three Years Ago: Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip

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Why hello there! I'm so happy to be guest posting on Christine's blog today! My name is Desi and I host a little blog called SteakNPotatoesKindaGurl. It's so cool that Christine and I are both part of the Secret Recipe Club, and both live in the Cincinnati area. 

I love bacon, salted caramel, margaritas, and steak and potatoes of course :) 

But I realized something. I don't have many steak recipes on my blog. 

And I'm the steak n potatoes kinda gurl! 

So here's my attempt to change that. 

A delicious and simple grilled steak recipe that I personally love...

...Grilled Filet with Bourbon Butter.

The perfect steak with the perfect topping. 

Grilled Filet with Bourbon Butter

Bourbon Butter from Traeger

• Two filet mignons
• Salt and pepper for seasoning, if desired

 Bourbon Butter

• 1 stick of unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped green onion
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Note: Butter can be prepared ahead and refrigerated until serving time. You may want to let the steaks sit out of the fridge for 10-20 minutes also to come to room temp.

In a small bowl, combine the butter, garlic, bourbon, green onion, parsley, salt and pepper and stir with a wooden spoon.

Season steaks with salt and pepper, if desired. Place steaks on the grill on medium-high and cook, turning once, until done to your liking in the center of thickest part. Transfer the steaks to a plate and top with the bourbon butter. 

Printable Recipe

You can use whatever cut of meat you like but we like tender filet steaks. The bourbon butter was a nice topping and the bourbon wasn't overpowering, for me at least. And we like our steaks cooked medium with a touch of pink inside.

You can even make the steaks indoors using a skillet. And the bourbon butter is oh so easy. 

This is definitely going in the grilling rotation! And it's been a pleasure guest posting here at Christine's Kitchen Chronicles :)

Peace, and bacon grease!

 

Guest Post by Coffee and Cannolis: Mini Frittatas

Any coffee lovers out there?  How about cannolis?

Well, like I said in my last post, I'm not much of a coffee drinker but I do LOVE cannolis (Umm have you been to Mike's Pastry in Boston? Yum!).  I also am a fan of  Coffee and Cannolis!  Angie, the voice behind this blog, is another What's Cooking message board member but I only recently started following her myself.
She had my attention at her Baked Cinnamon Sugar Churros (I had tried a fried Churro Bites recipe but am always looking for equally delicious baked versions of fried foods).  After that point, I went back and pursued her other recipes.  I bookmarked a couple recipes that I know my peanut butter, dessert loving husband would go crazy over: Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake with Pretzel Crust and Peanut Butterfinger Mini Cheesecakes.  I honestly don't know which one would he'd like more but can say that they'll definitely be contenders for future birthday cakes.  I also saw Angie post a recipe for Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips, one that I love but realized I have never shared on my own blog.

Today she has chosen to share a super easy savory recipe and she must have read my mind because I love breakfast foods!  I love a good frittata or quiche but my egg-hating husband would never go for it.  This recipe would work well in my house because I could eat a few and then freeze the rest for later.  I can also add whatever leftover veggies and meats I have for customized flavors.  Awesome! It'll get filed right next to the Bacon Egg and Toast Cups for quick, bite-sized eggy breakfast treats.

One Year Ago: Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Cheesecake - A past birthday cake for my husband...and it was 9 LAYERS high!
Three Years Ago: Cha Cha's White Chicken Chili

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Hi!  My name is Angie from Coffee and Cannolis, and I’m so excited to be able to guest post today on Christine’s Kitchen Chronicles!  I have been following Christine for a few years now, so it’s an honor to be able to help her out with a post while she’s busy!  (And PS – have you seen that S’Mores Pizza?  I cannot wait to try it!)

Since you may not know me – a few things… I am a (new) mom to 15-month-old Tyler, who takes up A LOT of my time, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!  With what little free time I get, I enjoy baking and cooking (and Pinterest, Netflix Instant Queue, reading…).  Since my free time has been cut significantly, I’ve learned to take some shortcuts, make adjustments, and that I don’t have to get a completely gourmet meal on the table every night.  My new goal (aside from just getting the kid to eat!) is to create REAL food that anyone can make.  Quickly and easily, with as few convenience foods as possible.  I wish I were superwoman, but alas I am not.

In efforts to save some time in the kitchen while still getting a healthy breakfast in my son’s tummy, I’ve discovered my love of these mini frittatas!  I like to make them on Sunday during nap time, or even once he’s down for the night, and freeze them to grab throughout the week.  Not only are they quick and freezer-friendly, they’re very versatile.  Your kids LOVE broccoli?  Throw some in.  You have a kid like mine that loves turkey sausage and super sharp white cheddar cheese?  Well, good news – these are fantastic with sausage and cheese!

Mini Frittatas

Ingredients:

• 8 large eggs
• ½ cup milk or half and half
• Salt and Pepper
• Assorted Mix Ins, such as: Shredded Cheese, Cooked Sausage Crumbles, Diced Peppers, Diced Steamed Broccoli

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat a 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray
2. Whisk together eggs, milk and salt and pepper in a large bowl.  Evenly distribute egg mixture among the 12 muffin cups.  Add about 2 tablespoons of mix-ins to each cup.
3. Bake about 20-25 minutes until the eggs are puffy and the edges are golden brown.  (If necessary, run a butter knife around the edges to loosen before removing from pan). 

Makes 12-mini frittatas

* These can be frozen in a freezer-weight bag.  To defrost I pull them out and keep in the fridge overnight, and just microwave for 10 seconds for my son, 30-45 seconds for me!

Source: Disney’s Family Fun