RE: Easy and Tasty Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe
@catweasel has been agitating for banana bread ever since I found a recipe for that on the back of a flour bag. We even have the over-ripening bananas on hand now, so I think this is on the schedule for tomorrow -- if he gets home early enough from some errands he has to run.
Good thing you posted this, I guess -- because I'm not sure where the flour sack recipe is now. I have a landslide of junk in one corner of the room I need to excavate. It's probably in there. Maybe you know how that goes. Then again ... maybe not.
As for the difference between real vanilla and imitation vanilla ... girl, once you try the real thing you may throw rocks and stone at that imitation stuff. I assure you that's how I feel about it.
I've even looked into what it takes to make your own vanilla. You can do that you know. They have all kinds of different vanilla beans and flavor varieties. You just add vodka and let them sit. And sit. And sit. And I can just imagine how that tastes after a while. (HOOO-EEEEE.) I may just do that some day. I'll let you know how that turns out.
My whole house is a landslide of junk. And that's no lie. I try to keep the kids to contain theirs in their room. There is one room we try to keep clean to be able to share with people who come over. ;) I have looked at making vanilla as well. I found some vanilla beans at a local store in the spice section, but I think it was kind of expensive. Try it and let me know!!
I will. I know the beans can look kind of expensive at first glance. But if you make your own extract, you keep adding liquor to the bottle as you use it and they can last more than a year. When you use vanilla the way I do, it starts to look very attractive.
Right now, I get the real vanilla from Costco which is far less expensive than elsewhere. But I use 2 - 3 times more vanilla than is called for in baking. I love the taste and it brings out the flavor in cookies and muffins! I put it in Mexican chocolate. Even chocolate milk made with regular Nestles Quik. I've even been known to sip it straight from the bottle once in a while.
Hmmm. Maybe I'm just a lush.
Lol! That is a lot of vanilla!! I rarely use it unless a recipe calls for it, but perhaps I'm missing out if you use it all the time!! I love the way it smells. I have had the bottle I've been using for years - I better kick it up a notch and start using it more! Put it on like perfume even! ;)