falling behind...

but still here.

This Friday the plan was to make the coconut lime banana bread recommended by Jamey.
However come Thursday my bananas were just not ripe enough - It has taken me long enough to learn that if I go ahead a make the bread before those bananas are ripe I am ALWAYS disappointed.
I decided to wait a week.
Ha! now you know what I have in store for next week - finally I am ahead again!
Anyway, I decided to take some of the coconut that I had for the banana bread and make some scones mom and I made while she was here.
chocolate - coconut - almond scones. This recipe is also thanks to Joy the Baker and you can take a look here.
Here's the thing, I have always been very anti-chocolate in my breakfast.  Never - ever would you catch me with chocolate chips in my pancakes, muffins, banana bread...you name it - it just never happened. And yet here I am make scones with chocolate chips...and would you believe I love them?  I don't think that I have been converted to chocolate chips in my pancakes, but I think I am beginning to understand a little bit.
Absolutely delicious.  and it makes more scones than my other recipe, which means that here we are on Sunday still enjoying them - grant it a little stale, but nothing a little warming up in the toaster and some butter can't cover up.

my Central New York baby

loves apples. 

as you can see, one apple is just not enough,

 

she will share as long as she gets to hold the apple 

- & it doesn't interrupt her own enjoyment of it

she can hardly stop gnawing away for a picture,

ah, but I guess she comes by 

it honestly!

After a wonderful and inspiring visit with mom this past week I came to last night with a resounding crash.  I was missing having someone to discuss baking ideas with and then the companionship that comes when you have someone working in the kitchen with you.
What in the world was I going to make for Friday morning - there I was searching through my cupboards remembering that it can't be anything that calls for too much baking powder because mom and I used so much last week I hardly had any left...and I was not about to go out and buy some.
I found a can of pumpkin puree. Perfect!
Pumpkin bread it would be. It will be a nice break from all the apples I have been feeding them.
The recipe comes from Martha Stewart - she makes it in loaf pans, I went with the bunt pan (prettier that way).
I am going to do the cheater way and I won't take the time to write it out.  Have a look at the recipe here.

A few thoughts...

• if you like pumpkin pie - you will love this. It is still cake like while somehow also being creamy and dense.  Though, perhaps the denseness of it has to with the fact that I may have slightly undercooked it?
• instead of the plain icing the recipe called for I made a cream cheese icing.  This I highly recommend, it is a bit more decadent/desserty but there is something so wonderful about cream cheese and pumpkin. 
• and on a personal preference - I wouldn't make this recipe again for myself. I tend to like my pumpkin bread to be bread and not so  much like pie.