Time for an installment of Weekend Things:
1. How awesome does the Hawaii Food and Wine Festival sound?
I wouldn’t say no.
It reminds me of when I went to the Barbados Food Wine and Rum Festival last fall.
2. I have a feeling this Hammered Steel Flatware from Restoration Hardware would look amazing in food photography pictures. And at $35 per place setting, it’s not ridiculous.
3. Jo Malone Limited Edition Ginger Biscuit from the Sugar and Spice” Collection – “Just-baked biscuit. Spiced with ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon, melting into caramel. Butter-crumbly with roasted hazelnuts. Warmed by tonka bean and vanilla. Irresistible.”
Ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, caramel, and vanilla beans are my favorites. I may want to ingest this stuff.
Soft Batch Dark Brown Sugar Coconut Oil Cookies have a similar flavor and scent profile but are safer to ingest.
4. No More Spam – I just installed This Wordpress Anti-Spam Plugin despite having about 10 others installed, all that promise no spam, but was getting about 400 spam comments daily.
Most went into my spam comments folder, although some made it through as legit comments, but weeding through all those spam comments was extremely time-consuming.
Since I’ve had the new plugin installed not a single spam comment has made it in. It’s the little things.
5. A man on a Banana Bread Quest – A man flew to Maui and traveled all over the island in search of his the perfect banana bread. “What got me on a plane to travel halfway around the world was the recollection of dense, pungent, freshly baked banana bread.”
The view from Julia’s Best Banana Bread (Credit: Sarah Verkaik)
6. My favorite banana bread for an all-around perfect loaf that’s fast, easy, and delivers consistent results every time is this Banana Bread with Browned Butter Vanilla Glaze
However, I have recipes for 35+ Banana Bread and Banana Treats so clearly that’s not my only recipe, and I love trying new ones.
in their comparison of many. There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to get that first piece out, or any piece, and mutilating the whole pie after working so hard on it. Don’t ask me how I know this.
Talk of pie servers reminds me that I should make Crack Pie
8. Ceramic Muffin Pan, $14.99 from World Market in Aqua or Yellow. I love either color, but not sure how practical they are from a non-stick perspective.
I’ve never baked muffins in ceramic and I’d flip if Fluffy Vegan Coconut Oil Banana Muffins became stuck to the pan.
I want an Emile Henry Ruffled Ceramic Loaf Pan but breads and quickbreads seem less stick-prone than muffins or cupcakes. If you’ve tried baking muffins or cupcakes in ceramic, let me know about the results. I know people who bake bread in ceramic rave about the results.
9. 8 Tips for a Better Dinner Party – It’s not just your living room, it’s an entertainment zone. For example, yes to ambient lighting, no to scented candles.
10. How to Prevent Oversize Air Holes in Bread – Seems that using milk, rather than water, will do the trick.
“Milk contains a protein fragment called glutathione that slightly weakens gluten, the network of proteins that give bread its structure and chew. When the bonds in gluten weaken, more steam is able to escape from the dough, leading to smaller bubbles.”
Thanks for the entries in the Kitchen Aid 5-Quart Stand Mixer Giveaway! Winner announced this weekend!
Since my blog makeover, I’ve been told that my comment replies are going into spam. Please check your spam folder and un-spam them if necessary. Thanks!
What are your Weekend Things?
If you’ve made anything, done, seen, or bought anything fabulous recently, feel free to link it up in the comments.
Weekend plans? Travel plans? Favorite baking pans or silverware?
Any recipes you’ve tried recently with success or would like to try?
I wish my weekend plans included a food and wine festival in Hawaii. Or just a food and wine festival. Or just Hawaii.
I have a pie server. I’ve had it for years (a gift from my mom I think?) and I’ve never in my life made a pie. I also got a pie mouse from someone once too. Is there something about me that says “I like pie. Buy me pie stuff”? I don’t even like it.
I’m hoping for a rain-free day tomorrow so I can play in the dirt outside. I led a couple birding trips at a festival today, so no playing for me. If it is raining, I’m making a Target run. I’m wild and crazy…
1) LOVE LOVE LOVE Hawaii! I’ve been there several times for periods of weeks and/or months and would go there again in a New York minute on any excuse whatsoever. My military husband put in to be stationed there last time around, but when push came to shove we decided to stay in San Diego because our beloved GSD breed-rescue dog was old and ailing and sure to die soon; the travel and initial quarantine miin January and we now have a puppy with energy and health to burn. We’d ABSOLUTELY take Hawaii when he again comes up for reassignment in just less than a year.
2) Off the top of your head, do you know whether or not the “Sugar and Spice Collection” of flavoring agents is low-or-no carb…? They sound GREAT, but I’m afraid that they would not fit into my medically-mandated ultra-low-carb regimen.
1. So you live in San Diego? Me too! (Hillcrest/Mission Hills!)
2. It’s body spray/perfume. So I’m sure it’s very low carb :)
Those muffin pans are so cute! And how did I miss your crack pie, it looks incredible – pinned!
Thanks for the pin & it’s an older recipe by about a year at this point (time flies!) so maybe it got lost in the shuffle :)
Love the flatware…I wish i could use Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn as a blog-prop lending library, wouldn’t that be fun?
And throw in Anthropologie, Williams Sonoma, and Sur la Table :)
Ceramic muffin pan is beautiful. Have fun at the festival :)
Not going to it – but I sure wish I was!
I looooove that flatware set! And cupcake pan!
Always looking for new banana bread recipes, it’s a favorite, so thanks for the shares!
Have a lovely weekend! I’ll be filming garden videos, and then traveling Atlanta on Monday for more cooking/gardening! Can’t wait to next Friday when I can sleep in. :)
Good luck on your Atlanta gig and traveling! And then…sleeping in :)
Yes to the Hawaii food fest for sure! I have a pie server and it’s not as easy to use as you might think since it’s not flexible and very hard to get under the pie. I think I’ve told you before how much I love my Emile Henry bakeware. I only have one pie pan and two loaf pans, all Emile Henry.
I know you’ve said you love love love your Emile Henry! I need to get a loaf pan. I would use it tons!
Have fun at the festival! I’m in Utah for the weekend for the Blend retreat. So far, it’s a great time! In a our swag, we received vanilla beans….and I immediately told my suite-mates about your blog and making vanilla extract. I can’t wait to try it!
Oh I’m not going to that festival, but I can sure dream ;)
And have fun at Blend!! How cool that you got vanilla beans and mentioned my homemade vanilla extract. Thanks for thinking of me L:)
And have a blasssst! :)
That siiiiiilverwaaaaareeeeeeeeee.
Right up both of our alleys!
That silverware is really nice – that’s what I have noticed since blogging, how unphotogenic a lot of our dishes and silverware are! I need that pie server (pies run in fear of me) and I’m off to check out the crack pie recipe:) Our weekend will be traveling and although I will be bringing bananas to snack on, I’m wishing I had some of that bread! Have a good weekend Averie!
The pie is insanely good. A lot of work, but insanely good. You can skip some steps, too, i.e. buying a prepared crust. The filling alone is just stellar!
Holy smokes! That photo of Hawaii?? It’s killing me. Man I would love to go there any, but with a food festival sounds even better!
Those cupcake tins are so cute, but I think I would break them!!
Your banana breads all look awesome. You know I love using bananas!!
Have a great weekend!
I feel like they’d either crack or stick. But they sure are cute!
I’ve never made it to Hawaii but hope to go some day (great banana bread story). The hammered flatware is so cool–I am suppressing the urge to buy it because I would also need some new dishes to complete the look! This weekend is completely plan free so far…but the next several seem to be filling up fast so I’m going to be rather lazy and enjoy it.
I know; one purchase leads to another! Enjoy your chill weekend!
Oh what i wouldn’t give to be in Hawaii right now…food and wine festival or otherwise. :P
and i need to try your favorite banana bread…which means i may have to hide our bananas from the.boy so he won’t eat them all!
I bought FIFTEEN bananas at TJs 2 days ago. 8 for eating, 7 for baking. If I don’t buy that many, people in this house eat my baking stash before they get a chance to get speckled!
I plan on retiring in Hawaii (seriously) so the photos of their food and wine festival and the story about the banana bread quest make me want to fly over there right now!
What a great place to retire..but that’s like 30-40 years off for you judging by how old I’d guess you to be now!
I’ve never been to Hawaii but it’s definitely on the bucket list! An even like that sounds like SO much fun!!
I love banana bread!!! That link has some really neat ideas!
Have a great weekend! :)
Ooh, I love that flatware. It’s so industrial. My weekend so far is a lot of work, but tomorrow night I’ll be square dancing away. Sounds odd but there are monthly dances that are oddly popular with the Pabst-drinking hipsters.
ps I’m not a Pabst-drinking hipster. I just love to dance.
I’m not a Pabst-drinking hipster. I just love to dance. <--- LOL and isn't that the truth! Some of these 'kids' today. I know what you mean. I live in the urban mecca of San Diego and my whole neighborhood is very hip. Some of it is hipsters. As in, too cool for school. I just laugh. Have fun square dancing!