Weekend doings

It was cold and rainy all day Friday and we had not yet turned on the heater so I thought an oven supper would be good - easy to cook and would help heat the house up a little.

I made cole slaw (not in the oven though)

also baked chicken and rice which tastes a lot better than it photographs

banana bread 

and brownies.  The chicken and bread both bake for about an hour, so after they had baked for 30 minutes,  I put in the brownies as they take 30 minutes.

Then everything came out at the same time

Banana Bread

1 stick butter, softened

1 scant cup sugar (closer to 3/4 cup)

2 eggs

3 medium or 4 small ripe bananas, peeled and mashed (about 1 1/4 cups)

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup or more chopped nuts, we prefer pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan or 4 mini-loaf pans.

Cream together the butter and sugar. beat till blended. sometimes I use the mixer and sometimes I just do it by hand.

Mix in the bananas.

Stir in the flour, salt and soda.

Then stir in the nuts.

Pour in to prepared pans. A big loaf will take 60-70 minutes. Small loaves take 35-45 minutes.

Cool for a 10 minutes, then remove from pans.

Slice, spread with a little butter and feed to your family.

Brownies

* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 cup white sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
*
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch
square pan.
2. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in
sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt,
and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. 

in Saturday's mail, was a goody box from Debby- isn't this table runner cute?  

Yes, she made it out of very fun seasonal fabrics.  I really like all the purple and green mixed with the orange and black.   Thank you Debby! She blogs at Nanny's Place and I always enjoy reading what she is up to.  

now, it is time to do some fall decorating inside our home so the table runner doesn't feel lonely.  

Sunday afternoon,  I did a little sewing.  First I sewed up 2 blue aprons for costumes for my son and a friend, something about a Banana Stand in the tv show Arrested Development.  I've never seen the show but I have had a little experience sewing up aprons.  

Then, I followed an online free tutorial to make a chevron necktie for grandson JJ to coordinate with his sister's pumpkin dress.  Cute, right?  Well,  the tutorial was well written and so easy to follow.  It was a quick successful project.  

I hope you all had a nice weekend too