Banana Bread

My darleng was craving for a real banana cake. I have been cooking cupcakes and cookies which I liked. He, on the other hand, loves plain banana cake. Here's a recipe from allrecipes.com that was so easy to do and did not lack the banana flavor, and more importantly, did not disappoint my darleng.

Banana Banana Bread By Shelley Albeluhn

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. (I used an 9 x 9 square pan.)
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Mixed Vegetable Pickles

We have a lady neighbor who makes vegetables pickles that are so crisp and yummy. It was so addicting that a tub of it won't last for 3 days in our house. One Christmas, we gave these as gifts to family and friends and were well-received. Unfortunately, our lady neighbor got sick and she declined accepting orders for her yummy pickles.

I researched the net for the how-tos and tweeked this recipe from allrecipes.com :
 
1 kilo cucumbers, sliced 1/4" diameter, 2" long
1 kilo carrots, sliced 1/4" diameter, 2" long
1 kilo white raddish, sliced 1/4" diameter, 2" long (alternately, you can also use turnip or singkamas)
1/2 kilo bitter gourd or Ampalaya, sliced 1/4" diameter, 2" long
1/4 kilo shallots, peeled
10 cloves garlic, halved and pounded
1 cup rock salt

3 cups white vinegar
3 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns

Glass bottle and metal covers for container

1. In a large bowl, mix together cucumbers, carrots, raddish, ampalaya, onions, shallots, garlic and salt. Let stand in the refrigerator overnight.
2. Sterilize bottles and covers. Boil water in a large pot and place glass bottles. Leave for 5 mins and remove from water. Put metal covers in the water and leave for another 5 mins. Remove from heat and let all dry.
3. In a large saucepan, mix the vinegar, white sugar, whole cloves and peppercorns. Bring to a boil. Make sure the sugar is melted.
4. Drain liquid from the vegetable mixture and wash with water. (I found the pickles less salty by washing it.) 5. Stir the vegetable mixture into the boiling vinegar mixture. Remove from heat shortly before the combined mixtures return to boil. 
6. Transfer to sterile containers. Seal and chill in the refrigerator until serving. 

After 1 day we tested the pickles already. It was crunchy, however, because initially I used cidar vinegar both my mom and darleng fround the taste overpowering. I think white vinegar will provide milder taste. This pickles are best paired with pork or chicken barbeque or grilled fish. Enjoy!