portrait-photo

I'm Beth. I like making your eyes happy. I bake (because food is awesome) and make crafty things! (Which means the majority of photos here are my own.)

I still had leftover failed macaroon coconut after making the scones, so I made some coconut banana bread with added walnuts.  This time I managed to not eat it until the next day!  Breads like this are really pointless to eat the same day, since they need time to flavor through.  Anyway, I love this banana bread recipe…the yogurt makes it nice and soft.Banana Coconut Bread2 cups flour3/4 teaspoon baking soda1/2 teaspoon salt4 tablespoons butter, softened1 cup sugar2 large eggs1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed1/4 cup plain yogurt1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract1/2 cup flaked coconut   Grease a 9x5” loaf pan and preheat oven to 350˚F.  Combine flour, soda and salt.  In a mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Beat in eggs individually.  Add bananas, yogurt and vanilla.  Mix in dry.  Fold in 1/2 coconut (and I added walnuts here).  Pour into pan and bake for 55-65 minutes.

I still had leftover failed macaroon coconut after making the scones, so I made some coconut banana bread with added walnuts.  This time I managed to not eat it until the next day!  Breads like this are really pointless to eat the same day, since they need time to flavor through.  Anyway, I love this banana bread recipe…the yogurt makes it nice and soft.

Banana Coconut Bread
2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked coconut  

Grease a 9x5” loaf pan and preheat oven to 350˚F.  
Combine flour, soda and salt.  In a mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Beat in eggs individually.  Add bananas, yogurt and vanilla.  Mix in dry.  Fold in 1/2 coconut (and I added walnuts here).  Pour into pan and bake for 55-65 minutes.

These black and white brownie bars possibly had too many eggs in them because they were way too dense.  The kind of dense where they’re hard to swallow.  It was unfortunate, since they would have been good otherwise.  The above picture is the only one I have…I took a test shot to see how they looked with the fabric (awful) and then gave up since they weren’t even that edible.See a much better picture at Baking Bites!

These black and white brownie bars possibly had too many eggs in them because they were way too dense.  The kind of dense where they’re hard to swallow.  It was unfortunate, since they would have been good otherwise.  The above picture is the only one I have…I took a test shot to see how they looked with the fabric (awful) and then gave up since they weren’t even that edible.
See a much better picture at Baking Bites!

I made some coconut macaroons that didn’t turn out at all.  The recipe either had way too much coconut in it or not enough egg whites to match, because they were just…ick.  They were dry and when I tried to swallow a bite I ended up with a mass of coconut stuck in my throat.  I decided to throw them in the food processor and reuse them in other things (I figured it would be fine, since the mixture looked like plain coconut).  First I mixed some macaroons coconut into dark chocolate and added raisins and almonds, and also mixed coconut into white chocolate with cinnamon, raisins and almonds.Later on I made scones with coconut, chocolate chips and almonds!  I had the recipe saved for a while and I’m so glad the failed macaroons finally made me try it.  They were so good!  Joy recommends eating them with cherry jam which I wasn’t sure about, but I tried a piece with some of Wegman’s mixed berry fruit spread (the one with raspberry as the main berry), and she was right, yum!  (Also, new plate from Target!)Chocolate Coconut Almond Scones from Joy the Baker

I made some coconut macaroons that didn’t turn out at all.  The recipe either had way too much coconut in it or not enough egg whites to match, because they were just…ick.  They were dry and when I tried to swallow a bite I ended up with a mass of coconut stuck in my throat.  I decided to throw them in the food processor and reuse them in other things (I figured it would be fine, since the mixture looked like plain coconut).  
First I mixed some macaroons coconut into dark chocolate and added raisins and almonds, and also mixed coconut into white chocolate with cinnamon, raisins and almonds.
Later on I made scones with coconut, chocolate chips and almonds!  I had the recipe saved for a while and I’m so glad the failed macaroons finally made me try it.  They were so good!  Joy recommends eating them with cherry jam which I wasn’t sure about, but I tried a piece with some of Wegman’s mixed berry fruit spread (the one with raspberry as the main berry), and she was right, yum!  (Also, new plate from Target!)
Chocolate Coconut Almond Scones from Joy the Baker

…

A weekend with my niece: we made triple chocolate brownie cookies and had M&M pancakes for dinner (I taught her how to properly fluff up flour!).  We talked about a birthday party next month for my cat, and made him two presents (“Shhh!  We can’t let him hear!”), one a cloth version of him, and the other a trap made of string to catch any bad cats that might try to harm him.  We collected flowers and dyed cloth with them, and made a beach just for bugs, right on the back porch.  
My hips are still sore from our long swinging session…there should be swings for non-kid hips!  Oh, and I learned she goes #1 out of her armpit and #2 out of her mouth.

Adorable teddy bear toast from Minieco: buttered toast + cinnamon sugar + banana slices and raisins!

Homemade french toast seems so blah to me, but I tried making some with texas toast from Trader Joe’s, and it was soooo good.  They also have nutella made with almonds instead of hazelnuts (it’s not as thick and maybe more chocolatey) which was delicious on the french toast…the cookie spread was eh.

Homemade french toast seems so blah to me, but I tried making some with texas toast from Trader Joe’s, and it was soooo good.  They also have nutella made with almonds instead of hazelnuts (it’s not as thick and maybe more chocolatey) which was delicious on the french toast…the cookie spread was eh.

My attempt at making a homemade Take 5 bar went surprisingly well.  I tried to spread the melted chocolate as thin as possible, and once it was firm (placed in the freezer for 5 minutes), I layered chunky peanut butter, caramel and pretzel bits, and topped it with more chocolate.  It didn’t taste exactly like a Take 5, but it was pretty close and was delicious in its own right.
I also made a caramel, coconut, and almond bar, so I suppose it was an almond joy with caramel and less coconut.

Cookie butter smells like gingerbread and tastes like cookies!  I was trying it out here on a slice of cinnamon raisin bread, but my favorite was eating it with pretzels.  I’m not so sure about it though, because it’s thicker than peanut butter which makes it hard to eat.  I’ll stick with Nutella!  Read about Biscoff Spread on Baking Bites

Cookie butter smells like gingerbread and tastes like cookies!  I was trying it out here on a slice of cinnamon raisin bread, but my favorite was eating it with pretzels.  I’m not so sure about it though, because it’s thicker than peanut butter which makes it hard to eat.  I’ll stick with Nutella!  
Read about Biscoff Spread on Baking Bites

A whole website of illustrated recipes?!  I’m quite liking They Draw & Cook.  You can search by illustration style, recipe type, or by ingredient!   Fig Marmalade by Lucile PracheOatmeal with Honeyed Figs by Jessica PollakFocaccia by Anita Lozar

A whole website of illustrated recipes?!  I’m quite liking They Draw & Cook.  You can search by illustration style, recipe type, or by ingredient!  

Fig Marmalade by Lucile Prache
Oatmeal with Honeyed Figs by Jessica Pollak
Focaccia by Anita Lozar

Golden Oreo cookies & cream ice cream is now a favorite!  I previously realized that I like these Oreos more than the chocolate, and in ice cream?  Deelicious.

Golden Oreo cookies & cream ice cream is now a favorite!  I previously realized that I like these Oreos more than the chocolate, and in ice cream?  Deelicious.

Hey, Chocolate Muffin.  What’s with the disguise?  You are too sweet and too cake-like to be a muffin.  You’re a cupcake, silly. Yumm.  I excluded the walnuts and the almond topping, and instead topped some with leftover frosting (it keeps well in the freezer).I had this recipe written down from a few years ago, but it seems to have come from allrecipes.  Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Nut Muffins

Hey, Chocolate Muffin.  What’s with the disguise?  You are too sweet and too cake-like to be a muffin.  You’re a cupcake, silly. 
Yumm.  I excluded the walnuts and the almond topping, and instead topped some with leftover frosting (it keeps well in the freezer).
I had this recipe written down from a few years ago, but it seems to have come from allrecipes.  Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Nut Muffins

These are the delicious chocolate blocks I used to make the chocolate pudding pie and these chocolate chip cookies!  One block is dark chocolate, one is bittersweet, and in the middle is Trader Joe’s white chocolate (with a high percentage of cocoa butter).

These are the delicious chocolate blocks I used to make the chocolate pudding pie and these chocolate chip cookies!  One block is dark chocolate, one is bittersweet, and in the middle is Trader Joe’s white chocolate (with a high percentage of cocoa butter).

carlosbela: Chocolate Skulls Gone Nuts So coool.  I’ll take one in dark chocolate!

carlosbela:

Chocolate Skulls Gone Nuts

So coool.  I’ll take one in dark chocolate!

(via homesickfetus)

designed-for-life: tea-bag biscuits! These are adorable…and, oh, the tea tags!  Get in my mouth please.Made by Trattoria da Martina

designed-for-life:

tea-bag biscuits!

These are adorable…and, oh, the tea tags!  Get in my mouth please.
Made by Trattoria da Martina

(Source: sandrakavital.blogspot.com, via chestchest)