Cookie of the Month - Banana Cream Whoopie Pies

Ok, Barb (my foodie sister) - here's a food post.  Happy?  For this month's auction cookie, I chose Banana Cream Whoopie Pies.  I've done chocolate whoopie pies in the past but after seeing a recipe for these on Martha Stewart's website, I had to give them a try.  I followed the recipe for the cookie, but for the filling I used my own banana version of a cream cheese frosting.  These were yummy as can be and I can attribute my week's 2 lb. weight gain to these and our Father's Day celebration.  Watch out Barb... here goes.

Banana Cream Whoopie Pies

6 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 cup mashed banana (2 lg. ripe)

1 cup sour cream

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp. vanilla

Mash banana.

Good and soupy.

Add sour cream and set aside.

In another bowl measure out your flour, baking

powder, baking soda and salt.  Set that aside, too.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, and sugars on medium high speed...

...until creamy - about 3 minutes.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Add banana mixture half at a time alternating with flour mixture.

Spoon batter into a big pastry bag fitted with a large round tip.  This will help with the uniformity of the cookies.  Don't worry about making the cookies kiss shaped - they will flatten when baking.  Make them about an inch and a half wide - kinda small - they will spread a little.  Definitely use parchment.

Bake them in a 350 degree oven for 12-14 minutes.  Don't be afraid to let the edges get a little brown.  This is a moist cookie due to the banana and you will need to make sure they get done to combat the tendency to get gooey.

Sift some powdered sugar over the cookies.

This will help in handling them - they do get moist on the tops.

Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese

1 stick of butter

1 lb. powdered sugar (3 1/2 cups)

1 tsp. banana extract

Whip the frosting up.  I added a smidge of yellow paste food coloring.

Look over your cookies and match sizes and shapes to make pairs.  Flip one of the two cookies in the pair over and pipe a dollop of frosting onto each.  Don't these look luscious?  They are!

Plop on the lid to make cute little whoopie pie sandwiches.

Oh my gosh - are these good! 

Enjoy, but remember... Moderation In All Things!

Sewing!

Believe it or not, I've been sewing.   Finally.   Moving the sewing center to my bedroom for the summer is actually working out.   I like it up there and the windows hold a new view for me while at the iron.  I scored some really cute 70s fabric remnants a couple of weeks ago from a new (now favorite) thrift store that I want to share.

This is a smooth and sturdy knit.  So 70s.  Check out those colors!

I know I wore a pattern similar to this in Jr. High but in browns.

Speaking of browns, check out this big floral.

These flowers are about 8" across.

And 1974 is documented right there on the selvage. 

Pink and brown rings at least 6" across.

Gotta love it! 

Farewell Class of 2010!

Last week the class of 2010 walked across the commencement stage and bid a fond or otherwise farewell to their old alma mater.  Pictured here is the beginning of the processional from the high school to the stadium.  Faculty in black.   Approximately 400 graduates in maroon.  I am notorious for taking behind the scenes pictures.  Once again, the weather was threatening and once again, we got lucky.

A picture of our student school board member, Ryan - also one of the class officers, giving his commencement address.  Notice "Indians" on the press box in the background.  Could be the last commencement as Menomonee Falls Indians.  The state of Wisconsin recently passed a law that will all but eliminate the use of Native American mascots.

Students lining up to cross the stage to receive their diplomas.  It is always an honor to greet, shake hands with, and award a diploma to the jittery, nervous, happy graduates - my favorite school board duty by far.

Shelf of the Week - White

Here it is.  The final shelf of the week.  White.  This was the last phase of the great sewing room reorganization -- refolding all the fabrics.  It has been a process of rediscovery and realization:  I rediscovered many long forgotten, cool fabrics and I realized that I HAVE to use them or lose them.  I have committed to converting my Etsy shop to handmade garments made from these vintage fabrics using vintage 1950s-70s patterns, too.  I am very excited to actually start selling something creative in RubyLemons.  But, I digress -- shelf of the week.  White.

The shelf had turned into a mess of ribbons, laces,

tablecloths, tea towels and hankies.

Now everything is neatly organized.

This was a fun rediscovery - birds on a medium weight cotton.

A huge-scale tropical barkcloth.

A 60s pique featuring 5" daisies and bouquets of daisies.  Yards and yards.

Four aprons.

I like the one featuring sewing tools and tape measure borders.

Is this a kitchen print?  Very 60s.  Lots of wrought iron.

Here's a barkcloth that I found in a basement shop of the Milwaukee Antiques Center on an early 90s scouting trip with my good friend, Mary. A number of curtain panels were stuffed in a box under a dark stairway.  Some of them were in bad shape, but some were like new.  I didn't really like the print at the time, but now I love it.  I'm thinking late 50s.  The picture represents a piece 16x24".

50s kitchen towels.  How 'bout that vaudeville guy and the can can dancer?

Barkcloth yardage in a fairly small all over print. 

Another barkcloth with chartreuse and red roses.

I decided to centralize all my 50s tablecloths in one location on the white shelf.  Most of these I'll have to sell because I won't cut them up unless they're too stained or damaged to use on a table.  I'm much more of a purist than I used to be.  Maybe somebody else will actually use them instead of let them sit on a shelf in a sewing room like me.

Well, that's it for my shelf of the week features.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my vintage fabric! 

Evidence - a Day in the Life

Yes, it's true.  I have been side-tracked from my blog lately.  With the arrival of four additional family members (loved, but additional) to our home in the last month, things have gotten a little... busier.  The house is hoppin'.  The noise level has risen.  The fridge is emptied faster than the room clears when the chore chart is announced.  Aahhh... just kidding... sort of.  It's so much fun and we had been coping with one bathroom until... the water heater blew.  Thanks to Uncle Fred, the master plumber, the nasty business of ice showers is no longer a problem.

I didn't realize how quiet the house had gotten with only one 9th grader at home.  Now we have added to that:  one piano performance college sophomore to be, one International Relations/Japanese college junior to be, and two graduates heading for their year in China with the Flagship program.  We've got everyone until sometime in August.  Until then it will be a fun ride.  I thought I'd share with you, blog reader, one day's photographic evidence that it's not just mom and pop at the homestead anymore.

Brightly colored size 13 shoes, slippers and man-purses.

"Ripped!" and pilates dvds.

Strange Asian art propped on the bookshelf.

Things in Japanese I can't read.  Yo yos.

Stashed sports equipment.

Insanely hard piano music.

Facebook, Facebook, Facebook.

Asian condiments.

Turbo Jammers every morning at 10 a.m.

Necessities.

Salvation

Watching Japanese TV dramas on laptop.

Sound barrier breaking piano pounding.

YouTube escape in his favorite vintage K-Mart tee.

A quieter evidence.

Sewing room turned music studio.

Last evidence:  Dad's increased napping.

Sweet dreams, Daddio.