sharing a secret...

my step mom and i were swapping recipes the other day and i told her about this creamy, spicy banana bread that i had just made and promised that i'd share the recipe. don't let "creamy" and "spicy" scare you: this bread is amazing.
creamy = cream cheese
spicy = cardamom chai mix

Find the recipes for both below. the chai mix is something i make in bulk and always have on hand to add to smoothies...yum!

Cream Cheese & Chai Banana Bread
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Chai mix (below)
3/4 cup mashed bananas (about 2 medium)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add egg beating just until blended. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in banana, and vanilla. Spoon batter into a greased and floured 8- x 4-inch loaf pans.
Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean and sides pull away from pan, shielding with aluminum foil last 15 minutes to prevent browning, if necessary. Cool bread in pan on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool 30 minutes on wire racks before slicing.


Chai Mix
*combine all, store in air-tight container
2 tbsp. ground ginger
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. ground cloves
2 1/2 tbsp. ground cardamom
2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. white pepper



this is so so so good. enjoy the heck out of it.

kitty photo friday

jena's blog (modish) is one that i try to read on a somewhat regular basis, and she's got me wanting to steal an idea. every friday she hosts kitty photo friday and frankly, i love the idea. if nothing else it keeps me posting new content at least once a week...and with my babies, there are plenty of kitty photos gracing my computer.

so for my inaugural kitty photo friday, i give you scully (with my new dining room curtains).

longing....

2.5 years - it's been WAY too long.

i need a whole lot more of this in my life.

wednesday motivation - color

i'm loving everything teal lately, so i thought i'd share some inspiration.

if we can ever really say that we're done....

this weekend gave me a rush of motivation, so we can officially say that until we're ready to replace the carpet with hardwood floors, we're finally done with our living room!

my exciting "very last one left in the warehouse" curtain find from urban outfitters came in, and we finally settled on a curtain rod to match...so no more naked living room window! the curtains for the dining room should be in any day now...so happy to finally have those done. my first set of curtains ever!

while picking out the rods, i was finally able to get the last bit of craft supplies that i needed to complete a project that i've been planning for a LONG time. this awesome whirly ball (and soon to be air plant) chandelier!

i used woven hemp and single simple chain crotched a strand for each crate and barrel whirly ball.

there are 6 of them in all, 3 of them have tea lights in them and the other three will have moss & air plants, as soon as the flea market comes around and i find some.

my next project is to actually take my new sewing machine out of the box and try to craft my very first skirt. i found a super simple patternless tutorial that should make it an easy starter project.

ps - if you've never put mint chocolate chip ice cream in your hot chocolate - you're missing out big time.

denied

i was sitting in the living room yesterday as the guys were putting in the new hot water heater, and my heart skipped a beat when i saw a florist van drive up and stop in front of the house. my face lit up as she got out, opened the back, and pulled out this awesome arrangement of brightly colored roses.

i opened the door after the bell rang and she announced the name and address of the delivery recipient.

wrong freaking address.

the one with the busted hot water heater

see all that water? yeah - thats not a good thing. i took this yesterday afternoon after we got the diagnosis. as of this morning, the puddle had almost tripled in size, forming a flowing stream from the back of the garage, out the door and down the driveway.

we will be putting this old guy to rest tomorrow at 1. if he even lasts that long.

all i can say is "thank goodness for an awesome realtor who put a one year warranty into our closing documents." thanks to him, we're not completely diminishing our paying off debt fund.

here's to this being the LAST in a very un-fun string of bad luck thats surrounded me for the last 3 months.

i am SO ready for the sunshine again.

please show me shorts and flip flops.

so its a new year...

let me tell you how much i love this guy.

its a LOT.

a LOT a LOT.

<3