Southern Cookin’: Hummingbird Cake

Today I am baking a “Hummingbird Cake,” a cake with a Southern tradition. It is early in June and this time of year reminds me of our annual trips driving our kids to summer camp in Mississippi. The camp is located in the heart of the Mississippi Delta and you can’t get more southern than this. It was always a bit sad driving down the two-lane country roads with red dirt, smell of pine trees, and hot, hot humidity as our kids would be gone for most of the summer. But they loved camp and made many enduring friends there. So a “Hummingbird Cake” reminds me of this annual ritual.

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Kids Can Cook: Graham Cracker Crush & Banana -Marshmallow Delight

Here’s an easy recipe and a way to use up those extra bananas which perhaps you might have purchased. This “lite dessert” quickly disappears at our house. It is a low-fat dessert — virtually fat-free (although it is not calorie or sugar-free). While sorting through a stack of vintage homemakers magazines, I ran across the recipe for “Banana Pudding Supreme” which actually isn’t a pudding at all but instead uses melted marshmallows. Hum. I haven’t cooked with marshmallows in many years. The recipe is simple and calls for layering melted marshmallows/whip cream along with crushed graham crackers and bananas. Other than melting the marshmallows on the stove, this dessert is an activity which kids can help make.

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French Toast Casserole with Bananas Foster and Cane Syrup Sauce

I have fond memories of visiting New Orleans in past years for Mardi Gras parades and events. Really, we love to visit the city any time of the year, take in sights and eat at one of the many wonderful restaurants. Recently we visited a small, eclectic neighborhood restaurant for breakfast. The mid-city restaurant, in a shot gun house, always serves very creative dishes. It inspired me to make a similar French Toast entree based on the one we ate at the restaurant to commemorate this great city and Mardi Gras!

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Gluten-Free Banana Nut Muffins

Here is another recipe for a simple and tasty muffin. Even better, the recipe is gluten-free. I had some very ripe bananas to use up and decided to experiment with substituting a gluten-free flour blend in my recipe. Muffins do not require much mixing or kneading, so this is the perfect type of recipe to use with gluten-free flour. My muffins were moist and soft with a flavorful bend of bananas, walnuts and chocolate chips. Yum! They quickly disappeared.

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