Hey everyone! Last week I kinda had a slow week of posting. The reason being that my internet connection was sooooooo slow, I could barely upload. My connection is fine now, so I’m back to posting! I went on the Queen Mary 2 for a transatlantic crossing last week. The Queen Mary 2 is an ocean liner, the world largest in fact, even bigger than Titanic. I had a blast! And the food was incredible. Here are some of my photos.

Train Station in Brussels
Brioche and Raspberry Macaron. The brioche was quite nice. The raspberry macaron had a little too much almond-taste to it. It made my own home-made macaron look not so bad after all.

Breakfast
Croissant, slice of brioche (I think…), a blueberry muffin and some raspberry jam.

Slice of brioche, muffin (I’m not sure what kind) and a Danish pastry.

Tea Time
An Apple Tart & a Boston Cream Pie. Apple tart was nice, cream pie not so much. I’m quite picky when it comes to Boston cream pies.

OMG, Chocolate-Raspberry Cake and a Victoria Sponge Cake right there for taking! I can’t choose, I can’t choose!

Well maybe I can, after much consideration. Victoria Sponge Cake.

Dessert
Okay, you can order as many desserts as you want on the QM2, so naturally I couldn’t let that chance pass by. Here a Baked Alaska with Biscotti and a Chocolate Mousse with Chocolate Ganache.

Tiramisu!

And a pizza Florentine. Not exactly high cuisine, a pizza, but I thought it looked lovely.

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Hey everyone! Last week I kinda had a slow week of posting. The reason being that my internet connection was sooooooo slow, I could barely upload. My connection is fine now, so I’m back to posting! I went on the Queen Mary 2 for a transatlantic crossing last week. The Queen Mary 2 is an ocean liner, the world largest in fact, even bigger than Titanic. I had a blast! And the food was incredible. Here are some of my photos.

Train Station in Brussels
Brioche and Raspberry Macaron. The brioche was quite nice. The raspberry macaron had a little too much almond-taste to it. It made my own home-made macaron look not so bad after all.

Breakfast
Croissant, slice of brioche (I think…), a blueberry muffin and some raspberry jam.

Slice of brioche, muffin (I’m not sure what kind) and a Danish pastry.

Tea Time
An Apple Tart & a Boston Cream Pie. Apple tart was nice, cream pie not so much. I’m quite picky when it comes to Boston cream pies.

OMG, Chocolate-Raspberry Cake and a Victoria Sponge Cake right there for taking! I can’t choose, I can’t choose!

Well maybe I can, after much consideration. Victoria Sponge Cake.

Dessert
Okay, you can order as many desserts as you want on the QM2, so naturally I couldn’t let that chance pass by. Here a Baked Alaska with Biscotti and a Chocolate Mousse with Chocolate Ganache.

Tiramisu!

And a pizza Florentine. Not exactly high cuisine, a pizza, but I thought it looked lovely.

So when I saw this recipe from Andy at Dinner’s on Me, I had to keep it to try. I mean banana bread with peanut butter, I love just about anything with peanut butter. Plus, bananas and peanut butter go well together. So shortly after I found this recipe my sweet neighbor called. She had purchased a bunch of bananas that were on sale at the store because they were turning brown. She bought a lot and was going to freeze them, but didn’t have enough space for all of them. So she sent over two large bunches of bananas. My first thought then was of this recipe. I had to try it. This recipe is very easy to put together and can all be done in one bowl. I must say this bread turned out fabulous. It is a very good banana bread as far ans banana breads go and it has just a hint of peanut butter flavor along the the banana. It’s not over powering, just a nice compliment to the banana flavor. I will absolutely make this again when I have bananas that need some attention. It was delicious and easy to put together.

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

1/3 cup butter
4 Tablespoons smooth peanut butter
3 large or 4 small ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare one loaf pan by buttering or use cooking spray.

Place butter and peanut butter into one bowl and use microwave to melt. Using a large mixing bowl and spoon, combine peanut butter mixture and mashed bananas. Add both sugars, beaten egg and vanilla, stir to incorporate all ingredients. Then add flour, baking soda and salt. Stir just enough to combine, but do not over mix the batter.

Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour then test with toothpick. Loaf is done with toothpick comes out clean. Cool, remove from pan, slice and enjoy!

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From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite…Mother’s everywhere share a secret. It’s about an unrecognized Thanksgiving Day. The one when now grown children return for un-coerced visits with the family. I’m in the middle of a reunion and have three generations of family underfoot, noisily sharing oral history and re-threading the needle that binds a family one member to the other. I want these times to be special and I guess my way of saying it is with food and the re-creation of feasts shared in times past. Lunch and dinner are no problem, but breakfast in a home where no two people eat the same cereal can take on the aspects of a comic opera. A two slice toaster and “how do you want you eggs dear” become a joke. While there’s always someone to run to the bakery - they are athletes one and all - they continue to grouse so loudly about the legitimacy of Oregon bagels and bialys that contingency plans are in order. Bacon is baked by the pound, eggs become frittatas and toast or English muffins go under the broiler 12 pieces at a time. Special mornings begin with oven baked French toast. I have two recipes, one for adults and the other for the children. Our two older grandsons will be helping me cook next week and they’ll show you how to make their version of French toast. This is my unabashedly adult version of an old favorite. I clipped the recipe from Gourmet magazine a decade ago. The only change I’ve made to their recipe is to replace orange marmalade with apricot preserves. The syrup that is served with this French toast is wonderful. Here’s the recipe.

Baked French Toast With Cardamom and Apricot Preserves…from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
1-1/4 apricot preserves
10 ( 4 x 4 x 1-inch-thick) slices egg bread or Texas toast
1-1/4 cups whole milk
3/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
3 large egg yolks
3 large eggs
1-1/4 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
For citrus syrup
1-1/4 cups light corn syrup
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons grated orange peel
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
4 teaspoons sugar
Powdered sugar

Directions:
1) To make French toast: Butter 15 x 10 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Spread preserves evenly over 1 side of each bread slice. Cut slices diagonally in half, forming triangles. Arrange triangles crosswise in dish, preserve side up and overlapping slightly. Whisk milk and next 7 ingredients in large bowl. Pour custard over bread. Let bread stand 1 hour, basting occasionally, or cover and refrigerate overnight.
2) To make citrus syrup: Mix first 5 ingredients in small bowl, stirring until sugar dissolves. Let stand at least 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
3) To cook: Preheat oven to 350degrees F. Bake French toast, uncovered, until puffed and golden brown, about 50 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar; serve with citrus syrup. Yield: 10 servings.

This recipe is being linked to Designs By Gollum - Foodie Friday