I love these paintings! Lately.. well more accurately my whole life.. I have had a fascination for El Dio De Los Muertos art. I have been thinking about doing a series with two different skeleton people.. maybe a couple or just two women kickin' it.



And this one...



Pretty much amazing. Find it at http://www.sylviaji.com/.

I also thought I would experiment in the kitchen with some bananas. I think one of the most exciting things is to wake up in the morning and see that the bananas I've been patiently waiting on to ripen have finally come around. It's like waiting for a postcard from a friend. The thing I like even more is making new recipes. I was inspired by my very dear friend who has just turned Vegan. Finding substitutes for eggs and butter is like trying to figure out one of those pictures where the images are divided and all messed up and you have to out it back together... Right? Well that's how I imagine it.


I came up with a delightful peanut butter banana bread topped with ginger granola last week (recipe to follow.. sometime). I thought I would try to make banana bread cookies because I could not find a bread pan to save my life.

And so came Double Chocolate Banana Bread Cookies!




This recipe is not exact... so try to eyeball it.. I tend to just throw things in and taste it... and you can 'cause there's no raw eggs! Let's be honest.. I still taste it when it has raw eggs.. I mean super buff people drink raw eggs all the time, right?

3 large ripe bananas
2 c bread flour
1/2 c rolled oats
pinch of celtic sea salt
1 1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c virgin coconut oil
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 c granola
1 1/2 c chocolate soy milk
1/2 c dark cocoa powder
1 bar organic high quality white chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a large cookie pan.

Mash bananas until lumpy. Add sugar, coconut oil, and soy milk. Mix until desired smoothness is reached. In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. Combine both dry and wet ingredients into one bowl. Fold dough until all is combined, then fold in the granola. If the dough is a little too dry, add a little more chocolate soy milk.

Scoop the dough with a tablespoon and put it on the cookie sheet. Don't worry about reserving a lot of space in between the cookies, they do not spread out very much when they bake.

Bake for about 10 minutes, checking on them around 8 minutes.

When cookies have completely cooled, grab two pots and get ready to double boil that white chocolate!

(If you don't know what this is or how it works, it is very simple: Grab two pots, one smaller than the other. Fill the larger pot with a cup or so of water and heat it on the stove. Put the other pot over it with chocolate in it to slowly melt.)

When the chocolate is a soft and smooth consistency, use a fork to drip it over the cookies in whatever pattern you like.

Leave the cookies out to dry or throw them in the fridge! Done and done.

Well today has been eventful to say the least. I took a trip to the doctor's office so he could write me a prescription for Allegra. I swear pollen is covering everything in Charleston this time of year. If I open my window and run downstairs for a moment, I can expect my entire bedroom to be covered in a wedding cake yellow film. Yum! Anyway, this recent downtime has given me inspiration to bake some fresh No Knead bread!



I guess I can provide the recipe for those who feel up to the challege... it's really not that hard anyhow..

"No-Knead Bread"

3 cups bread flour
3/4 teaspoon active yeast
1 1/4 teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 1/2 cups water

And here we go!

Okay so.. Mix the flour, yeast, and salt, then add the water. You may need a little extra water if the dough is too dry. It should be what is called "shaggy" otherwise known as wet and gooey. Cover the bowl with clear wrap or a kitchen towel and let it sit in a warm place (ideally around 70 degrees) for 8 hours minimum. Just don't let it sit for more than 18 hours.

I made mine at 8pm and ended up not touching it until 11am the next day. This is a very relaxed bread!

Spray oil on a baking sheet then lightly flour your hands. Pick up your dough and place it on the oiled sheet. Roll it around in the oil and mist some oil directly on the dough. Cover it with plastic wrap again and let it sit for about an hour or so until it appears to have doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and place the pot in the oven while it warms up. When it is at the appropriate heat, CAREFULLY take the dough from the sheet and place it into the pot, then secure its lid. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for 15 minutes to brown the top.

I must say... it was delicious.

I immediately drizzled some olive oil on it along with a few slices of fresh mozzarella.