Book Club Brunch

    This year a bunch of girls from school decided to start a book club.  It was a good excuse to get together on a somewhat regular basis and chat.  Last month we read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  We didn't end up talking much about the book during our meeting.  Our next book was Room By Emma Donoghue.  We met this morning at our house for brunch to talk about it.  It was nice to see everyone over break and we did manage to discuss the book a bit too.  I made just a couple of simple things that came out well.  Both recipes came from my Cooking Light book.  This was a great investment from the bargain aisle at the bookstore.  I don't think I've ever made something from this book that didn't come out delicious...or at least somewhat edible.

Easy Banana Bread

Ingredients
 1 cup mashed ripe bananas- I used 3
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg white
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups flour
*1 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
*1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Cooking Spray
* I didn't have cream of tartar.  I googled a substitute and I found out that there really isn't a good substitute because there is something about the chemistry between the baking soda and cream of tartar.  I did read that you could use baking powder in place of both.  I used a teaspoon of baking powder.  I also added some chopped almonds.



Method
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl, beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth
3. Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife.  Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt in a bowl stirring with a whisk.  Add flour mixture to banana mixture, stirring just until moist.  Spoon batter into an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray.
4. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes  and then remove to a cooking rack to cool completely.

My bread came out a little light, I should have left it in the oven little longer.





Dutch Pear

Ingredients

• 4  Bartlett or Bosc pears, cored and thinly sliced (about 1 pound)
• 1/4  cup  packed brown sugar
• 1/4  cup  fresh lemon juice
• 1  cup  all-purpose flour
• 1  cup  2% reduced-fat milk-I used almond milk
• 3  tablespoons  granulated sugar
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 3  large eggs
• 2  teaspoons  butter or stick margarine-I used Smart Balance
• 1  tablespoon  powdered sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Combine sliced pears, brown sugar, and lemon juice. Heat a 10-inch cast-iron or heavy ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add pear mixture; sauté 5 minutes or until pears are golden. Remove pear mixture from pan, and keep warm.
3. Lightly spoon the flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Place the flour in a large bowl. Combine the milk, granulated sugar, salt, and eggs, stirring the mixture well with a whisk. Add the milk mixture to the flour, stirring with a whisk until well-blended.
4. Melt the butter in pan. Pour batter into pan. Bake at 425° for 25 minutes or until puffy and golden. 5. Spoon the pear mixture into center of pancake; sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cut into 6 wedges. Serve immediately.

Here are pictures of some of the delicious breakfast foods other people brought.  Hopefully the recipes will come soon!

Muffins made by Deb

Creme Brulee French Toast made by Ali

Moose and Otis were thrilled with the book discussion.  Here they are sleeping in their new favorite spot, under the Christmas tree.