Everyone that I know loves the Original Banana Pudding recipe that’s posted on the side of most Nabisco vanilla wafer boxes and that’s the one that I usually make. It is the one that I used in my classroom for our last lab of the year, but with a deterrents thrown our way I was not sure that we could pull it off. With a fire drill and advisement making the class almost too short to have anything but a glass of milk with vanilla wafers and sliced bananas I had to come up with something or just ditch the lab altogether. At the last-minute I decided to try speeding up the custard by using the microwave. It worked perfectly for me —TWICE! Seven minutes is all it took and that really beats standing over a double boiler for about thirty minutes. Which meant that my classes could get their Banana Pudding in the oven in less than an hour and still have time to enjoy it in the classroom.
This is without a doubt the best Banana Bread that I have ever had! I love banana bread right out of the oven or several days old toasted with a little dollop of butter. With a nice hot cup of coffee there is nothing better to start my morning. I fell in love with this bread several years ago when my sister-in-law baked it for breakfast Christmas morning. I just could not stop gushing over how moist and flavorful it was and could not wait to get home and try the recipe. After making it many times I have gotten it to the point of perfection.
I love potatoes any way they are prepared. Growing up my mother took us every Wednesday after school to visit my grandparents. My grandmother was such a good cook and I loved her boiled new potatoes with butter and black pepper. They were always waiting on me to devour as we spent the afternoon on the porch. So I knew when I saw this recipe for pan-fried smashed new potatoes in Gourmet Quick Kitchen that I had to try them. I love the description in the magazine ” These are everything potatoes should be: crisp-skinned yet pillowy, generously sprinkled with salty parmesan.” Who can resist these?
The Teacher Cooks 