Ducks!

I love going outside in my yard and enjoying the wildlife that live there. My yard is quite large, much larger than any city or town lot. One section of the property there is a slough (or pond as many would call it but slang here is slough).

When my dog isn't out there wading in the water scaring away the birds there are a few ducks that like to swim there.

I snapped this photo of the Blue-winged Teal last week as I was exploring the yard.

Some of my flowers

Its been a little bit since I posted. It seems spring and summer are always very busy with mowing the lawn and upkeep of the yard and garden.

I went wandering around the yard this morning and took a few photos of my yard that I wanted to share with all of you.

Here are a few beauties I found in my garden:






Hope you enjoy my photos!

Baking Day! Banana Bread Recipe

Woo hoo! Today I am going to share my first, hopefully of many recipes with you! I love banana bread as do my kids and of course hubby too. This recipe has become a staple in my recipe box. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

I am not sure where I got it from...I have had this recipe forever though. Here it is:

5 tbsp. butter
1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups mashed banana
1 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a loaf pan.
Beat butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add sugars and beat well. Add egg, egg whites and vanilla and mix until well blended. Add mashed banana and beat on high for 30 seconds.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternating with cream and ending with flour. Add walnuts and mix well.

Pour into a loaf pan and bake until browned and toothpick inserted in center comes clean (about 1 hour 15 minutes).

Cool in pan on wire rack for about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.

I love to put margarine or butter on the loaf when its warm and enjoy it that way. You can also eat it with jam which is also tasty. I omitted the nuts as my dd's school is nut-free and I cannot send anything containing nuts.

This is the result, complete with melting margarine (it was still warm and very yummy).




I hope you try this out and enjoy it! Let me know what you think it!