Ultimate Banana Bread

I have been eating banana bread ever since I was a kid. However, I do not have the church cookbook recipe my mom used when I was little, and I have a feeling it would have a bit too much sugar for me these days anyway.

I mostly tried this one because it had LOTS of banana and I had lots of banana to use up.

Notes:

• I made this in muffin cups because I prefer that to a loaf. It made 17 muffins. I baked them for about 23-25 minutes.
  
• I omitted the raw/turbinado sugar on top because I didn't have any.
  

Verdict: I loved it! It was sweet without being too sugary or cloying, and the texture was nice. I shared some with a friend and she really liked them too.

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RECIPE: Ultimate Banana Bread (Smitten Kitchen)

Refrigerator Garlic Dill Pickles

 

I only remember going down there once as a kid, but in my grandma's basement there were shelves lined with jars full of pickles, and whenever we came to visit (usually once a year) she would send us home with a few. They were my favorite pickles, and I was always sad when they were gone. I was always a little weirded out by the spidery looking heads of dill in the jars, but I knew that was what made the pickles taste good.

Fast forward to being an adult and developing a taste for the refrigerated, non-shelf-stable kind (because it's the only thing that came close to tasting like the ones my grandma made), and then finding myself with an overabundance of cucumbers in the summer (not sure what possessed me to buy an entire ice cream pail full of pickling cucumbers at the farmer's market, but I did). I was really excited when I found out I could make pickles without having to can them, and they were the kind I liked the most!

It feels good to pick up and carry the pickle torch forward into the future (ha).

Notes:

• You want to pack the jars tightly enough that the cucumbers don't move around much (they will float if they're not packed tightly), but not so tightly that there's not enough brine in the jar to flavor them.
• I don't leave them at room temperature for a couple of days like the recipe instructs; I wait until they cool to room temperature, then transfer directly to the fridge. They still taste great.
  
• Sometimes the garlic will turn blue in the brine as it sits in the fridge, but this is harmless!
  

Verdict: I love them. This is my first time posting about them, but I've made this recipe for quite a few years and it has become my go-to when I'm not in the mood for sweet pickles.

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RECIPE: Refrigerator Garlic Dill Pickles (The Creekside Cook)

Zucchini Fritters

finished fritters

I used to make these a lot, and then stopped because my household (= my partner) was getting sick of zucchini. This summer, though, I have been craving them again and couldn't find my original recipe, so I used this one instead.

fritter batter before frying

Notes:

• Make sure you squeeze enough water out of the zucchini before mixing in, otherwise the patties will not stick together.
  

Verdict: Just as delicious as I remember. A great way to use up a lot of zucchini, and they are pretty healthy, too. I like serving them with something acidic (fresh tomato, plain yogurt, a squeeze of lemon juice). They also make a great filling for a pita sandwich with the aforementioned acidic ingredients.

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RECIPE: Easy Zucchini Fritters (Natasha's Kitchen)

Greek Salad Dressing

This is another thing I make so infrequently that I always forget which recipe I used the last time I made it. I didn't take a photo of it but wanted to record that I tried this one.

Verdict: I must have liked it if I had it saved on my phone for this long!

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RECIPE: Greek Salad Dressing (food.com)

Painkiller Cocktail

I tried this because I wanted something with similar flavors to the Vacation Juice, but without needing a blender. I wanted to be able to bring it with us to a patio hangout with some friends that live across town.

Notes:

• I used Bacardi Black for the dark rum.
• I made my own cream of coconut using this recipe. 
• It's really easy to mix up a bunch of it to bring to a party. Mix everything but the ice together, and keep it in the fridge. When ready to serve, pour into glasses over ice. Four servings fit into a quart sized glass jar.
  

Verdict: It is on the heavy side because of the fruit juices and cream of coconut, and I think the black rum makes the alcoholic nature of it quite pronounced, but it is not especially sweet, and it's fruity and tasty. I would consider making it again if I was in the mood for a tropical drink without a bunch of sugar or artificial colors.

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RECIPE: Painkiller Cocktail

Coffee Jelly

With my skittishness about gelatinous textures and unusual things mixed in (at least from an American standpoint), coffee jelly was one of those things I saw a lot in Japan when it was hot out but I never really got up the courage to try. Then a friend of mine kept going on about how good it was, so I have really been wanting to try it. But in the US, at least if you're not in a major city with Japanese or other Asian dessert options readily available, it's something that you'll have to make yourself if you want it.

Verdict: This recipe set too hard for my liking (the texture was dense) and didn't taste enough like coffee for my liking either. I want to try again with a different recipe, because I really want to like this stuff and I do believe that there are versions of it that I would like. (I also want to make an iced latte with coffee jelly in the bottom sometime. *heart eyes* Or if you really want to go ham, put it in Dalgona/whipped coffee.) Here are some others I could try:

• Coffee Jelly (Just One Cookbook)
• Coffee Jelly (The Spruce Eats)
• Coffee Jelly (Binging with Babish)
  

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RECIPE: Coffee Jelly (Japanese Cooking 101)

Bourbon Peach Smash

My neighbor generously gave me a bag full of nice peaches recently, and this is one of the things I decided to make with them.

Verdict: It was pleasant, and I even like shrub type drinks, but I wouldn't go out of my way to make it again. I like fruity drinks, but if there's actual fruit in the drink I like to consume it, and it was hard to eat the fruit out of this one.

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RECIPE: Bourbon Peach Smash (Smitten Kitchen)