On the Second Day of Christmas

my kids helped me to cook, when all I wanted to do was read a book. We bought a huge bunch of bananas at Sam's Club on Monday, and by yesterday (Thursday) they were all brown and mushy. Don't buy bananas at Sam's Club! So I decided to do something with them, and we made Frosted Banana Bars. Here's the recipe: (from the Taste of Home magazine)

(Here's the link, if it is easier to print it from the magazine's website)

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

pinch of salt

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, bananas, and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture and mix well. Pour into greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until toothpick tests done. Cool.

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 - 8 oz. package cream cheese

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Cream butter and cream cheese. Add powdered sugar gradually and vanilla. Beat well. Spread over bars.

Definitely NOT healthy, but very yummy.

So, the book I'm reading is Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I tend to not like the books that Oprah puts on her show, but this one is fascinating. She is the wittiest writer I have ever read. Every page is a joy to read. She kind of reminds me of the way my Aunt Dawn talks, only she (Elizabeth) occasionally swears, and I'm pretty sure my Aunt Dawn has never uttered a swear word. But I always wanted to talk like my aunt did. I'm still in the "eat" section of the book, where she spends four months in Rome, Italy eating pasta and pastries and gelato every day during that time. And doesn't exercise. Sounds like my idea of heaven.