M. Sullivan Photography » Cooking

Project 52 ~ Week 46

msullivanphotography — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 01:30:52 +0000

Week 46 Theme ~ Over The Top

Banana muffin goodness bursting over the top of the muffin pan.

Banana Chocolate Chip Nut Muffins

Banana muffins are a favorite around our house. To make them extra special I often add chocolate chips in the batter or in this case, sprinkled on top. I also added nuts to one of the pans today. I’m the only one in the family who likes them this way. I also made a dozen with only chocolate chips so that I wouldn’t hear complaints.

As a bonus, here’s the recipe I use for Banana Muffin perfection.

Banana Muffins

Makes 18 Muffins

1/2 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
2 Eggs
3 Ripe Bananas, Mashed
2 cups Flour, Sifted
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 cup Sour Cream (low-fat or fat-free)
1/2 cup Chocolate Chips (optional)
1/2 cup Chopped Nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat butter, sugar and eggs in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Stir in mashed bananas. Sift flour, baking soda and salt together. Add flour mixture gradually, stirring after each addition. Do not overmix. Add sour cream and stir until mixed. Pour into muffin tins prepared with cooking spray. Baked at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until light brown around the edges and the center is set.

I’m guessing on the baking time as I never set a timer. Mike always questions this, but somehow everything always turns out just fine.

Ready For The Oven

Enjoy!

Filed under: Cooking, Family, MCP Project 52, Photos Tagged: Baking, Banana Muffins, Family, Photography, Project 52

From Grapes To Jelly

msullivanphotography — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 01:32:06 +0000

We harvested the grapes before the raccoons and birds got to them this year. After picking two buckets full of grapes, washing them and having the kids clean them, we had enough to make two batches (8 pints) of grape jelly.

Almost Ready To Be Picked

Child Labor

Pausing For A Photo

Full Bowl

Grape Jelly

The kids are now set with enough grape jelly to get them through the rest of the school year with PB & J sandwiches in their lunch boxes.

Filed under: Cooking, Family, Photos Tagged: Canning, Family, Grape Jelly, Photography

Thanksgiving, Skating and Bentleyville

msullivanphotography — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 16:37:57 +0000

We had quite the Thanksgiving weekend. Three days of food, family and fun. Since we didn’t eat and visit enough with Mike’s family on Thursday and Friday, we spent Saturday afternoon at my brother’s house for more turkey and conversation.

Here’s the recap of the weekend:

Day #1 – Thanksgiving – Not many pictures from this day. Too busy cooking, eating and cleaning up.

Thanksgiving Table

The Bird

Watching A Movie Before Bedtime

Day #2 – Skating at the DECC

All twelve Sullivans, plus our friends, The Pellers, embarked on the DECC to skate off the turkey and dessert ingested the day before. We had a great time skating, shooting pucks and watching Mike P. make a skate train with the kids.

Hop Aboard the Skate Train

Shooting Pucks

Sophia The Skater

Will The Hockey Player

Little Lewis With Big Sis

Max And Big Sis

Family Picture

Nana, Papa And Grandkids

Nana, Papa And Ella

Still Day #2 – Bentleyville

The 120ft Tall Bentleyville Tree

Rudolph

Papa's Favorite - Popcorn!

Rudolph And The Kids

Rudolph, Nana And Papa

Bentleyville Tree And Lift Bridge

Bentleyville Ships

Mrs. Claus With The Boys

Mrs. Claus, Mike And Sophia

Mom And Sophia

Bentleyville Lights

The End

Day #3 – Say Goodbye to the Cities Sullivans - Say Hello to the Johnsons

Mike spent part of the morning deep-frying a turkey to take to my brother’s house. After the Cities Sullivans left, we headed over the my brother’s for Thanksgiving with my side of the family. We had a chance to see some nieces and nephews that we hadn’t seen in a while, including Adam and Ana who are expecting their first baby in April. Congratulations to you both!

We were all pretty tired by the end of the day, but grateful that we had family and friends to share our Thanksgiving weekend with.

Filed under: Cooking, Family, Photos Tagged: Bentleyville, Family, Photography, Skating, Thanksgiving

Weary Weekend

msullivanphotography — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 02:49:47 +0000

The weather was less than fabulous this past weekend – windy and cooler with off and on sprinkles. We were all wiped out from traveling last weekend and a busy work/school week. It was nice to stay home, get a few projects and some cleaning done and just hang out. Since outdoor play was less than favorable, we decided to set up Sophia’s tent in the living room. The kids plugged in their portable DVD player, grabbed some snacks and camped out in the living on Saturday afternoon.

Indoor Camping

Camped Out

Pets Allowed

Exhausted

Sophia and I did sneak outside between wind gusts and sprinkles to pick some spring flowers.

Violets

Daffodil Bouquet

We decided to go to the movies on Sunday and see How To Train Your Dragon. We all enjoyed the movie…and the buttery popcorn. Despite the windy weather in the afternoon, the boys headed out to the baseball field to practice pitching and batting. At home, Sophia convinced me to do some baking with her. A friend from work had passed along her child’s Easy Bake Oven. We made two batches of cookies. Sophia ate one batch and Sebastian ate the other. Mike was disappointed that there weren’t any left for him. I had to explain that each batch makes only ONE cookie. Not only does the oven only bake one cookie at a time, they take FOREVER! At least that’s what it seemed like when Sophia was waiting for her cookie to finish baking.

Cooling Off

White & Chocolate Cookie

Chocolate & White Cookie

After cookies, we went out to take a few pictures of the cherry blossoms. A pleasant way to finish the weekend.

In Bloom

Cherry Blossoms

Blooming Bush Cherries

Filed under: Cooking, Family, Flowers, Photos, Sports, Weather