Banana Bread

This yummy, yet classic, recipe was submitted by Stacy in Las Vegas!

Ingredients
3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Walnuts (optional)

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Directions

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Add walnuts into the mixture if desired. Pour mixture into a buttered 4×8 inch loaf pan. Top with walnuts. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

As promised, here is the delicious recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!  This recipe was submitted by Amy, who is now living in Boston, and attempting to manage in the cold weather haha! 

INGREDIENTS

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup pumpkin purre (libby’s is best)
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 cups chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS

beat butter until smooth, add white sugar and cream. Add brown sugar and beat until fluffy.  beat eggs, vanilla and pumpkin and sir in baking soda, salt and spices.  Stir in flour and then add chocolate chips.

Bake 10-12 min at 375 and makes approx 4 batches of cookies

Roasted Pear and Butternut Squash Soup

This is a yummy (and healthy) recipe perfect for fall!  I found it at foodnetwork.com and plan to test it out this week!  Let me know what you think if you get a chance to test it out too!  <3 Kelly

Ingredients

• 2 ripe pears, peeled, quartered and cored
• 2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 2-inch chunks
• 2 medium tomatoes, cored and quartered
• 1 large leek, pale green and white parts only, halved lengthwise, sliced and washed thoroughly
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 4 cups vegetable br oth or reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided
• 2/3 cup crumbled Stilton or other blue-veined cheese
• 1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh chives or scallion greens

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Combine pears, squash, tomatoes, leek, garlic, oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper in a large bowl; toss to coat. Spread evenly on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, 40 to 55 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Place half the vegetables and 2 cups broth in a blender; puree until smooth. Transfer to a large saucepan. Puree the remaining vegetables and 2 cups broth. Add to the pan and stir in the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Cook the soup over medium-low heat, stirring, until hot, about 10 minutes. Divide among 6 bowls and garnish with cheese and chives (or scallion greens).

Grilled Vanilla Rum Fruit

This was submitted by Little Erin from Austin, Texas…although she does not own a grill and has never attempted this recipe, I agree that it looks like a delicious treat!  If anyone gets a chance to make it, let us know how it turns out!

Fire up the grill for something sweet tonight. That’s right! After the main course, you’ll want to keep the fire going to create this delicious, guilt free indulgence.

Serves 4

Ingredients

Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 medium pineapple, peeled, cored and sliced into rings
2 large bananas, halved lengthwise
3 plums, halved and pitted
1/4 cup rum
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups coconut sorbet

Preparation

Coat grill with cooking spray and heat on high. Combine fruit, rum, sugar, vanilla and salt in a bowl; stir well to coat. Grill fruit, turning occasionally, until each piece softens, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to 4 bowls and serve each with 1/2 cup coconut sorbet on top.

Green Monster Smoothie

This recipe is inspired by Lil Erin…who was inspired by Stephanie!  The Green Monster Smoothie is a new trend by healthier eaters to try fit more veggies into their diet.  There are a variety of smoothie recipes out there, that add spinach or other vegetables.  The real trick, though, is that raw spinach really has no taste!  Try this one out….it initially grossed me out, but then I ended up making it three days in a row!

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

1 cup raw spinach

1 frozen banana

1 tablespoon peanut butter

Mix in a blender and ENJOY!

Sauteed Scallops with Angel Hair Pasta

This is submitted by Stacy, who is now living in Vegas. She was a co-conspirator in this blog and came up with the name!!  Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 lbs fresh sea scallops, cut into quarters (or use mini scallops instead)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh chives (chopped)
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper (can also use black as a substitute)
• 1 lb angel hair pasta (cooked according to package directions)
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley (chopped)

Directions

1. Rinse scallops in cold water, drain.

2. Add butter to large skillet and melt over low heat.

3. Add Scallops& cook over medium high heat 5 to 6 minutes, stirring constantly.

4. Remove scallops using a slotted spoon and set aside.

5. Add wine, lemon juice and chives to skillet.

6. Cook over medium heat 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

7. Add garlic salt, garlic& pepper.

8. Remove from heat.

9. To serve, spoon sauce over drained pasta, spoon scallops over sauce and sprinkle with parsley.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble

My mother came to visit Portland in June.  After a beautiful sunny day at the Farmer’s Market, where we bought fresh strawberries and rhubarb, we attempted this crumble from the food network!  Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2004

Cook Time: 40 min
Level: Easy

5 cups quartered strawberries
3 cups sliced rhubarb, about 1/3-inch thick (fresh or frozen and thawed)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
Pinch salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 7-by-11-inch
baking dish and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the strawberries, rhubarb, sugar,
cornstarch, and lemon juice. Toss to coat. Pour the strawberry
mixture into the prepared baking dish.

3. In a medium, mixing bowl, add the flour, oats, light brown sugar,
and salt, stirring to combine. Add the diced butter to the flour
mixture, and using your fingers, work the mixture until it resembles
coarse crumbs. Pour the crumb mixture evenly on top of the
strawberry mixture.

4. Place the baking dish in the oven and bake for 40 minutes, or until
the filling is bubbly and the topping is golden brown.

Welcome to The Coast to Coast Host!

Hi friends!  You have been invited to join this cooking blog, because you know we all just love to cook!  This is a fun way for us to all share yummy recipes and to stay in better touch through taste!

How it works: If you have a great new recipe you have tried out (dinner, dessert, drink, etc) and would like to share, just email me the recipe (kandrasik@yahoo.com), a short story about when you used it (if you want to) and I will post it to the blog!

Then, if you are needing a new idea for dinner, feel free to check out the blog, and then post a comment to let everyone else know how it went!

Let me know if you have any other questions.  Otherwise, let the cooking begin!  I’ve posted a recipe to get us going!

Love, Kelly