Modern Notebook

Banana coffee cake

First posted on August 31, 2016. Updated on August 12, 2020.

Last weekend, I had company over and took that as a good reason to try out a new recipe. I wanted to make a coffee cake because it’s delicious and perfect for a relaxing brunch.

(If you’re reading this and thinking, you had company over? During this Covid thing? Well, my mom did visit briefly, but that’s not what I was talking about. This was originally posted in 2016. That was pre-pandemic, and pre-baby. I think this was the second and last year I went to FYF, a music festival in Los Angeles. We had Paul’s sister and her boyfriend staying over since we lived closer to it than them. Or maybe it was the year they went and I didn’t feel like it. Any way, back to the recipe.)

I like reading recipes and then combining them to get the outcome I’m looking for, and this banana coffee cake creation is a direct result of that. It’s made from combining three different recipes on three different websites to get exactly what I was picturing in my head when I started searching for recipes.

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Fish tacos with chili-lime dressed cabbage slaw

Food, Food + Drink

Fish tacos with chili-lime dressed slaw

When Maggie first started eating, I wrote a note on my phone with meals I wanted her to try fairly early on so she would get used to them. In that long note of hopes and dreams (kidding) I included the 10 meals Paul and I eat the most. Fish tacos was on that list.

Maggie seemed to really like cod and salmon early on, but now that she is a toddler, of course she is getting more particular and also unpredictable. She doesn’t eat fish much any more when I serve it, even if it’s in the form of fish sticks or nuggets. I make fish tacos any way though. She eats the sides of fruit and vegetables and torn up pieces of tortilla. Surprisingly, she didn’t even want the sweet potato fries I served the tacos with. I’m hoping she will get back to loving fish sometime. In the meantime, Paul and I enjoy eating fish tacos.

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California Pizza Kitchen inspired Thai chicken pizza

Food, Food + Drink

People usually debate that either New York or Chicago has the best pizza in the United States. Outside of the United States of course there is Italy and I have heard good things about Japanese pizza. Personally, I love California pizza. Full disclosure, I have never been to any of the places listed above except California, where I have lived my whole life. So I guess I’m pretty biased. In California, we’re not afraid to put off the wall toppings on our pizza. One of my favorites at a place in Santa Monica was salad pizza. Yes, really.

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Corn cookie and mixed berry ice cream sandwiches

Food, Food + Drink

Two of my favorite summer flavors are sweet corn and fresh mixed berries. You don’t typically see them together, but corn and berries actually go really well together in a dessert.

For the Trader Joe’s ice cream sandwich last week, I made corn cookie and mixed berry ice cream sandwiches. For the contest, I named these “Berry Corny Ice Cream sandwiches.”

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Sparkling lemonade

Drink, Food + Drink

sparkling lemonade

When I was growing up, we had a lemon tree in my backyard and my mom used to frequently make lemonade from scratch when lemons were in season. Our tree would overflow with lemons onto the floor in summer. She has moved houses since, but this house has lemons too. I don’t think they have given much fruit off lately though.

I love making homemade lemonade in the summer, whether with extra lemons from a backyard tree or, as it happened recently, after realizing a bought a bag of lemons to use in savory dishes and I forgot to use them.

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Pineapple cotija salad

Food, Food + Drink

“pineapple

Surely you’ve heard of watermelon feta salad. Now meet pineapple cotija salad. It’s simple and refreshing, as any summer salad should be.

I was already buying pineapple for the pan grilled pork chops with pineapple salsa I was planning on making and I had been wanting cotija cheese for tacos this week, so I thought why not combine the extra from the two and make a salad? Of course, then the pork chop recipe used an entire pineapple, so I had to wait for the next week to make this salad.

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Pan grilled pork chops with roasted pineapple salsa

Food, Food + Drink

One of my favorite summer meals is pork chops with pineapple salsa. I don’t make homemade salsa often, but I love this recipe. It’s straightforward and always tastes great.

The marinade for the pork makes it tender and flavorful. I love that both the marinade and the salsa are spicy and sweet.

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Coconut mango popsicles

Food, Food + Drink

I love homemade smoothies and popsicles in the summer time. They are such a special treat. I like that with homemade popsicles I can be sure that they are relatively low in added sugar, free of additives and full of fruits or veggies.

These mango coconut popsicles check all the boxes. Refreshing? Yes, definitely! But also full of fresh fruit and relatively low in added sugar. They are dairy-free and vegan too, if that matters to you.

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