Update: I didn't make anything special but I spent a lot of eating.

Lately it's been hard to relax since my life will change.

I hate saying goodbyes b/c I get so emo and so sad T.T so I try to avoid talking about it as much as possible unless people ask. Therefore, I don't think many people know what's going on in my life except that I'm sorta kinda stressed... meh...oh well.

I ran away from the city a lot in the past few weeks, but the fresh air out of the city was helpful. This week was no exception. I spent time by the lake last Saturday, Sunday, and yesterday.

I go running around the lake in Wakefield on most early weekend mornings because it's nice to be out in the calm before the day starts up again.

I usually try to go before 8AM but there are already plenty of runners/walkers/bikers by the time I get there. There is a nice breeze on most days and perfect for running or just stopping to relax and think by the water.

On Saturdays there is a farmer's market near the lake where they sell fresh produce, baked goods, noodles, cheese, and flowers. Some items are expensive but I thought this cookie at the Swiss Bakers tent was really cute. I bought a moose cookie for my niece to eat after her swim lesson.

Sunday, after spending the morning at the lake: Chinatown August Moon Festival

I got free lobster after the August Moon festival in Chinatown that I performed at on Sunday.

Who knew China Pearl served non-Chinese food? Our dulcimer group got steak, corn on the cob, broccoli and a whole lobster for free. Sweet. I thought the meal was pretty good and very filling. The steak was done just right. My only complaints are that the corn was soggy and they didn't offer mini forks to help me devour the lobster.

Lab Outing 8/17/10: Kimball Farm

Yesterday my lab went to Hopkinton to kayak or canoe. Since I hurt myself in the shoulder, I opted for the paddle boat with a couple of my coworkers. So much fun :)

After we did our grilling and later on we went to Kimball Farm in Westford for mini golf and ice cream.

This was my small cup of mint chocolate chip ice cream:

It was pretty nice helping they gave me. I looked forward more to the ice cream than the actual golf to tell you the truth... and it sure hit the spot :)

So what new thing have I tried to make lately?

I've only made one thing for myself.. and it's so simple... yet satisfying, healthy, and food allergy friendly for me (a good thing since I've had like 2 allergic reactions in the past 3 days).

I'll post the pictures and recipe soon :)

I ran away to NYC

They say you can never run away from reality, but I say, you can always try.

Michelle Branch ft. Timberland "Getaway"

The lyrics seem to fit exactly what I've been feeling for the past few weeks... instead of going to the mountains like I did last weekend, I took a rather impulsive trip to New York City by bus instead.

I did a lot of finding good eats, eating, eating, and bargaining for super cute things when I could.

LUNCH: Joe's Ginger

I wandered along Mott St. until I came across Joe's Ginger on Pell St. (a side street towards the end of Mott St.). I have never eaten here but friends of my mom and my awesome friend Alyssa have raved about the steamed buns (小籠包 xiao long bao) and dumplings (鍋貼) here. For lunch I just ordered the appetizers: crab and pork steamed buns and pork dumplings.

I loved the crab and pork steamed buns... I think this is what this place is known for. There is a burst of flavor in each bite. Definitely try these if you go to NY.

Next order of business. Wandering back onto Mott Street, I made my way to Aji Ichiban, a Japanese/Chinese candy store that sells all sorts of dried fruits and candy... you can try each one before buying... omg so stuffed... I bought a few pounds worth of stuff here.

I basically wandered Mott Street for an hour buying cute bags. I got a super cute backpack and mini messenger bag for a grand total of $25.

It was really hot in New York and I wanted something to cool me down after walking outside for an hour.

SNACK: Fong Inn Too

I just discovered this place. They have the best soy/tofu foods. Inside looks kind of dark/dingy and there is nowhere to sit and eat. So, people just buy and stand around inside and eat.

I ordered a bowl of 豆腐花 (Dofu Fa, Chinese dessert) for $1.00

OMG... Best 豆腐花 I have ever had... it does not compare to any other ones I've tried. If you have a craving for something cool or... tofu... this is the place to be... and it's cheap!

I finally leave Mott Street and head to Canal Street to go check out Kanman Market. It has been renovated since the last time I've been there. Now there is a 3rd floor full of Hello Kitty and other Japanese cute things.

I spent a lot of time here b/c I fell in love with the kitchenware and tableware designs

This cute bean set is a set of chopstick holders

I love love love this soup and rice bowl set. The hair is the rice bowl while the face is the soup bowl.

I really love these tea sets. They are so cute and creative. The bumble bee and giraffe both come with two cups.

Aren't these two cups really cute? I love em.

These are actually erasers shaped as food in mini bento boxes.

This is for the hello kitty and pikachu pokemon lovers out there... so much stuff here.

Back on the street, I went in search of the place that sells really good Lo Paw Bang 老婆餅, a Chinese pastry.

I think this was towards the end of Mott St but I could be mistaken and unfortunately I don't have the English name of this place. But, they have the best pastries. They are not too dry and always come out perfect. I bought 18 老婆餅 to bring home.

*drools* It's sweet with winter melon (冬瓜) filling.

So back on Canal Street, I see all these street vendors. There are a bunch of little kids surrounding this one vendor, so I stop by to see what was the commotion...

Hand-made phone straps. So cute :D I got these 4 for $10.

Time for the best mini sponge cakes at Kam Hing Coffee Shop located on Baxter St. off of Canal St. It's a small bakery. They are best known for their sponge cakes. There is a latino guy there that speaks pretty good Cantonese. I was impressed.

These little cakes are so soft, they aren't too sweet but sweet enough, slightly moist, and are so good you can't eat just one. I bought 30 of these to bring home.

Back on Canal St., there are more food vendors and artists. The food vendors are mostly older folk who sell fresh fruit and veggies. Many were selling longans (龍眼), lychees (荔枝), and dragon fruit (火龍果).

The older gentleman that runs this stand was arguing with the other woman who also works here that after all these years he never got used to living here and that he'd like to go home. I found out they are from the same area in China as my mother, Zhong shan (中山) in Guangdong.

The longans were really sweet... they sold us 5 lbs worth x.x ... just because.

DINNER: Big Wong Restaurant back on Mott St.

The service is quick and it's a rather fast paced eating environment. Once you walk in the waiters/waitresses yell out to you: "How many!!! Come with me!" and they walk really fast to show you your table. The food is very good and on the cheap end. They always give huge helpings of food. For meat eaters I'd suggest the 3 combo rice plate (cha sew or pork, chicken, and a sunny side up egg that is excellent with the rice).

That's all I got from my escape from NYC! I just sped walked and ran 5 miles early this morning to get over this food day :)

Roast Pork Chops and Garlic with Cooking Mama

So, Cooking Mama is home today from work and has decided that she just wants to watch me... try (i.e. fail) making Pork Chops from the same cookbook: Creative Chinese Oven Cooking by Hseuh-Hsia Chen.

My mom is Cooking Mama. I swear I saw fire in her eyes. T.T

I came back home after a series of errands and appointments around 4pm and she hands me 3 raw pork chops that she has already beat with the blunt end of the butcher knife to tenderize the meat.

"Go follow the recipe and marinade while I watch"

Okay...

Ingredients for the marinade for 2 pork chops:

1 Tbsp Minced garlic (I used much more than this even for 3 pork chops~ nearly 2.5 Tbsp)

1 Tbsp Cooking wine

3 Tbsp Dark soy sauce

2 tsp Sugar

1/4 tsp Pepper

The first thing is to chop up the garlic...

"NO! There is a much easier way to break open the cloves!!!!"

Mom takes a clove and then hits it with the side of the butcher knife - clove breaks free of the casing

"Like that! See how easy it is? Saves time too"

Okay...

"You try"

Okay... *takes a clove and hits with butcher knife* - clove does not break open

*tries again* - clove sits perfectly on the cutting board

*fire in mom's eyes*

"!!! LET ME DO IT" *takes butcher knife and slams it down on the rest of the cloves* "THERE! SO EASY! Finish chopping! NOO Not like that.. like this!"

Mom sits back at the kitchen table with her feet propped up on the next chair and very leisurely eats her green apple while watching some TVB show. She periodically peers over to make sure I'm doing the proper and right thing.

I return to the chopping..

Okay so here's what happens now:

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients together in one bowl. I added slightly more than what the recipe calls for (see above) because I have 3 pork chops instead of 2.

2. Then spread all over the pork chops on both sides with your hands.

3. Cover the pork chops with plastic wrap and let it marinate for about an hour or more (overnight even). I let mine marinate for about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 400 degrees.

After pork chops are done marinating:

4. Wipe the rack (where you're gonna put the pork chops on) with olive oil and arrange the marinated pork chops on top.

*I put a baking tray underneath so the extra juice would drip into that instead of the oven.

5. Put the pork chops in the oven for 15-25 minutes. Check after 15 minutes by cutting the pork chops near the bone to see if it is done or not. The book calls for 15 minutes but my pork chops are thicker so I put it in for 25 minutes.

6. Then arrange the pork chops on a plate and squeeze some fresh lemon juice on top and voila!! Pork chops for dinner!

The extra marinade that was left after soaking the raw pork chops in them was poured into a sauce pan with a little bit of water added to it. Then it was boiled and poured into a bowl for extra sauce for the pork chops :)

Pretty simple and straight forward recipe. The hardest part for me was the garlic x.x

After an hour of marinating, it is still good, but I guess if you want the best flavor, it's better to marinate for a few hours.

Steak (中式牛排) - My first attempt cooking with meat

So on Monday night, mom hands me 3 frozen steaks and tells me: "This is for dinner tomorrow night, cook." Then, she hands me a cookbook called "Creative Chinese Oven Cooking, the New Trend" by Hsueh-Hsia Chen and turns to page 65 and says, "Look, it's so simple! You can't mess up!"

We'll see, Mom, we'll see.

The recipe is for 中式牛排 (Chinese Style Steak) also called Garlic Flavored Steak, according to the book.

I didn't take many pictures because my hands were dirty from handling the meat and although I was washing my hands incessantly, I still felt like my hands were gross (I'm not going to spend all my time decontaminating the camera D:).

Ingredients:

3 steaks

1/2 tsp of salt

black pepper (as much as you'd like)

olive oil

Sauce:

2 Tbsp of cooking wine

2 tsp of soy sauce (I was taught that dark soy sauce or 老抽醬油 was better for steaks)

1/2 tsp of sugar

2 bell peppers (one green and one red for color)

1 can of sliced mushrooms (no added salt) or fresh mushrooms

1. Use a cooking brush and brush olive oil all over the steaks

2. Sprinkle the salt on both sides of the steaks

3. Add the black pepper and spread evenly on both sides of the steaks

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

5. Heat the trusty iron grill pan on the stove and arrange the steaks on the pan

6. Fry until you see the lines from the pan on the steaks and flip the steaks and do the same. The book calls for frying each side for about 30 seconds... My steaks were pretty thick so I did it for a longer time. I think I spent like 5 minutes for each side of the steaks. I just kept them on the pan until I didn't see too much uncooked meat left on the outside.

7. Then cover a baking tray with foil (easier cleaning) and place the steaks inside.

8. Roast the steaks for about 1o minutes in the middle of the oven, then remove. Cut the steaks to make sure they are as tender as you want them. I like my steaks close to well-done.

9. While the steaks are roasting in the oven, cook the peppers and mushrooms. Wash and slice up the bell peppers into squares. Open the can of mushrooms (fresh would be better but I didn't have any), drain the liquid, and rinse the mushrooms a couple of times with water.

10. Add a little bit of olive oil to a pan and cook the peppers and mushrooms.

11. Remove the peppers and mushrooms from the pan and add a 1 tsp of oil to stir fry the garlic.

12. Remove the garlic.

13. Make the sauce: Add the wine, soy sauce, and sugar to the saucepan and bring it to a boil (fast). The resulting sauce will be slightly thick. Add hot water to make more of the sauce.

14. Put the steaks on a serving plate and garnish with the peppers, mushrooms, and garlic. Then pour the sauce over the steaks.

I didn't mess up too badly with this one.. I may have melted a spatula... and I may have burned the garlic slightly but I took out all the black pieces! ... (Don't worry mama will fix it).

I took this picture after dinner.. this is all that is left and will possibly be my dinner tonight :)

The result was pretty good. The steaks were just the way I liked them. My family seemed to enjoy it!

As a side dish I wanted to try out the mini rectangular pan I got from Kanman to make egg rolls. I cracked 2 eggs and mixed them well, added a bit of salt and pepper and a little bit of seasame oil. Then I added the mixture to the pan. When the eggs looked like they were almost done, I put smoked salmon on top and then attempted to roll the egg sheet from the pan. (did this 2x for 2 rolls which I then sliced up)

Result: Salmon egg rolls... kinda salty tasting... I didn't take pictures of this one... it was all gone by the time I took out the camera.

I learned something new! Next time I promise I won't destroy any more cooking utensils or burn the food :)

Reflections - a break from cooking..

I have been away for a few days for a mini escape from the city and it was wonderful. I went up to the White Mountains in NH and neighboring Maine. It was nice to be carefree about things once and a while. The mountain air and quiet streams were amazing for me physically and mentally. I don't know, but for me, slowing down and noticing how important the little things are made me really happy. I found a moose and that was just the icing on the cake...

I learned a lot from my vacation especially being on top of the highest mountain in NH and touching the clouds and the 2 mile nature hike afterwards on Sunday.

Being on top of Mt.Washington and looking over all that was below me gave me the peace I needed. It was a beautiful day and I could see that the clouds were only slightly above me, casting their shadows on the other mountains. I felt insignificant and powerful at the same time. I forgot all my worries while I was here.

The 2 mile hike later in the afternoon with my family was a learning experience too. We always go on Sunday walks together for bonding time and exercise :) It's good to slow down and just notice the things around you. Nature tells a lot of stories. Maybe we can learn from it if we just take time to consider it.

Like this picture:

My brother pointed out that with death there is life: "It's the circle of life," he turns to me and says. Mom chimes in: "When one thing dies another life starts, it is so with plants and it is so with mammals." The endless circle of life. Nothing just stops and ceases to exist...

I find inspiration in these trees.

They were once seedlings that were probably dropped by birds or something. But they struggled to survive wherever they were. You can see the roots of these trees. They look like they are holding onto the rocks. I guess it is so with life. Whatever life throws at you, you just got to make due. Never give up because once you get over that hurdle, your life will be that much more interesting... just like these trees.

I've spent my last year being really busy because of one quote that I just followed relentlessly: "Turn your losses into gains" and I have....whether it was a broken heart, activities, and work... I'm always thinking... always trying to come up with new ideas to try... you never know until you try.

I'm going to stop being Pocahontas now and resume cooking.

Comfort Food - Simple/Quick Brownie Recipe

I need comfort food. After a bad turn of events (there's still hope, I think) yesterday, I had a craving for chocolate.

Chocolate makes all things better :)

I went into my pantry and found that we had two containers of cocoa powder (dark and reg cocoa) and decided that I would be making brownies today. Besides, it's a good distraction... music and cooking are both really good things to distract yourself with. So, that's what I've been doing... baking and recording some covers on guitar and piano... and looking at multiple maps for a sweet fantastical escape (? maybe).

I've made brownies from scratch multiple times before and I have a few people asking for the recipe... so here it is.

Ingredients:

2/3 cups of cocoa powder

2 cups of sugar

4 eggs

1 cup and 4 Tbsp. of olive oil

1 Tbsp. of vanilla extract

1 rounded cup of flour

1 tsp. of salt

* optional: add 1 cup of chopped nuts or chocolate chips

1. Mix first 5 ingredients well

2. Add the salt and flour.

3. Mix everything until it's well blended.

* add in the optional ingredients if you want

4. Pour mixture into a (9x13 inch) pan.

5. Smooth out the mix on the pan

6. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes

7. Take out of oven and let cool before serving.

So the original recipe called for 1 cup of chopped nuts, but since I have a nut allergy, I obviously skip that step. I had some semi-sweet dark chocolate chips left from making those Kick-ass Cookies a couple of weeks ago, so I added them into my brownie mix for a more chocolatey goodness.

*note: Since I used chocolate chips, I reduced the sugar from 2 cups to 1 and half cups of sugar.

I used mostly dark chocolate cocoa powder for this brownie batch (I added 2/3 dark cocoa powder and 1/3 of reg cocoa powder to make up that 2/3 cup). The result is delicious.

This is good with vanilla ice cream or milk, whatever you prefer :)

I'm gonna have to run a few extra miles tomorrow x.x

I woke up and watched the Today Show while having a breakfast and I would like to make the Old Fashioned Cakes from the 1930s... check out the video clip from the Today Show.... they all look so good. If I end up trying to make some of them, I would need volunteers to eat :( would anyone be interested?

I'm taking some of these brownies for the lovely ladies at band practice tonight... I love cooking/baking for others, because it makes people happy... especially since comfort food like this is meant to be shared :D

Ratatouille - C'est très savoureux et délicieux :D

Last Friday while I was having a momentary break from work, I chatted with my friend (who should be sleeping since there's a 12 hour time difference between us) who suggested that I try something international instead of sticking to American foods... this got the wheels in my brain turning. I later had lunch with a couple of my colleagues and, through food discussions, I decided to go French. One of my colleagues had just moved here from France and I asked her what authentic French dish I could make that she thought I wouldn't mess up on. We settled on Ratatouille... Remember that movie? No... I never watched that one either.. x.x

So at the end of the day, I use my trusted source (i.e. Google) and searched for recipes. I showed my co-worker the recipes that I found and she just starts laughing and says no (>.<)

Here is the recipe I followed (minus the chicken): Ratatouille

Just in case you can't read French, here's what I did:

1. Went to the market and filled my basket with 1 eggplant, 2 zucchinis, 3 onions, garlic, 6 tomatoes, and 2 bell peppers (1 green and 1 red).

2. Washed all veggies and cut the eggplant and zucchinis into pieces so that they are about 2 cm in length.

3. Cut the tomatoes and bell peppers in a similar fashion and remove the middle white parts for both. I thought 6 tomatoes were a little excessive so I only used 5.

4. Chop the onions and garlic.. I used 2 onions instead of 3 because I was crying too much at that point (I forgot to put them in the fridge... cold onions = no tears)

*So... the recipe says the preparation of cutting everything should take about 20 minutes... it didn't take me 20 minutes.. it was more like.. oh.. an hour... I'm gonna blame it on my sore back and shoulders x.x

5. Heat the olive oil in a pan then add the eggplant and sauté for about 6 minutes.

6. Remove the eggplant

7. Add the zucchini to the pan and sauté for another 4 minutes.

8. Remove the zucchini

9. Add a little bit more of the olive oil and then add the chopped onions, garlic, and bell peppers and sauté for another minute

10. Add everything else, and add the salt and pepper (the amount is really up to you) and gently mix everything together.

11. Slowly cook for about 25-30 minutes.

I covered the veggie mix for about 10 minutes and you do get more juice by covering it. I was told it wasn't supposed to be like a soup... but there is a lot of water juice that comes out at the end...

You can eat it with bread or rice. The juice is awesome with bread...

I think the meal would have been better if I had time to grill some chicken or something. I made enough Ratatouille for 6 people so basically I made like 2 meals out of this for the family. Had this for lunch today too.

I really like this site and I want to try making Rouleaux croustillants de légume sometime in the future.

Lunch: Egg Salad using Egg Molds

I feel mighty stuffed with very healthy foods right now :)

Today is the first day that I am taking a break from the rush of everyday life and it felt great to be left alone for a break. I'm not feeling too much of the tension and soreness in my shoulders so I guess I'm starting to relax a little. :D So.... I put a little bit of effort into making food today.

Lunch: Egg Salad

Dad walks by and looks at my creation: "Are you really going to eat that?? Or is that for the kid?"

I had a salad today for lunch to get rid of some of the veggies in the fridge... but I wanted to use some of my tools that I got from Amazon and H-Mart for some... uh... fun ^.^

My salad consisted of the usual cherry tomatoes, cucumber, romaine lettuce, spinach, hard boiled eggs, and a slice of turkey (my brother bought way too much turkey cold cuts this week).

I wanted to try my egg molds that I got from Amazon.com for my boiled eggs.

The molds make the hard boiled egg into interesting shapes. Here's how they work:

Peel the boiled egg and put it into the mold.

Close the lid and put molds on ice (or ice water) for 10 minutes.

Take the covers off and trim away any extra spill-over.

I think the perfect size egg for these molds are large sized eggs. The Jumbo egg that I have used for the star might be slightly too big b/c it was hard to close the lid. The medium sized egg that I used for the fish was too small b/c now the fish is missing a tail... poor fishie :(

I chose 1 cookie cutter (a simple star) to use to cut the turkey meat.

Here's my lunch for today:

I guess this is kind of a trial run of a few tools from my growing arsenal of supplies that I have gotten from asian markets and on-line... and more coming soon from my buddy on an island in Asia? (*wink wink*). I want to make a bento box for myself and my 3-year old niece to get her super excited about eating.

The other egg molds that I can play with :D

And... to answer Dad's question... yes, I ate it and no, it wasn't for the 3-year old.

Thoughts and things to do...

The past week has been really hard to do anything. I returned home every night from work past 8pm and was pretty much lethargic and ended up focusing my left over energy on music instead and made my own versions of songs on guitar and piano... although I should be finishing music that I haven't finished in a year since I've started learning it x.x

I have been thinking about what to do next. I feel like it's time to start cooking :)

Mom has been observing me the past few times I've baked and she's been pretty supportive. She gave me a stack of cookbooks and textbooks... "learn something"

I was all over Betty Crocker's "Cookbook for Boys and Girls" that my parents apparently bought for my sibs from Building #19 for $1.00 back in either the late 1970s or early 1980s. I read through the first few pages on how to "Play it Safe!" so that I won't inadvertently injure myself. with sharp objects. I took the little quiz at the end and I passed yay! I'm ready!

There's one recipe in there called "Cereal Sundae" that I just had to tried right away. Here's the recipe from the book:

Utensils:

- Cereal Bowl

- Ice-cream scoop or large spoon

Ingredients:

- Your favorite dry cereal

- Your favorite ice cream

Instructions:

- Fill Bowl halfway to top with cereal. Place a large scoop of ice cream in the center. Eat.

Yay! :D

This weekend has been spent in multiple markets to find supplies and ingredients. I went to Chinese and Korean markets and I'll post the pictures of the things I've bought when I work with them. Hopefully it will be soon because I have a million ideas right now.

Today I had time to spend with my mom to learn how to make 免治牛肉飯 (Minced Beef with green peas and rice) and a similar dish with chicken and tomatoes. I didn't have time to take photos b/c I was mostly shadowing and taking notes. I have never really learned to work with meat but this seems easy. We have extra meat left over so I'll be making it again on my own this time :D

Thank you to those who have given me your opinions and requests. I have a lot of ideas right now and your suggestions have made me drool... I'm excited to get started on my little project now that I have more free time this week and next week.

Taking another trip to the market tomorrow for ingredients to make something that was inspired by my good friend overseas in Taiwan and suggested by my colleague.

Super Moist Banana Blueberry Apple Muffins

I've been trying to do some more experimental cooking but things have been super busy and I come home late most nights to cook dinner for anyone... plus I managed to hurt one eye and have shoulder/back pain. I couldn't see out of one eye b/c it was tearing so much and had very bad depth perception for about a day. x.x I almost walked straight into a car and a door post on my way to work. My eye is healed now but my back still hurts and physical therapy makes me feel worse T.T When it rains it pours!

Anyway... I decided to make something tonight because the heat is ripening my fruit in the kitchen.

I gotta stop buying so many bananas.

So I have 3 that are over-ripe and not very edible. I've already made banana bread and oatmeal banana blueberry/dark chocolate chip cookies with my mushy bananas.

What's next? Meh... let Google decide.

I stumbled upon Banana Muffins from Cooks.com and realized I had all the ingredients all ready. So why not try it? I made some modifications to the recipe. The original recipe can be found in the link above.

When I looked at the original recipe, I was kind of appalled by how much butter was needed... 1 1/2 cups of melted butter?? That's like 3 sticks!! I used 1 stick of butter instead of 3. The other 2/3 I made up with apple sauce. I chose the chunky apple sauce to add more fruit to the muffins. I have 4 boxes of blueberries so I decided to use that instead of chocolate. So these muffins I made have 3 different fruits in them: banana, blueberries, and apples.

1 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of melted butter

1 cup of chunky apple sauce

2 eggs

2 cups of flour

1 tsp. of baking soda

1 tsp. of baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 ripe bananas

1 cup of fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Mix the flour, baking powder, and baking soda together and set aside. In a large bowl, mix the melted butter, sugar, and apple sauce in another bowl until it's creamy. Add the eggs and mix in one at a time. Add the vanilla extract. Then add the flour mix a little bit at a time and mix. Mash the 3 bananas with a fork and add the bananas to the batter. Wash the blueberries, drain the water, and take off the stems. Add blueberries to the batter and mix well. Take a spoon and scoop two spoonfuls of batter into the muffin pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool. Makes 24 muffins.

Optional: Line the muffin pan with paper cupcake liners. It will be easier to take out the muffins and less cleaning later.

They are sooo moist... kinda melts in your mouth kind of moist. I think my oatmeal banana blueberry cookies were more fragrant but these are good too. They aren't too sweet but sweet enough. Perfect for breakfast :)

Now to sit back and relax with Bengay and a heat pack on my shoulders on this fine hot humid night.

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