Concert: Emmylou Harris and Mary Chapin Carpenter

Image found here

This was my second* country music concert at Wolf Trap this summer. I was mainly excited to see Mary Chapin Carpenter; I grew up listening to her Come On Come On CD. I think she was actually supposed to open for Emmylou Harris (like she did at the same venue in 1989), but Emmylou had to catch a ferry somewhere, so they swapped timeslots. I was wondering why Emmylou had a 90-minute set as the "opener" ! 

I didn't know any of Emmylou's songs. I think she was big well before my time, so I wasn't familiar with the music. But her band is very talented! Many of them play multiple instruments, and I enjoyed hearing their brief solos throughout the set. And she looks fabulous for her age! Here are a few songs of hers:

One of These Days

Red Dirt Girl

Tougher Than the Rest

Once it was Mary's turn to come on, I actually think what I liked best about her set was her storytelling. Between some songs, she would tell a story about what inspired a song, or how she felt at a particular moment, and she really knows how to tell a narrative! She talked about playing croquette with her bandmates, spoke about how Eudora Welty's story of Halley's comet inspired the song Halley Came to Jackson, and described how butterflies flew from her chest when she thought a young man recognized her (only for him to tell her, "My grandmother loves you!"). I'd be just as happy to listen to her tell tales as I would if she sang songs!

She did change up her songs a little bit, which I realize a lot of artists do for live performances, but I like the original versions best. And she (like Emmylou, too, actually) had what I might describe as an "ephemeral" voice: it would go in and out. Sometimes she'd hit the notes loud and proud and perfectly, and other times I could barely hear her, or it felt off-key. I understand that voices change as they age, and I think that's what was happening in this instance. 

Here are some of my favorite songs of hers:

I Feel Lucky

Passionate Kisses

Shut Up and Kiss Me

He Thinks He'll Keep Her (As I was listening to her sing this song, I was thinking that, even as a child, this song was one of the reasons I didn't want to have children myself. I remember thinking, "It sounds like this woman isn't happy being just a mom and a wife. I don't want to be that." The power of music! I also looked it up, and Mary was inspired to write this song when she heard a sexist commercial in which a man likes how his wife keeps the household and jokingly says, "I think I'll keep her." It's amazing where songwriters can find inspiration.)

The Bug (She did not perform this song. Too bad!)

This was a fun, relaxing concert. I mostly just laid on my picnic blanket staring at the sky as I let the music wash over me. It was just a lovely evening to be outside and listen to some nice music!

*The first country concert I went to this summer at Wolf Trap was to see Little Big Town. But my friend ended up being very distracted with work phone calls, and he had to leave before the main act even started. At that point, it had begun to rain, and while I would have stuck it out with him, since my friend was leaving, I just left, too. So I only had the chance to see the opener, Karley Scott Collins. I had never heard of her before, but I liked her! She kind of had a young Taylor-Swift vibe (but maybe it's just because she's a pretty blonde, because her folksy voice is very different). Here are a few of her songs:

Heavenly

Tattoos

I Hate That I Love You

I love seeing more women in country music!

Recipe: Fluffy Banana Cookies

Recently I made banana muffins (read that blog post here), and once again I faced having too many bananas going ripe at once. I have made so many banana breads and muffins (see that list in that blog post, too), so I wanted to try something else. I found this "easy kids' recipe" on the All Recipes website, and I'll try any recipe with "easy" in the title! And it really was that easy!

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas, mashed, or more to taste
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup white sugar, or more to taste
• ¼ cup butter, melted
• ¼ cup chopped walnuts (Optional)
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar

Directions

·      Step 1

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

·      Step 2

Place bananas, flour, 1/2 cup sugar, butter, walnuts, egg, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Mix until well combined. Drop 3 tablespoonfuls of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheet. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar on top.

·      Step 3

Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and edges are set, 15 to 20 minutes.

Unlike most of the recipes I make, I actually followed this one to a T. The only thing I changed was that, instead of using walnuts, I used chocolate chips. Otherwise, this recipe is so simple that there's no need to try to use tricks or cheats to make it easier! I do feel like there should have been another step in the directions: how do you cool the cookies? I left them on the pan for a few minutes after removing them from the oven, and then I used a spatula to move them to plates. I didn't want to put them on wire racks because the bottoms did stick to the parchment paper a little and I thought that might be messy.

These cookies are fluffy, and they remind me a little of pancakes. They are not very sweet, so if I made this recipe again, I would probably use more sugar (and more chocolate chips). The texture is spot-on, though! Because the directions say to make 3-tablespoon-sized cookies, they are kind of big, and therefore you don't get as many cookies as you might with another recipe (I only got 17). That could be good or bad: you get fewer yummy cookies, but then you also don't feel obligated to eat so many yummy cookies.

This recipe is worth a try, though, especially if you are baking with kids or you are a beginner baker yourself!

Recipe: One-Banana Banana Muffins

 

Getting great use out of my reusable cupcake liners!

Even though this recipe markets itself as a "one-banana" banana muffin recipe, I still made it with two bananas. I made this recipe because I had 1. two ripe bananas and 2. another can of condensed milk (read about the first recipe I made using that ingredient). I first found a recipe that fit this description, but in reading further, I would have had to bake the bananas until they were black. Who has time for that? This recipe from Sorted Food did not have that step, so I chose it instead.

In general, I don't think this recipe was a good one instructionally-speaking. I've made enough banana breads and muffins* to know the basic ingredients, but if I were new to baking, I wouldn't suggest this recipe. The ingredients are listed all out of order (as opposed to listing all the wet ingredients together, the dry ingredients together, the garnishes last, etc.). It also doesn't list preheating the oven as Step #1, which it clearly always should be (although I'll admit I don't start preheating the oven until I'm halfway through the directions, otherwise I feel like it's staying hot for too long for no reason). It also doesn't say to chop the nuts (can you imagine full walnuts in a muffin?), to soften/melt the butter (you can't put half a stick of butter from the fridge right into the batter!), or explain how 1/2 cup of sugar equals 1/2 cup of condensed milk (they are two very different consistencies. How does that work?). 

But here we go:

Ingredients

• ¼ cup pecans / walnuts (optional)
• 1 egg
• ½ cup sugar / condensed milk
• ⅓ cup milk
• 1 ripe banana
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp pumpkin spice OR cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 tbsp butter / oil

Directions

Step 1

SIFT/WHISK TOGETHER FLOUR, BAKING POWDER AND SODA, SALT, AND PUMPKIN SPICE/CINNAMON IN A BIG BOWL.

Step 2

IN ANOTHER BOWL, WHISK TOGETHER SOFTENED BUTTER/OIL, SUGAR/CONDENSED MILK, EGG, MILK, VANILLA.

Step 3

MASH BANANA WITH A FORK ON A SHEET OF PARCHMENT AND ADD INTO WET MIXTURE.

Step 4

COMBINE THE TWO MIXTURES WITH A WHISK OR RUBBER SPATULA.

Be careful not to over mix or the muffins will be tough.

Step 5

GENTLY FOLD IN PECANS OR WALNUTS IF APPLICABLE.

Step 6

SPOON AROUND A QUARTER CUP OF MIXTURE INTO LINED OR GREASED CUPCAKE TIN.

Step 7

FOR AN OPTIONAL CRUMB TOPPING...

... Mix a tbsp of melted butter with 2 tbsp flour, 1 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tbsp oats, and 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Sprinkle over cupcakes.

Step 8

BAKE IN A PREHEATED 350°F OVEN FOR 15 MINUTES.

Or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Step 9

LET COOL. IF YOU WANT, DRIZZLE WITH GLAZE.

Mix together 3 tbsp powdered sugar to 1 tbsp milk.

I did double the recipe (I got 21 muffins), since I did have two bananas. But that didn't impact the final product; it just meant I got more muffins! I also only had 1/2 stick of butter, but since I was doubling the recipe, I added in four tablespoons of orange-infused olive oil (which I have used in brownies before. Delicious!). I did not mash the bananas on parchment paper (who does that?); I mashed them in the bowl and added in the other wet ingredients. And even though this called for only 1/2 cup of the condensed milk, I ended up using nearly the entire can. I didn't use my KitchenAid mixer in fear of overmixing, so I just used a handheld spatula for that. And clearly I did not bother with a crumb topping or a glaze. I left the muffins just as they are!

In the end, I did like these muffins. They have a soft texture, which is nice. And I do like the added crunch from the nuts. They are not as sweet as I might expect from a muffin, but not in a bad way. These were very easy and quick to make, so I appreciate that, too! These are worth a try!

*Read about the other banana baked goods I've made here (this list is even longer than I remembered!):

• Cream Cheese Banana Bread
• Small Batch Banana Muffins
• Easy Banana Bread
• Banana Oat Muffins
• Dark Chocolate Chip Raspberry Banana Bread
• Peanut Butter Banana Brownies
• Chai-Spiced Banana Bread
• Chocolate Workout Brownies
• Monkey Nut Cookies
• Banana Chocolate Bread Pudding
• Strawberry Banana Sour Cream Breakfast Cake
• Peanut Butter Banana Cookies
• Banana Peanut Butter Bread
• Banana Coconut Muffins
• Strawberry Banana Bread

Recipe: Eggless Chocolate Cake

I was helping my parents pack up for their move, and my mom gave me a bunch of canned goods that she didn't want to schlep around with her. She gave me three cans of condensed milk. I've never used that before; I just knew it was in some dessert recipes. I quickly found this post on the Insanely Good blog which lists 30 easy recipes that call for condensed milk. Voilà!

I decided to try the eggless chocolate cake recipe from the Spice Up the Curry vegetarian blog. My boyfriend and I were going to another couple's house for dinner, so I thought it might be nice to bring this along for dessert. 

Ingredients  

• ▢1 ½ cup All purpose flour

• ▢3 tablespoons Unsweetened cocoa powder

• ▢1 ½ teaspoons Baking powder

• ▢¾ teaspoon Baking soda

• ▢1 cup Sweetened Condensed milk

• ▢¾ cup Unsalted Butter melted and cooled

• ▢1 ½ teaspoons Pure Vanilla extract

• ▢¾ cup Water

Instructions 

Prep:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F for at least 10 minutes.
2. Melt the butter in a bowl in the microwave. Or melt it on the stovetop, but don’t let it boil. Let the melted butter cool down.
3. Using this melted butter, grease a 9-inch round cake pan (w/ 2-inches high sides) using a pastry brush and keep it aside.

Making Cake:

1. Place a strainer in the bowl and add dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder) into the strainer. Sift this mixture into a bowl to break all the lumps. Using a wire whisk mix them well.
2. In another bowl take melted butter, vanilla, condensed milk and water. Beat it using a wire whisk until everything is well combined.
3. Add dry flour mixture into the wet mixture. Start mixing using a whisk and halfway through switch to a spatula to avoid overmixing. Make the batter using a spatula with a folding motion.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Spread the batter evenly.
5. Bake into the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Check the cake by inserting a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it comes out clean that means the cake is ready.
6. Let the cake cool down in the pan for 5-10 minutes. Then loosen the sides using a butter knife. Then invert the cake upside down to the cooling rack and let it cool down completely.

Per usual, I did not follow the instructions to a T. I didn't sift the dry ingredients; I just whisked them around the break up any clumps. I did not wait for the butter to completely cool before mixing in the other wet ingredients. I may have overmixed a little bit as well. But my biggest mistake may have been using a Bundt pan instead of a regular 9" round cake pan (which I didn't have). My cake ended up looking like a gigantic donut:

I was lucky that the cake come out in one piece, but that may have been because I overfloured the pan. I really didn't want the batter to stick, so I sprayed the heck out of it with Pam, following by sprinkling (er, dumping) flour all over the mold. So when the cake came out of the oven and I took it out of the pan, I could clearly see light spots all over the top of the cake where the flour was, well, caked on. So I spent close to ten minutes using a small fork trying to ever-so-gently scrape off the excess flour without tearing or puncturing the cake (I felt like a dentist; I even had a paper towel to wipe everything off.).

But the next day (since I made the cake the day before our double-date), I drizzled the cake with probably twice as much frosting as I had originally planned, and that definitely helped with the appearance of my donut-cake:

In the end... I didn't really like this cake. It's not very chocolately, so it almost seems more like a spice cake, just without any spice. And it was dry. Not super-dry, but more icing could have helped (and ice cream certainly would have). It was just "meh." Not the worst thing I've ever baked (that would be this and this), but not worth baking again. 

After baking the cake (because I always do this after I've already started baking... *face palm*), I took a look at the "notes" section of the recipe:

Notes

• No substitute for condensed milk: Many readers ask me in the comments what they can use instead of condensed milk. Sorry to say, there is no replacement for it in this eggless chocolate cake.

The condensed milk is the whole reason I made this cake!

• Don’t over-mix the batter or it will end up dense. Once you start mixing in the flour only mix just until combined.

As stated, I may have over-mixed the batter. But not by a lot!

• Don’t over-bake or it will start to dry. Mine is perfect at 30 minutes but each oven varies a bit so do the toothpick test for doneness. A moist crumb attached is fine but there shouldn’t be batter.

I did listen to this part of the recipe and did not bake the cake for more than 30 minutes.

• Wait and let cool completely before frosting the cake or it will melt. You can speed up cooling in the refrigerator if needed.

Nailed this by waiting until the next day to frost it!

• 2-layer cake: This is a tall cake, you can cut it in half horizontally to make a double layer cake.

This one made me laugh. This is NOT a tall cake: my cake is a flat donut!

There is no way I could cut this cake in half and not have it become a complete mess.

To reiterate: don't bother with this recipe. There must be better eggless chocolate cakes out there!