Frosted Banana Bars=YUM!

Frosted Banana Bars

Much like Nate's new music selection on the blog, I have decided to post a recipe that we have tried, and really like! I love to cook; I like turning a few random ingredients into something that is incredibly tasty! Which is definitely the situation with these Frosted Banana Bars. I found this recipe at the My Kitchen Cafe Blog (which is where the picture came from too); she has a great blog with some awesome tried and true recipes. Nate loved these bars, and I thought they were so good, banana bread couldn't even be placed in the same family! Get out those yucky black bananas and get to cookin' something good!

Frosted Banana Bars

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup ripe, mashed bananas

frosting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10x15 jellyroll pan. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; stir into the batter. Finally, mix in the mashed bananas. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Bake 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow bars to cool completely before frosting.

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8 oz package cream cheese

1 cup white sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. Set aside. In a medium bowl, beat whipped cream until soft peaks form. Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Frost your banana bars to your heart's delight!

The Festival of Trees

We went down to Salt Lake yesterday with Camille, Brand, Bree, Andrew, and Kenzie to meet Nate's Grandma and Dad for lunch, and a trip to The Festival of Trees.

Olive Garden was for lunch, and was good as always! I don't think it is ever not good :) After lunch it was off to to see the trees! Although apparently we were not the only ones with that idea... It was packed! Which is a good thing I suppose, since all the money they earn from admissions and the selling of the trees and such goes to Primary Children's Hospital.

The whole big group of us walked around to see the sites. Bree and Andrew did such a good job; I am sure after awhile the forest of trees seemed to be never ending! Near the middle of the forest, Andrew was riding in his stroller, and kept saying something to me.... Camille translated and hold me he was asking to hold my hand. So for throughout the rest of the trees we walked with Drew in the stroller, with me to the side holding his hand :) It was cute!

There were some beautiful quilts on display with a lot of the trees. I have begged Marlene to let me come down to Filmore for a day and teach me the ropes of quilt making! I loved seeing pictures that came along with some of the trees. You could read the stories of some; and a few just broke my heart. I am sure decorating a tree for someone who has passed away is apart of the healing process for their loved ones. But man, I got goosebumps more times than I can say. I felt for these families who had lost very young children, children who never got a chance to grow up- ugh, enough of that, the goosebumps are coming back. But all in all, it is a beautiful display of love- and I was honored to have been able to take part in such a great event! Here are a few pictures (These are borrowed from KSL.com, Nate has purchased and wrapped a camera for Christmas, so soon, I will be able to take some pictures of my own!)

Here is an example of one of the many long lines... Everyone waited patiently in line, and weaved through the forest, it was fun, but very crowded!
Behind this massive snowman is one of the many cute quilts at the festival...
This was a cluster of three little trees if I remember right... They were so cute! This tree was one of the busiest... It was made of glass (obviously!), and had a light show inside it that was timed to music. There was a lady there in front of it answering people's questions... Guess how much this bad boy was purchased for... $27, 000! Holy cow! But it was beautiful!

Oh, Christmas Tree...

So, I begged Nate to let me put the tree up a few weeks before Thanksgiving... I was in a festive mood! He was reluctant, but is the sweetest man alive, so he caved in and put the tree up for me. That was where his job ended, and mine began :) It just sat there in our living room, staring at me for over a week.... Naked. I begged for a tree, and then slacked on the decor! So, this last weekend I raided Hobby Lobby with Camille, and Kenzie, and decided to go with a gold and brown theme. I love it!

Hobby Lobby had these really neat, and cheap, sticks of gold berries. I bought quite a few of them, not really knowing how I would use them, but I knew I needed them, and would figure it out later. I also found some really pretty, and again, cheap, ribbon at Hobby Lobby. I love going to Tai Pan, and their tree's always have ribbon, but I have never quite been able to figure out how they make it look so elegant. After much experimenting, I never figured out how they do it! But- I made my own way! I clustered the berry sticks together, and then tied them to the tree with little bows of the ribbon. I ended up really liking how it looked!

Our tree is a little tall. I don't know if you can really tell from the first picture. It is a beautiful tree; Nate's Dad had this one laying around his house that he never used, so he donated it to our cause last year. When we set it up last Christmas, Nate realized our ceiling is too low for the very tall tree. So, Mr. Fix it trimmed part of the top right off. Did I mention it is a pre-lit tree? So, :) the top no longer lights up, but hey, at least it fits! Needless to say, a tree-topper is out of the question! So I made a cute little bow with some gold berries shooting right out of the top!

I worked late the night Nate saw the tree. I had finished decorating it during the day while he was gone. When I got off work I had a text message, and man did it make me smile! It said "Holy cow sweetie! The tree looks awesome!". Apparently Nate approves! Merry Christmas!

UPDATE!

This blog will be staying publicly open for everyone to see. I am sad the acts of select bad people have ruined the fun of so many of us in the blogging world. I have loved looking at so many blogs; life is interesting, and everyone has a story to tell! I am disappointed that I can no longer innocently "blogstock" so many different blogs I so enjoyed reading. So, continue stocking us if you wish :) The Whicker's aren't going anywhere

To do, or not to do...

Should the blog go private, or should I leave it open? It seems to be the growing trend to do the privacy thing... Decisions, decisions.

Austin Family Annual Pumpkin Party!

We held the Austin Family Annual Pumpkin Carving Party the Sunday before Halloween. (I think it was the 4th annual according to my mom) It also happened to be my parents 24th wedding anniversary as well! The party was a good time... Lots of family came, and even a few friends showed up as well. Everyone brought a crock-pot full of something tasty... I brought Nate's grandma's recipe for Cheeseburger Soup. Needless to say it got RAVE reviews! Here are a few pictures from the party.

This is a pumpkin I carved... Custom Frankie. I thought he looked pretty neat!

This was another one that I carved... ANIMAL! from the Muppets!

Nate carved a really great Joker- a different one than before. I couldn't find a picture of his... So I will try to find one and post it! (Although if you look at the pictures below, Nate's is the Joker on the very top row in the middle! You have to see a close shot of it to see how great it really was!)

And these are the pictures of most of the pumpkins carved that night. A few people left before we could snap some pictures of them... But all in all I think it is a good looking display! I will try to dig up some more pictures... These all were from a cell phone camera.

And the official day is...

December 18th! This will be the day that i will be taking the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam! I am studying alot of material... But I know that I will be able to pass! After I pass, I can officialy answer the phone, "Technician speaking!"- AND my name badge could say something really neat like "Kerianne CPhT"! Keep me in your thoughts... It will encourage me to study that much harder!