Wordless Wednesday

Blueberry Facial Update

Putting food on my face has become something I enjoy doing twice a week. My extremely sensitive skin has reacted amazingly to the change in routine. I've had no breakouts, no redness, and no random bumps on my face since I started using oatmeal facials six weeks ago. I've figured out a better way to make them and learned that they don't have to dry on your face for 20 minutes.

For the past six weeks, I have only used a variation of the blueberry facial that I describe in this post. Since blueberries aren't in season year round, I've started testing different combinations to use instead of the blueberry. The most recent facial I made was with banana. This facial is more moisturizing than the blueberry version.

Banana Facial Mask
1 T oatmeal
1 t Extra Virgin Olive Oil
a small chunk of banana

Place the oatmeal in a small container. Rub the oatmeal between your fingers to grind it up. This will take a few minutes, but it makes a better facial this way. Once the oatmeal is ground up, add the olive oil and mix. Add the chunk of banana and mash it into the oatmeal. Mix until creamy.

Massage the banana mixture all over your face, avoiding the eye area. Once your face is entirely covered with food, let it dry for at least 5 minutes. The mask can be left on for up to 20 minutes. Rinse thoroughly with warm water and pat dry. Apply moisturizer to your face if needed.

Any left over banana facial mask can be refrigerated and should be used within a few days.

This mask works well for dry skin. If you have oily skin, it might not give you the results you desire. It might even make your face break out due to the extra oil and moisture. Some alternatives to the banana and olive oil are:

Dry skin: whole milk, peaches, apricot, avocado.

Oily skin: egg white, tomato, honey, strawberry.

If you don't have sensitive skin and want to add some extra exfoliation to the facial, add granulated sugar to the mixture until it is gritty.

Frosted Fruit Salad

Note: Pineapple isn't a fruit I eat very often; I don't really like the taste. Keep this in mind while reading the post because I'm pretty sure that skewed my opinion on this recipe.

I remember my grandma making something similar to this, but I can't remember her ever making this exact recipe. The reason I'm making it is that in the mess of recipes I have, there are about 6 copies of this exact recipe. If she bothered to write it down so many times, she probably made it quite often at one point. It is very understandable (IMO, at least) if she stopped making this recipe. To me, it is just very sweet pineapple goo covered by a pineapple flavored whipped topping. Oh, and there is some fruit mixed into the goo.

I find the name of this recipe to be deceiving. It isn't exactly a fruit salad; there is hardly any fruit in it! It is more like a pineapple jello with a whipped topping. If you like pineapple and sugary sweet desserts, give this recipe a try. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it. This is definitely one recipe that I will never make again!

Frosted Fruit Salad (Printer-friendly PDF Version)
2 packages lemon jello (3 oz each)
2 cups boiling water
2 cups ginger ale
1 large can crushed pineapple (drained)
2 large sliced bananas

Topping
1/2 C sugar
2 T flour
1 C pineapple juice (add water to drained juice to make it a cup)
1 egg, beaten
2 T butter
Small tub of cool whip (thawed)

First, boil the water and add it to the jello powder in a mixing bowl. Mix until completely dissolved. Add the ginger ale and mix. Place in the refrigerator until need later.

Drain the pineapple (save the juice!) and slice the bananas. Set aside.

Place the sugar, flour, pineapple juice, egg, and butter in a small sauce pan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. The mixture, when cooked, reminded me of a pineapple flavored custard. Chill the mixture completely.

After making the custard-ish mixture, remove the jello from the refrigerator. Pour the slightly cooled (and maybe thickened) jello into a 13 x 9 pan. Mix in the pineapple and bananas. Place the pan in the refrigerator to cool.

Once the custard-ish mixture is completely chilled, fold the Cool Whip into it.

 If the jello is gelled at this point, frost the top of the jello with the topping. If not, return the topping to the refrigerator until the jello is set.

Note: When heating the custard mixture, the egg didn't blend in nicely. I was left with a nice creamy mixture that had random chunks of cooked egg white in it. To fix this problem, I pressed the custard-ish stuff through a wire mesh strainer.

Decorator's Frosting

The most important thing involved in cake decorating is the frosting (or icing, I suppose... depending on where you live). If you are thinking, "Shouldn't the cake be the most important part?" then you have clearly never decorated a cake. The cake part of the cake decorating process is 100% optional. You can frost a styrofoam cube or even an empty box and make it look like a cake. People even have a habit of saying silly things such as, "Ooh! It looks too pretty to eat!" They are lying when they say this, however, and will go on to talk to you about the shows Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss while happily eating the beautifully frosted cake.

There is an uncountable number of decorator's frosting recipes on the internet (well, that's not true: it is clearly a countable number). I only use three different frosting recipes when decorating cakes. One is the Wilton Decorator's Frosting, another is the old version of that same recipe, and the final one is a whipped cream frosting that I'll present at a later date. I learned the Wilton recipe when I took the Wilton Cake Decorating courses. The old version is the frosting my grandma always made and learned when she took the Wilton Cake Decorating courses!

Both versions of the Wilton recipe are suitable for simple frosting and making frosting flowers. The frostings are creamy and form kind of a stiff shell when they dry.Each recipe will create a stiff frosting which is optimal for making frosting roses. To cover the cake with frosting, you will need to thin the frosting. To do this, add a tablespoon of water to the frosting and mix it in. Repeat this until you get a consistency that spreads easily.

New Wilton Decorator's Frosting (Printer-friendly PDF Version)
1 C shortening
3 T water
1 t vanilla (or any combination of flavors you want)
1 lb Confectioners Sugar
1 T meringue powder

Beat together the shortening, water, and vanilla. It won't become a creamy mixture, but you want to break up the shortening. Add the sugar and meringue powder. Mix at a low speed for 30 seconds. Scrape the sides of the mixing bowl. Mix together at low speed for 2 minutes.

Old Wilton Decorator's Frosting (Printer-friendly PDF Version)
3/4 C shortening
2 egg whites
1 t vanilla
1/2 t cream of tartar powder
1 lb confectioners sugar

Mix together the shortening, egg whites, and vanilla for about 15 seconds. It will make a chunky looking gross mixture. Add the sugar and tartar. Mix on a medium speed for 2 minutes or until fluffy.

One of the main "rules" when making frosting to decorate cakes is to not "over beat" the icing. This will produce air bubbles in the frosting and that is not a good thing if you are making flowers. Since I don't like to make flowers very often, I extremely "over beat" the frosting every time I make it. In my opinion, this gives it a better texture.

Note: When adding flavors to the frosting, be sure to use clear flavors. For instance, if you use the brown vanilla extract your icing will end up a cream color instead of white.

2nd Note: I lied earlier when I said I only use 3 frosting recipes. I use 2 chocolate frosting recipes, but chocolate frosting isn't very standard in cake decorating.

Banana Bread

Sometimes I buy extra bananas... about 3 more than I could eat before they go bad. By "bad" I mean overly ripe and kind of mushy. Why do I do this? Because icky bananas are perfect for banana bread. The more brown spots the banana has, the better tasting the banana bread will be. Some people might argue that point with me, but it is purely opinion. This is also my blog, so I would win that argument. Keep in mind, I don't mean the banana has to be ripe to the point it is attracting flies.

Banana bread is very easy to make. As it seems to be with most things I make, the hardest part is waiting for it to cool before eating. This is one of the baked goods that taste better when it isn't extremely hot right from the oven. I tend to try eating something right out of the oven and then complain that it doesn't taste good. Once the food cools down and my taste buds recover, I realize the food is fine.

So go buy too many bananas, make some banana bread in about a week, and practice your patience and self control.

Banana Bread (Printer-friendly PDF Version)
3 ripe bananas
1/2 C shortening (or butter)
1 C sugar
2 eggs
2 C flour
1/2 t baking soda
nuts (very optional)

Note: I haven't tried the recipe with butter, so I'm not sure how that turns out.

The first thing you need to do is peel the bananas, break them into pieces and mash them. After they are a gooey blob, set them aside.

In a mixing bowl, mix the sugar and the shortening (or butter). It will be mixed enough when it has a soft, crumbly consistency. Add the mashed up bananas and mix them in well.

Next, add the two eggs and beat them into the mixture until well mixed. Finally, add the flour and baking soda. Mix that until it forms a sticky dough. Scrape the sides to ensure all the flour is mixed in.

Split the dough between two bread pans (or one if you want really thick bread). You can, and I don't recommend it, add some sort of nut on top of the dough. This will most likely ruin the dough and leave it inedible (unless you like that sort of thing... not that I'm judging you...)

Bake the banana bread in a preheated oven set at 275 degrees for 60 minutes. Remove the bread pans from the oven after 60 minutes (or maybe longer if you insist on making just one loaf) and let cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Use a butter knife to loosen the loafs from the pan and flip them out onto a cooling rack. Let cool nearly completely before consuming!