Going Bananas

I promise this post has something to do with bananas, but first, I want to update you all on our lives. This week Jer dislocated his patella (knee cap) at his church league basketball game. I was having dinner group with my friends Lauren and Danielle and my sweet downstairs neighbor and good friend Alison called me and gave me the bad news. He went to the instacare and was promptly directed to the ER where they basically charged us a lot of money for some pain-killers and an ice-pack. I'm exaggerating but sometimes I just get so frustrated with the emergency room. Anywho, here is a picture of my sweet boy with his knee immobilizer on. He has been on crutches since Wednesday but he has recently been able to bear weight on his right foot which is good progress.

We are both sad because Dancesport Nationals are coming up this weekend and Jer was going to be dancing two events. It is looking less than likely that he will be able to dance. :o( On that note, my partner Caleb and I have been working and practicing very hard for nationals. We won pre-championship Ballroom in November and hope to maintain our title on a National level this week. The competition will be stiff and we are nervous but all we can do is our best so we will see how we do. We will also be dancing Amateur smooth again. Last comp we placed 3rd. We hope to at least maintain that title as well. Because this is a national competition, everything carries more weight. I will keep you all posted on what happens.

We have had lots of fun spending time with our friends on the weekends playing games and doing other fun things. I was able to go visit Mollie and her sweet twins Paige and Grant this weekend with my sister Katie. Mollie calls us Auntie Tina and Auntie Katie. We love those precious children! Jer took his little bro Cam to the BYU basketball game vs. Wyoming yesterday for his birthday and even bought him a Jimmer t-shirt. Cam also got a picture with the cheerleaders :o). Jer's little sisters and I went out to lunch during the game for Taylor's birthday and went to Forever 21. (Gotta be careful in that store, lots of cute, inexpensive things) We had a wonderful adult session of stake conference last night with a question and answer session with Elder Jensen of the Seventy and then a great meeting today with the sustaining of a new Stake Presidency. Our lives are very busy with work, school, dance and sports. We are getting very excited for our month-long trip to Asia coming up in the end of April. We will go to Thailand, Vietnam, and finally, Taiwan to visit Jer's mission.

Jer and I are so grateful for the many, many blessings in our lives and all of the wonderful opportunities that are ours. We consider ourselves very blessed. :o)

Now for the good part: Bananas.
I made banana bread today because I had some ripe bananas I needed to use, not to mention it's Jer's favorite, so I went back to my trusty and absolute favorite recipe. A couple years ago, I was experimenting with lots of different recipes to find a REALLY good banana bread recipe. I had found one that had a streusel topping that was pretty good, but then my room mate Lauren opened my eyes to her mom's DELICIOUS and wonderful recipe. I have never made another recipe for banana bread since. It has a glaze that is to die for but its good without it too.
Sharon Anderson's Banana Bread with Glaze
Bread:
1 c shortening
2 c sugar
4 eggs
6-7 bananas (reserve 1/2 a banana for glaze)
4 c flour
2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t vanilla
Shake of salt
Pour into two bread pans and bake at 350 for 40-50 mins (I often cover it with foil halfway through so the top doesn't get too brown)

Glaze:
1/2 cube butter (needs to be very soft)
1/2 banana
1-2 c powdered sugar
splash milk and vanilla

Once bread has cooled cover top of loaves with glaze.

As I was flipping through my recipes to find the one above, I came across another banana one I love. This one is from my lovely mother-in-law. These are really hard to stop eating.
Sour Cream Banana Bars
1 1/2 c sugar
1 c sour cream
1/2 c butter
2 eggs
3 mashed bananas
2 t vanilla
1 t salt
1 t soda
2 c flour
Pour into greased jelly-roll pan and bake at 375 for 20-25 mins (keep an eye on them) until barely brown.

Frosting:
This recipe calls for like a vanilla frosting but I really like doing a cream cheese frosting. You can also do a vanilla frosting but add banana.
1/2 c butter melted
2 t vanilla
6 T milk
4 c powdered sugar
(I have found that this makes a LOT of frosting, it depends on how thick of a layer you like but I may decrease the amount a bit)