Coconut Pineapple Banana Bread

After traveling on the road, skiing down mountains, and falling asleep under heavy comforters hours before normal, my weekend vacation has come to an end. It's a bittersweet affair. I love to run away from "real life" for a moment, reveling in the suspended time only travel can lend. Even so, all good things must come to an end and (unfortunately) that also includes vacations. Returning to reality jolts my senses and it takes me a moment to realize that this is home and I'm back where I belong. I feel a great sense of loss, but for what I'm never quite certain.

Nevertheless, after a day or two, I settle back into reality as if nothing had changed (and maybe nothing really had).

The anticipation and build up before the trip, the rush to pack everything, the early morning turn out of the driveway, the frantic screaming to stop the car!, the last minute dash back inside to collect forgotten items, and finally hitting the highway, leaving the familiar brush of reality behind—this is what I love about traveling. There are many more moments I have fallen for, but this is where they all begin.

Maybe my early start turns later than expected. Maybe, for once, I haven't left something behind. Maybe I make it all the way to the airport before I realize I've left my cell phone behind (which is only made more ironic after strongly asserting to everyone within earshot that if I didn't pack it, I don't need it). Sometimes the order of events is different, but it's the on ramp of the highway or the takeoff of the airplane that I look forward to most.

After coming home from my getaway and remembering once again that I do, indeed, like to bake, a loaf of banana bread with tropical flair seemed to fit my bittersweet mood just right. Pineapple and toasted coconut remind me of faraway places and the banana part of bread keeps me grounded. A balancing force for a Wednesday morning.

As I sit down to eat this bread, I can only dream of the tropical vacations to come...

This Coconut Pineapple Banana Bread combines the fruits of the tropics and dishes them up in a familiar experience. Pineapple chunks and coconut flakes are scattered throughout the bread, with a sprinkling of toasted coconut to round off the top. The bread is moist and flavorful on its own, though it pairs perfectly with a pat of butter. It's just the right combination of flavors to bring sunshine up an ordinary weekday.

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Green Tea Coconut Ice Cream

It's the time of year for New Year's resolutions. If you're like I am, five days into the new year and I've already tossed my resolutions to the wayside. I almost tried to follow them. I had a bad cold, my couch felt oh so lovely, and the cupboards were stuffed with leftover Christmas candy. It was too easy to pretend I hadn't made them in the first place. Excuses, as opposed to resolutions, are surprisingly easy to make.

Last year, after studiously making my resolutions, I actually followed them. I did eat healthier over the past year, choosing apple slices over potato chips and finding a way to keep my food groups more balanced. I took a photography class, but I think I taught myself more in the end. I found my place working in a bakery (and I certainly didn't stop baking). After reflections over last year's resolutions, I give myself an A+.

This year, however, not so much.

I always feel that if I don't start following my new resolutions exactly on the first day of the new year, I never will. And sadly, more often than not, this is true. Last year is the only year I've successfully managed to both follow and keep my resolutions. Perhaps it's not too late to make a set of January 5th resolutions?

This year I resolve to eat healthier. Not just swap apple slices in for potato chips, but choose healthier grains (quinoa, brown rice, whole wheat pasta) over their white, bleached counterparts. I want to eat less salt and less processed foods without losing any of the flavor. I want to want to choose the healthier option instead of begrudgingly accept it.

Also, I hope to keep some room in that new diet for dessert. No diet is complete without dessert.

I want to learn how to cook. This resolution may sound silly to you (after all, I do run a food blog), but the truth is that I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to using the stove top instead of the oven. I can't cook meat properly (dry chicken anyone?), sauces are a foreign concept to me, and I am absolutely useless when it comes to using spices. Except for a few delicious favorites, most of what I invent in the kitchen isn't worth revisiting. If I'm going to keep my resolution to eat healthier, learning to cook comes hand in hand.

Since I do believe we are all allowed a "fun" resolution, this year I would like to learn French. Though I lived in Quebec for 6 months, I never quite picked up the language, instead reverting to English whenever possible. As a result, the French language has become a bit elusive for me. French is something I wanted to learn ever since I've moved back home, but haven't had the time until now. How else am I going to understand the French cookbooks I bought?

To start off the new year, I thought a new and more unusual recipe would be fitting. Though green tea ice cream is popular in Japan and parts of Asia, it's uncommon in the United States. I paired my green tea ice cream with a bit of coconut to make it more familiar and topped it with toasted almonds to round out the flavors. It's different, it's exciting, and I am in love with the pure, green tea color.

Green tea powder (or matcha powder) can be tricky to find unless you know where to look. Living in the heart of the Midwest, it took me a solid year to track it down. Asian supermarkets will be your best bet and health food stores often carry it. I found my green tea powder at a local tea shop. Like always, if all these options fail, matcha powder is always available on the internet. Green tea powder is great for baking, making green tea lattes, or brewing a simple, but elegant cup of tea.

Green Tea Coconut Ice Cream is fresh, tasting vividly of green tea with just a hint of coconut. The recipe is easy to follow (simply blend all the ingredients together in a blender), but it does require an ice cream maker to give the ice cream that sought after, smooth quality. I topped my ice cream with toasted almonds and I strongly recommend you do the same. Toasted almonds and green tea complement each other in a very unexpected, but delicious way.

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Pumpkin Granola

It's officially the first day of fall! Though I was dreading its arrival, now that it's here I'm quite pleased to wrap up in warm sweaters and drink hot tea. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought autumn had arrived two weeks ago. With the mercury falling down to chilly temperatures (especially in the early morning hours), I've started wrapping myself in winter coats, hats, gloves, and scarves only to shed them all in the afternoon when the sun is out (and feel a bit of a fool carrying my huge jacket down the streets).

Though, I will never love the arduous process of scraping the frost off my car windows before the sun leisurely decides to climb out of bed. Three weeks into September and it's already begun (goodness gracious).

Fall has always felt like the most relaxing season of the year. The earth and those who dwell in it seem to slow as the temperatures drop. Though it's the season of school and work, extra activities and projects, and settling back into a daily routine, I feel like we take more time to enjoy simpler things, like a bowl of hot soup or the warmth of a roaring fireplace. In the winter, we hibernate. In the spring, our spirits awaken from our long, sleepy nap. In summer, we rush to fit in as much as we can while the weather is warm and the sun is bright.

In fall, we calm down and stretch our limbs. We yawn, but we're not yet ready for a long winter's sleep. We just want a few more minutes observing the changing of the trees, enjoying the steam from a mug of hot cider, before we slip on our pajamas and climb into bed.

Fall flavors, to me, are simply the most comforting flavors of the year—rich pumpkin, spicy cinnamon, ripe apples, warm cider, fresh squash, hints of nutmeg, and large mugs of hot cocoa. The aromas alone are enough to send me to my happy place; a single bite will send me to my heaven.

And I think, if you had a spoonful of this granola, you would know exactly what I mean.

This Pumpkin Granola embraces fall and all its flavors. This granola is fall. Stuffed with feel good healthy foods like dried cranberries, raisins, coconut flakes, almonds, and pumpkin seeds, this granola is sure to please any season-ready palate. My favorite part of this granola is that is does not have butter or oil to hold it together—the pumpkin does that for you. Sweetened with hints of maple syrup and brown sugar, this granola holds the perfect texture. Make this to celebrate the arrival of fall. Make it so you can remember all the reasons why you love autumn.

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