marnie's Page

I have dead bananas -- and fruit flies. Here's a recipe I'll be trying tonight.

Ingredients
Unsalted butter for pan
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose
flour plus more for pan
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups coarsely mashed very ripe bananas (3 large)
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
1/4 cup boiling water
D… Continue

My daughter wanted a sleepover for her birthday, but living in a one-story brick ranch meant that wasn't going to happen with a bunch of little girls.
So we tried one friend Saturday night - post birthday.
Lunch at Creamland, a day at the pool, hot dogs for dinner and then into pjs. And then I asked dd to explain the 9 o'clock rule, which means is if you are going to bail out on a sleepover, you have to do it by 9 p.m.
We learned this the hard way. We've had friends try to bail at 11 p.m., which… Continue

This is not going to win any culinary awards, but it will be a winner with your kids.

Fish sticks, preferably the battered kind instead of breaded (but whatever you have on hand)
Salsa
Coleslaw
Taco mixture packet
Sliced avocado (optional)
Flour tortillas

Cook fish sticks according to directions. In the meantime, warm up tortillas.
Add a tablespoon of taco seasoning to coleslaw. Or just mix a little mayo with the taco seasoning and substitute chopped lettuce if your child doesn't like coleslaw… Continue

We had a treasure-hunt themed birthday party this weekend -- great way to keep kids occupied. The girls were skeptical at first, until they got competitive about who was going to find the next treasure.
A trip to the dollar store gave me enough loot to fill treasure for each stop (markers, chalk, notebooks) and fill the treasure chest for our final stop at the beach.
Just make sure you have enough stops for each kid to pick up a clue for the next location - birthday girl gets the final clue to f… Continue

Who your kindergarten teacher is turns out to be just as important as every mom knows in her gut.

While Pennsylvania doesn't require kindergarten, and even 10 years ago certain principals were insisting that moms were using kindergarten as taxpayer-paid daycare, turns out that kindergarten is pretty important.

A recent study, which hasn't been peer reviewed yet, suggests that your child's kindergarten teacher influences whether she goes to college. And going to college will influence h… Continue