Zavala family [Wenatchee photography]

Sweet, sweet family. We found a cool little spot that was right off the highway, but completely private because of a huge swath of greenery. There was an abandoned fruit stand and rocks for eager boys to hunt and toss and examine; rock piles and gnarled, old twisted trees. I love getting to explore a tiny little slice of nature that I wouldn't have taken the time to find otherwise if not for trying to keep sessions fresh and new.

Bananas foster oatmeal [Wenatchee food photography]

A few weeks ago I found the most amazing sounding recipe combining my favorite dessert, Bananas foster, and one of my favorite breakfasts, oatmeal. Now, when I say oatmeal, I mean those instant packets you just add hot water too. I know, so gourmet. But, as I keep saying, I am not a cook. I don't cook, really. But, I do become enamored with certain recipes I find that sound delicious and I imagine will look beautiful when photographed. My real love is the picture of the food, the making it is just a necessary step and the eating a wonderful benefit. Back to this oatmeal. I have never had "old-fashioned" oatmeal. I had to make a special trip to the grocery store for steel-cut oats. I've never heard of steel-cut oats. It is always educational when I decide to make something, this being no exception. Did you know steel-cut oats are lower on the glycemic index than rolled oats, making them cause less of a spike to insulin levels when eaten? Now we do.

And I always seem to have bananas on hand that are past their peel-and-eat prime (at least according to my kids who think more than about three tiny brown spots means they're rotten.) This recipe is a delicious way to use them without having to make another loaf of banana bread (although I always welcome banana bread!) I made a small tweak to the original recipe to better suit the pan I had to caramelize the bananas in and I also switched from the original walnuts to pecans (pecans are my favorite and I think they're best with bananas. Plus, I'm allergic to walnuts.) Definitely check out both versions of the recipe and make the one that sounds best to you. You can't go wrong either way. Recipe below.

Bananas Foster Oatmeal
1/2 cup steel cut oats
2 medium bananas, sliced and divided
1/2 cup water
1 cup + 1/2 cup milk, divided
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Banana-pecan Topping
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 cup rough chopped pecans (I like them larger)
remaining banana slices from above

Oatmeal directions

1. In a small pan, combine oats, 1/3 of the sliced bananas, water, 1 cup milk, salt, and cinnamon; cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until it begins to bubble and thicken.
2. Turn heat down to low and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk and turn heat up to med-high until oatmeal is bubbling again.
4. Turn heat back to low and simmer for 10 more minutes.

Banana-pecan topping directions

1. Combine butter and brown sugar in a small pan over medium heat, stirring until butter and sugar are melted.
2. Add remaining banana slices in an single layer to caramel. Sprinkle pecans between banana slices. Once they start to brown and caramelize, flip the bananas over and cook until both sides are caramelized. Divide into two bowls and top with the bananas.

Chocolate sauce, choc-, choc-, chocolate sauce [Wenatchee food photography]

Chocolate sauce. That simplest of toppings that elevates milk to chocolate milk and ice cream to d-e-double-s-e-r-t. How do you remember the spelling difference between desert and dessert? Dessert has two s's because it's twice as good. Spelling lesson aside, finding yourself out of chocolate sauce is no concern. It's very easy to make. Takes like 6-7 minutes and when you're done there are 2 cool things: 1) it's already warm and 2) you get to eat it. This makes about 3/4 cup and you can store it in the refrigerator. I just use an 8 oz.-sized mason jar. Recipe below.

Chocolate Sauce

1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Combine sugar, cocoa, salt and water in small saucepan and stir. Then add butter and stir constantly as it melts and becomes smooth.
2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.
3. Allow to boil for 1 minute while stirring.
4. Remove from heat, add vanilla and stir.

How cookies kill Glee [Wenatchee photography + design]

I recently saw a recipe online that looked and sounded so interesting I had to stop what I was doing, stand up and go to the store for ingredients right then. I had to start baking them immediately. I ended up being late for the new episode of Glee, (a big no-no in our house,) AND the dishwasher broke while I was making them and STILL I was undeterred. I called hubby in to crawl under the sink and unplug the dishwasher while I continued on intermittently mumbling things like “carrot. cake. cookie...” and “gingerrrrr...” I made those cookies like the wind, toasting and chopping and shredding and hoping, no, knowing, they would be amazing. Unfortunately, our DVR, for the first time EVER, did not record Glee from the beginning. So the whole family, who had patiently waited for me to join them, ALSO missed the first 40 minutes. I feel a little responsible. If I hadn’t been hypnotized by the cookies, we wouldn’t have missed half the show. These are the best cookies I’ve ever made and ever tasted. I love them that much. So much so that a broken two-drawer dishwasher and a missed episode of Glee were totally, completely worth it. (And I can always download the episode from iTunes!) Recipe below.

(I doubled this recipe, so the measurements below reflect that.)
Gingered Carrot Cake Cookies

Makes about 3 dozen cookies using a large (4 tablespoon) cookie scoop.

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups shredded carrots (about 6, peeled and trimmed)
2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
1 cup golden raisins
1 to 1-1/2 cups coarsely chopped, toasted pecans (recipe calls for 1 cup, which I used, but now I wish I’d used more. Toasted pecans are so good.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

1. Put pecans in a single layer on cookie sheet and toast for 8 minutes, stirring half-way through. Leave to cool while continuing with recipe.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, ginger and nutmeg.
3. In large bowl, beat butter on medium speed until creamy and smooth. Add both sugars and beat until light and fluffy, then add eggs and beat until mixed. Reduce mixer speed to low and add vanilla.
4. Add dry ingredient mixture in several batches and beat just until blended into the mix. The dough will be really thick, but don’t overbeat.
5. Rough chop pecans. Mix in carrots, coconut, raisins and pecans by hand.
6. Scoop dough onto cookie sheets about an inch apart. Lightly flatten the top of each cookie.
7. Bake for 16 - 18 minutes, until lightly golden and just firm on top. If you cook two cookie sheets at once, use middle rack and the one below and swap and rotate them halfway through. Carefully transfer to and cool on racks to room temperature. Best stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

(Recipe adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.)

Cookies in the morning and cookies at night [Wenatchee food photography]

Peanut-butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are good for what ails you. The little red book is from the 1930's and is called, simply enough, "20,000 Words." And that's all it is, a list of 20,000 words. Funny enough, there is no word "cookie" inside, it goes straight from "convulsive" to "cooler." I figured photographing the book (open to the right page) with a cookie rectifies the situation. All is fair in love and cookies. Recipe from here (these are oatmeal-only, no flour.)