Frosted banana bars

Recently I made these frosted banana bars--delicious! This is another great treat (see yesterday's post about the funky monkey) to make if you have overripe bananas on hand, or if you simply feel like smashing bananas.

The original recipe is from the June/July 2000 issue of Taste of Home. If you don't have a subscription to that magazine, I highly recommend it and enthusiastically encourage you to do so. Taste of Home is chock-full of yummy recipes that are easy, delicious, and can usually be made with the current contents of your pantry/fridge.

While the recipe is intended as a potluck offering (made in a 15x10x1 baking sheet), I modified it a bit more for my purposes. To make a regular dessert, put the batter into a regular 13x9 cake pan and it comes out beautifully as a moist banana cake. Just be sure to increase the baking time by 5-10 minutes.

The cream cheese frosting is delicious, but you'll need to decrease the amount if you're make this as a cake and not as bars. Simply halve the frosting ingredients, and you'll be fine.

You can even skip the frosting all together and bake this as a pseudo banana bread. It's a versatile recipe.

Make this tonight--you won't be sorry. You'll be full from the banana-y goodness, but not sorry. Of course, if you eat this banana cake and top it off with a funky monkey, then you might go bananas from all the banana-y goodness. And I just can't be held responsible for that.

Get it? Go bananas? That's quality material, folks!

Sigh.

Time to work on my TMI disclaimer...for the banana-y goodness, and the puns.

Funky monkey

Ah, the funky monkey. This phrase can mean many things to many people, but at TMI, a funky monkey is a seriously tasty adult beverage.

TMI Fun Fact: the funky monkey is one of my all-time favorite Top 5 Things to Make In a Blender. Why? Because it combines two of my favorite things: fruit and alcohol. Wasn't that fun?

The hubs and I first discovered this drink on a cruise several years ago. It was love at first sip, and it was the only beverage we had for the duration of the trip. Which might explain why we own 28 of those ridiculous plastic souvenir glasses. The recipe has evolved a bit since that first taste, but what we've ended up with is a true winner:

First, plop some plain old vanilla ice cream in the blender. Next, add two very ripe bananas.

Pour in approximately one cup of Bailey's Irish Cream. You can also add a shot of Amaretto, but that's entirely optional.

Blend. Blend well. You want the texture to be smooth and velvety. Mmmmmmmm.

Pour into the ridiculous souvenir glasses, and enjoy your funky monkey.

Martha Monday!

Imagine a place of learning, a place where Martha--the domestic goddess herself--is your instructor for all things wedding, entertaining, cooking, crafting and more. Imagine professor Martha at your fingertips, so that you can be instructed and inspired by her any time you like.

Interested? No, my dears, this is not some imaginary place in my TMI-Martha-obsessed noggin.' It's Martha University!

For a fee, you can download tutorials taught by Martha herself. Learn how to create the perfect wedding cake, organize your closet, renovate an old house, and more. Prices start at $5.95, and each download ranges from 45-75 minutes in length. You can play the downloads on a computer, on your iPod, other media devices, or burn them to a DVR.

Need inspiration for a summer soiree? Check out "Secrets of Entertaining: Antipasto Party" from the Martha Stewart Classics collection.

Need ideas to keep the kids entertained this summer? Then "Summer Crafts for Kids" is the download for you.

Since I am the Midwest version of Martha herself, I haven't enrolled in Martha University. That's right folks, I have "being Martha" down to a science.

Organized home? Check!

(Just don't look in the pantry)

Tasteful crafts? Check!

(No matter that all my Father's Day cards were store-bought)

Delicious meals? Check!

(Hamburger Helper counts, right?)

Yes sirree, I am all about being the Midwest Martha Stewart. You can hardly tell us apart, right? Right?!? Like I said, I've got this "being Martha" thing down to a science. Really.

Subdivision-wide yard sale

For those of you in Aurora and the western suburbs, the Lindens is having a subdivision-wide yard sale this coming weekend. Woohoo!

DATES: Friday, June 19; Saturday, June 20; and Sunday, June 21

TIME: 8am to 3pm

LOCATION: The Lindens subdivision is just west of Orchard Road, between Prairie Avenue and Jericho Road. You can access the subdivision from Orchard Road (southbound lanes only) and Jericho Road (both directions).

View the area map.

I'll be shopping with My Big Martha all day Saturday, so look for the two crazy ladies snapping up kids' clothes and bickering over who gets the antique chair with the toile print. Which would look fabulous in my guest room, by the way.

No matter where you are, I urge you to strike out on your own this weekend and find some rummage sales. You never know what treasures you might find. Like an antique chair covered in toile print, for example.

Farmer's market quiz

The great folks at MarthaStewart.com have developed a quiz for us: Do you know how to shop a farmer's market?

Here are the rest of my photos from Tuesday's trip to the MCA farmer's market. Being among all the fresh produce makes me want to give up my city job, move out to the country and be a farmer. Almost.

Happy Friday!