Seven Leaks, but the Food is Good!

 

Would you go to a restaurant with that name? 

I didn't think so...  

Well, Chez Herlihy is just that, and peeling paint, um, I mean, and a bag of chips...  

I found leak #7 this morning....  

Pantry ceiling....  

Not sure if it's from the driving rain this week or our bathroom...  

Tiny drip drip drips fusing my boxes of Jello... 

Oh well, nobody liked the butterscotch flavor anyway...  

Do you live in a money pit?  I do...

in spades....   

The basement project/disaster/financial destroyer is not complete yet 

and now the roof is whining to be replaced.   

At times like this, when the Jello is ruined, 

I have run out of buckets to catch the leaks 

and Jack has just tripped his sister, causing a header on the floor, 

what would you do?  

Option one is the Death's Door Gin staring at me from across the counter... 

Good thing I don't like gin...   

Or bake!  

With three barbecues to attend, I have some serious desserts to concoct...  

What better way to take my mind off Jack's grounding and this very vintage house?  

First on the list was Trisha Yearwood's Key Lime Cake..  

Here's how to make it.....

Next I made Springtime Poke Cupcakes...

Okay, don't laugh at the title...you know who you are.... 

The only undamaged Jello was orange, 

so I went with that, 

found some sugar decorations in the spice cabinet 

and followed this recipe.....

Next on the baking tour was banana bread... 

Apparently bananas are not a hit as a post kid baseball snack... 

I had about two dozen left over and they were a lovely shade of ick this morning... 

Which is perfect for banana bread!  

I made a bunch of small loaves to give as hostess gifts this weekend...  

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 C sugar

1 C butter, room temperature

6 very ripe mashed bananas

4 eggs well beaten

1 T fresh orange juice

2 tsp grated orange zest

2 1/2  C cake flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream sugar and butter until light.  Add bananas, eggs, erange juice, and zest.  Mix well.  Sift together dry ingredients and fold into the banana mixture.  Divide into two greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.  Bake for 45 - 50 minutes, until firm in the middle.  Cool the loaves on wire rack for 1/2 hour before you remove them from pans.  They freeze well.... 

And finally... coconut cake... 

I have been wanting to make this recipe for a while...  

You are supposed to make it a day ahead to let the flavors mingle.  

Here is the recipe:  

We will see how it tastes...

It's cool outside and gloomy, 

but the kitchen is cozy and smells like bananas right now...

Yeah, I could still use a margarita........feel  free to stop by with one... 

I have limes......