Banana Cream Dessert

Doesn't this dessert look like spring? I think it tastes like the freshness of spring, as well. I made it again this past week, this time for our CityGroup (small group within Citylight Midtown) that we hosted over the weekend.

I have been making this recipe for years, after discovering it in a "Quick Cooking" magazine over twenty years ago! And it has remained in my collection of "favorites" since then. I have even used it as a special birthday dessert for family birthdays in the past. 

It's delicious, refreshing, beautiful ... and also very easy to make! No baking, or cooking; just assembling of different layers of goodness: a graham cracker crust, vanilla pudding, sliced bananas, crushed pineapple, and topped off with a carton of whipped topping. I also like to sprinkle some chopped pecans on top. It can't get much easier than that.

You can click here to see the recipe on the Taste of Home website, and to print it out, if you wish.

 Banana Cream Dessert

3 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 48 squares)

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

3 1/2 cups cold milk

2 pkgs (3.4 ounces each) instant vanilla pudding mix

5 medium firm bananas, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2 inch slices

1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained well

1 carton (20 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed 

         (16 ounces fills up my 13x9 pan quite full)

1/3 cup chopped pecans, optional

Combine cracker crumbs and butter. 

Press into an ungreased 13x9 inch dish.

 

In a mixing bowl, beat milk and pudding mix on low speed for 2 minutes. 

Pour over crust; top with bananas and pineapple. 

Spread with whipped topping (dish will be full). 

Sprinkle with pecans, if desired. 

Chill for at least 4 hours before cutting. 

Yield:  about 15 servings

Hope you enjoy this refreshing spring dessert! 

NOTE: This is an updated version of my original post back in June 2011. Click here to see the original.

From My Life and Journal: The First Week of March

 

A highlight from this past week was starting the book Loved to Life: "A 40-Day Pilgrimage with Love Himself that Will Change Your Life" - by Ann Voskamp. 

Maybe you are reading another of the many devotionals that are available to read leading up to Easter, but if you don't have one, maybe there's still time to purchase this one? I highly recommend it. I also love the extra (free) print-outs and images that are available. The image to the left was from the Day 4 reading. Each year, no matter how long we may live, we can be filled to overflowing with His Love. Though we are but dust, He came to us, died for us, so we can live in this love, day-by-day, moment-by-moment.

Another highlight from this past week ...

When the calendar page turns to "March", it is time for me to begin packing up the winter decor items in our home, and pulling out some of our spring decor items. Though spring has not officially arrived yet, in my heart and mind, it begins March 1st! I love multiple things about each of the four seasons, but my favorites are SPRING and AUTUMN. I like to keep our decor simple each season, just adding a bit here and there, to accentuate the views of God's seasonal handiwork that we see out our big windows in our living room, and other rooms on the main level in our home. So much beauty every season!

My weekly rhythm of sourdough baking ...

This is something I look forward to each week as it is relaxing for me to do, and also provides us with such healthy, delicious bread. I have no desire to purchase bread in the stores, and haven't needed to do so for quite awhile.

This week I made two different types of loaves ... the Basic Artisan Sourdough Bread (on the left), recipe from Second Rise Sourdough, and the Classic Sourdough  Bread (on the right), recipe from @everything,sourdough, both on Instagram.

Recently I purchased a new "bread lame", used to make the artistic design on the artisan-style loaves. I am still learning, but was pleased with my first try with the new bread lame. Another reason I love sourdough baking, is that it gives opportunity to be creative in making beautiful bread, in addition to having the more nutritious bread that sourdough provides.

And from my Devo Journal ...

Do you love to journal, as I do? (Made even more fun when used alongside a cute coffee mug, this one from one of our granddaughters!) There are many types of journaling, and the same type is not the best choice for everyone. For me, my journal is written as a daily prayer, or even at times, a moment-by-moment prayer. A collection of my gratitude to God for His daily care and His many blessings, and a place where I call out to Him for help. It's also a place where I write out word-for-word from His Word - writing the promises and the words of truth that impact my heart deeply day-by-day. It's how I let these truths settle deep into my heart. 

Here are a few of those words of truth in my journal this past week:

Be gracious to me, Lord,

for I call to You all day long.

Bring joy to Your servant's life,

because I appeal to You, Lord.

For You, Lord, are kind and ready to forgive,

abounding in faithful love

 to all who call on You.

(Psalm 86:3-6 CSB)

It is really so simple, but we often make it so difficult.  For it is true that at any time during our day, especially when we are feeling in need, or feeling weak or discouraged, that all we need do is turn our gaze from our problem, to the One who is abounding in faithful love. It takes a turning of where we look. Wherever we are, at home, at our job, or in the midst of a great trial, it takes a turning of our gaze. A lifting of our eyes and our hearts to God.

When we can't lift the weight of our broken hearts, the weight of our burdens, the weight of being us, all there is to do is lift our eyes ... to the Lamb of God. Focusing the eyes is always a matter of how we focus the heart. Where the eyes are fixed, so the heart is. Where you look is where you love. (Quote from Loved to Life by Ann Voskamp)

 

A February Collection: Extreme Cold Weather, Sourdough Baking, and Good Books

We're finishing up an extremely cold week, filled with minus zero temps, and down to minus thirty with the windchill. The photo above was taken yesterday morning, as we were coming off the warnings and advisories. The view is out my kitchen window of the icicles, capturing the beauty before it has started to melt today. 

I'm definitely a "homebody" by nature, loving the quiet days at home. Both my dear hubby and I never tire of these quiet days, and have unending projects and things that we love to do at home. So these "snow days" and warnings to stay out of the extreme cold weather did not bother us at all. One of the blessings of retirement!

I love that sourdough baking has become to feel more like a hobby, than a task. We never need to buy bread from the stores anymore, for this weekly routine brings so much joy. The whole process of baking with sourdough - the feeding of the starter, mixing of the dough, the bulk rising, the shaping, the second rising, and then the actual baking of the bread - has all become a natural routine for me each week. And I am also loving using my Bakehouse Doughmat (12" by 18" size) that was a fun birthday gift last fall. It sure helps with the rising of dough these cold winter months!

Though I've been sourdough baking since the fall of 2023, I've been focusing on learning even more these first two months of 2025. There is so much to learn! Part of my learning recently has been to use different ratios of starter, flour, and water, depending on the temperature of my kitchen, and making it work better with my daily routine. I've also been finding some new-to-me sourdough bakers on Instagram, and getting tips from them. One of my new favorites is Second Rise Sourdough on Instagram, which is where I found the recipe for the Basic Artisan Sourdough Bread, pictured above.

One of the great benefits of needing to just stay home this past week, is that I ended up having time each day to work for hours with Estate work for my brother who passed away in December. As he was cared for nearby for the last two years of his life, I've recently been appointed as the Personal Representative for his Estate. It was a blessing to have this week to make a lot of progress. I am grateful for God's care and wisdom as we continue on caring for Loren's affairs. Our dining room table has been literally covered with papers this past week, with Estate work, plus prep for our tax appt this next week. And mixing in the delicious and comforting aroma of sourdough bread makes it go even better!

Good books are such a rich source of joy and learning. I just finished this book earlier today ... Now and Not Yet by Ruth Chou Simons. Her books are always encouraging and motivating, and this newest one did not disappoint. I'm thankful for her reminders and encouragement to embrace our present, our current circumstances, to actively settle in, abiding deeply, and thriving in whatever situation we find ourselves in. And also to embrace even the hard seasons, for God is using them to refine and mature us. 

One of the two historical fiction books I read this month was The Rose and the Thistle by Laura Frantz, one of my favorite historical fiction authors. Set in the time of the Jacobite Rebellion in England, it gave a captivating and insightful look into that time period. I love how she uses rich fictional characters to immerse us into the historical setting. 

Starting Out the Year with Good Books

It has been extra quiet here on my blog for a few months, but with much going on in real life. We had a wonderful visit from my older siblings (who live a distance away) in the fall, followed by the passing away of our youngest brother the first week of December. Loren suffered from Parkinson's for many years, and we were privileged to have him being cared for nearby in Omaha for the last two years of his life. Close by, where we could have weekly input into his life and care.

Christmas season was a mix of the joy of being with our three daughters and their families who live here in Nebraska (missing others who live a distance away), and also the grieving of our loss. 

The first half of January 2025 has started out with both my husband and I fighting off some bad colds and coughs. Maybe made worse by our exhaustion emotionally and physically. So this New Year has started out extra slow for us.

I love how God cares for us (and for you) in the midst of real life - in the midst of joy and also when in the midst of grieving. 

One of the evidences of His comfort and care comes through filling our minds with His Truth, and also in giving us good books to relax with.

Starting Out the Year with Good Books

On my pile at the start of January:

My (in)Courage Devotional Bible 

I love this CSB Bible - the design, the translation, and the space for a bit of journaling. Though I am reading chronologically through the Bible using the sequence from the Chronological Life Application Study Bible, I often read the passages directly from my Devotional Bible, as well. As of January 1st, reading chronologically, I was up to the Acts 15 reading. 

My husband and I love to have a devotional that we read together in the evenings. Last year we read through New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp - so very good! And this year, we are reading through Grace & Glory by Louis Giglio, also so very good.

For relaxation, I usually have a historical fiction book on my reading pile. My first book of the year, which I completed a few days ago, is A Bound Heart, by Laura Frantz, at the top of my growing list of favorite authors! Set in the mid-1700's, I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

And last but not least, is my current inspirational/learning book ... Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton. Such an encouraging, insightful book on prayer. A good focus to start the New Year out with. 

I just love this quote from the first chapter of the book. We often try to make prayer so complicated, and something that we need "to do". And this may be the faulty thinking that keeps us from what prayer really is meant to be. I love how the author explains so clearly what prayer is at its core. The reason why Jesus Himself pulled away to just "be with the Father". And the reason why we are drawn to the same. Such a priceless joy and privilege!

What is on your book pile at the beginning of 2025? I love to get ideas from others on "Good Reads", as well, especially from some of our daughters who also love to read. Last year I read a total of 29 books, and have set my goal a bit higher this coming year! So much learning and joy from good books!