Kate Makes: Her famous Banana Bread

Second post in our Kate Makes series... realizing now both have been doughy and require bananas. Oh well, will mix it up next week! But thought you really all should know about this awesome recipe. 

For the past few years I have been harboring a secret recipe for outstanding banana bread.  It's delicious. It's moist. It's so freakin' easy you wouldn't even believe it!

I am not a baker. Not at all. But this recipe makes me look like Betty Crocker. When I look for a recipe I use google (even though I own a silly amount of beautiful cook books) and my search usually looks something like "easiest recipe for [insert food]" or "simplest recipe for [insert food]". 

That is exactly how I stumbled across the recipe below. Now, before I share the recipe I will give you a few of my very own tips. Use the ripest bananas you can. The shmushier, the better. Also add more bananas than the recipe calls for. And last but not least substitute brown sugar for white sugar and don't be shy with the chocolate chips (or in this case, semi-sweet chocolate chunks!) Ok, go.

Found on: Simply Recipes

Poor Jake. I make him wait for what probably feels like an eternity to eat his banana bread so I can snap the perfect photo. And then I take pictures of him while he is trying to enjoy it. 

Meet: Olive

This is Olive. Olive Elbrick.

She is a poodle. She is stunning. 

She lives on Tiemann and she knows it. 

Her room mates are two of the most beautiful ladies we know.

She likes birdies and bacon that falls from the heavens.

She doesn't make Jake sneeze.

She's just the dreamiest pup.

the end.

drive-by compliment... try it.

Have you ever been walking down the street or riding on the subway when a pair of shoes, or a fabulous bag or someone's beautiful hair catches your eye? No? Yes?

This happens to me constantly. Everyday I encounter fabulous people wearing incredible shoes whipping around Pantene Pro-V hair all of whom are living right here in New York City. So, recently I've started doing something fun... or maybe it's totally bizarre. You decide.

I compliment strangers. It takes only a second.

"Love your shoes!"

"Awesome skirt!"

"You're hair looks gorgeous!"

By the time I've said it, they've usually walked past me. Hence the name, drive-by compliment. I'm thinking it, so why not say it? I like to think that in some little way I make someone's day better. Even if just for a second.

 

Give it a try.

***photo credit from the fantastic Satorialist***

Flashback: November 2008

This morning I was feeling rather reminiscent. And this morning I am glad that back in November 2008 I was such a dedicated blogger. Jake and I had been only dating for about six months. I had bangs. It was Thanksgiving. You can see the whole post here: Maybe We're In Love - and if you're feeling reallly reminiscent you can view the past four years here: Apartment 10... I took a screen shot of the post, it makes me giggle. 

Our first place...

APARTMENT 6E 

Is teeny... approximately 400 square feet. Back in April when we started our apartment hunt we had quite the "must-have" list... it included finding a building with an elevator and laundry, with an on-site super, a dishwasher, good closet space, a true one-bedroom - not a studio, not a junior... on our desired block on the UWS oh - and all within the strict price range we had set for ourselves.

It. Was. Not. Easy. But then we found this place that was literally across the street from our old place. 

And this apartment checked all of our boxes, every single one. It just happened to arrive in a tinier package than earlier anticipated by moi. 

This floor plan is deceiving. It looks giant! I can assure - it's not. But, oddly enough once we started putting our furniture in, it started to look bigger rather than smaller. It remained open and airy wand yet became cozy. The natural light is incredible. Windows in every room flood the space with sunshine all day long. There are three closets, which means... I got a linen closet! Woo! I have to say, I really don't mind sharing this space with my room mate because he's pretty amazing. And the open floor plan allows said room mate to cook up incredible meals while watching TV. He's pumped. 

We've been living here for 2 months. And a lot has been accomplished. I can't wait to share our little love nest with you over the next few weeks. 

I've got Halloween on my mind....

Straying away from apartment decor and wedding to-do's this afternoon...

Even though it's not yet October I am already on the hunt for the perfect, puppy dog costume for the little boy I nanny. I am not a fan of store-bought halloween costumes. I think it has something to do with the shiny fabrics. I always imagine myself dressing my future babes in home-made costumes... the problem is - I don't sew, or knit or crochet. So maybe I will go for the home-made in someone else's home vibe.

Enter: Etsy

Today I stumbled across the most adorable knitted animal hats found at the SweetPeaToad shop. They could be easily be paired with every day clothes to create a toddler's halloween costume and then used for the rest of winter. This Little Lamb hat killed me. The cute factor was just too much to take. I had to share...

And I mean... can it get any cuter?? Little Lion also found on SweetPeaToad



***Also worth noting - Pottery Barn Kids has a brand new line of Halloween Costumes for babies and children. Baby Shark is my favorite. ***

Apartment Tour: Sneak Peak

Over the next few weeks, I will be posting the floor plan and photos of our new teeny-tiny NYC apartment. There is still a lot of reorganizing, reconfiguring, rethinking and re-imagining going on over here, but for now enjoy a few pics I shot last friday while waiting for the pancakes to bubble and turn golden brown.

Kate Makes: Pancakes!

Kate Makes is going to be a weekly series here on little k + little j. Today's post was really just for fun, I made pancakes for the first time in our teeny-tiny kitchen and documented the event. I used bisquick, it was not a big deal. BUT, in the future, I hope having some allegiance to this series and my readers will inspire, or rather - guilt me into trying new recipes and projects that I haven't attempted thus far. Today I will be highlighting some of the fantastic gifts we've received off our wedding registry since there isn't much of a recipe!

Jake is allergic to dairy, I am allergic to soy. So for this particular chocolate chip pancake afternoon delight, I halved the recipe and made half dairy free and half soy free. And that's all there was to it!

The blue ceramic egg crate from Anthropologie (similar found here) was an engagement gift from my sister, it looks equally gorgeous filled with white or brown eggs and it's always my favorite thing in the fridge. West Elm's Owl Measuring Cups make any recipe cute. Crate and Barrel's 5-Piece Parker Nesting Mixing bowls are so pretty that I own two sets. They are great when baking or for filling with treats during a party! 

 Dilemma: no orange juice for a mimosa

Solution: diet snapple peach tea

Creation: White Trash Bellini 

Two parts champagne, one part peach tea and you've got yourself a white trash bellini. (name credit goes to Armand) I was so excited to finally use our Tour Champagne Flutes from Crate and Barrel (You should know later that same evening one was accidentally smashed on our floor, which is why we registered for reasonably priced aka easily replaceable glasses!).

The Griddler by Cuisinart is by far our favorite kitchen appliance on the registry as well as the most used. No burning, no sticking, no smoke and more importantly no smoke alarm piercing through your peaceful afternoon. We make everything from eggs to breaded tilapia to pancakes and panini sandwiches on it! 

voila! let's eat!

my lipstick revelation.

recently I've been asked about what I wear on my lips.

I used to only wear lip gloss.

Religiously I collected dozens of tubes, wands, sticks and pots of it. 

I had every color imaginable - pinks, reds, oranges, corals... you get the point.

It was shiny.

It was shimmery.

It was seductive.

It also never stayed on!

The moment I walked outside it would get stuck in my hair. Every. Time. Gluing itself to my lip like a bizarre misplaced mustache. I'd get it on the collars of my coats, my sleeves and the random scarf that dared blow in the wind. Forget kissing, that was not even an option, with gloss on. I'd leave sparkly lip marks on coffee mugs all across the city. And if one more person told me I had "just a little something on [my] teeth" I was going to scream.

Fed up with my lip gloss woes, I decided to leave it behind me.

I converted. 

Now I only wear lipstick or a Nars lip crayon.

I am so grown up.

In the picture above I am wearing the Bobbi Brown lipstick "Pink" I bought in East Hampton at White's - a pharmacy that could rob you of your weekly nanny-ing wages in the amount of time it took the Hampton Jitney to arrive from Amagansett.

**I wore Nars lip crayon in Cruella for my sister's 21st birthday party...**