Banana slices with butter and almond cream // Fatias de banana com creme de manteiga e amêndoa

It's Friday and all I can think of is Why am I always so busy on my day off? I had to spend the morning in 3 banks signing a few documents and changing my address, in the shopping centre taking photos and then rushing to change the address in my driver's license, in the supermarket buying a few things for my mom's birthday party tomorrow, in 3 stores buying my mom's presents (and one for myself - sorry, couldn't resist), in the kitchen baking a cake and preparing a few boxes of chocolates for tomorrow... I was rushing and researching for a banana curry with almond rice recipe and decided I couldn't resist any longer, so I did HALF a version of it: Banana slices with a butter and almond cream. Ingredients: 1 banana 40g sugar 50g butter 2 tablespoons milk 50g sliced almonds Heat the sugar, butter and milk in a saucepan. Add the almond. When its texture becomes creamy, slice a banana, put it on a nice bowl and pour the warm cream over it. I think this would be great with a spoonful of a lemony rice pudding. Do you have any more-tart-less-sweet recipes?

É sexta e só consigo pensar em Como é que estou sempre ocupada no meu dia livre? Tive de passar a manhã em 3 bancos a assinar alguns documentos e a mudar a minha morada, no shopping a tirar fotos e a correr para ir mudar a morada na minha carta de condução, no supermercado a comprar algumas coisas para a festa de anos da minha mãe amanhã, em 3 lojas a comprar os presentes para a minha mãe (e um para mim - desculpem, não resisti), na cozinha a fazer um bolo e a preparar algumas caixas de chocolates para amanhã... Estava a correr e a pesquisar para um caril de banana com arroz de amêndoas e decidi que não conseguia resistir mais, por isso fiz MEIA versão dele: Fatias de banana com creme de manteiga e amêndoa. Ingredientes: 1 banana 40g açúcar 50g manteiga 2 colheres de sopa leite 50g amêndoa laminada Aqueçam o açúcar, a manteiga e o leite numa caçarola. Juntem a amêndoa. Quando a textura ficar cremosa, cortem uma banana às fatias, coloquem-na numa taça gira e deitem o creme morno por cima. Acho que ficava mesmo bem com uma colherada de arroz doce alimonado. Têm alguma receita menos doce e mais ácida?

Banana-milkshaking off bad vibes

This is my last Sunday before work starts again. And no, this is not a post about how these holidays will be missed: I'm one of those who love my job and couldn't wait to get back [of course: weekends of 3 to 4 days would be greatly appreciated, but I guess that's asking for too much, isn't it?]. 

But I'm half-expecting the first conversations to be something like "Oh... I was so well in bed... I wish I were still on holidays...". From me, all everyone is getting is "I MISSED YOU SO MUCH." From the heart.

... or maybe this is just because I spent the whole afternoon ironing. So after I was done I felt I needed something refreshing and sweet at the same time to compensate for the things-I-can't-escape-from time. As some of you might have noticed, my tag menu on the sidebar is rather loooong. But it does fit a purpose. One of my biggest mistakes is the way I manage the ingredients I buy: sometimes I end up not using half of the items I have before time has a "not suitable for use anymore" effect on them. So I often google for recipes that might help me use up those ingredients. Today I had a couple of bananas that were too ripe for my liking. Perfect timing! I gave half of one (in small portions) to my dog as a treat [saw it in Dog Whisperer - love the show - and I don't know why I hadn't come up with that one before] and used the other one and a half to make a classic banana milkshake.

Simply pour 6 ice cubes, 2 cups of milk, 1 or 2 bananas, and 1/4 cup of sugar (I used a lot less - 3 tablespoons - because the bananas, being so ripe, were sweet enough) into a blender.

Mix for 20 seconds and pour in a glass. 

You can have some fun decorating it as well. I used some mint leaves today.

Enjoy!