Forget wine, bring your hostess a banana cream pie

There’s nothing quite like receiving a nice bottle of wine when hosting a party. The go-to gift leaves little room for complaint and offers a lasting impression.

But no mater how appreciative your gracious hostess might seem when receiving the bottle, she’s likely more bored than anything over your predictablity: Seriously? I slaved over a hot oven for something that took you two minutes to pick out?

You can easily turn those two minutes into a far more thoughtful hostess gift with Fulton’s On The River banana cream pies to-go. The made-to-order dessert is a creamy confection of banana filling in a flaky peanut butter crust, topped with caramel sauce and caramelized bananas. Each pie serves 10 and comes with an attached recipe card from Executive Chef Scot Wegener, so your hostess can give it a whirl when she’s not so strapped for time. And at $25 per pie, you can still bring that bottle of wine.

This article was first published on Examiner.com
Photo: Fulton's banana cream pie, courtesy of XA

Chicago barista gets crafty in the kitchen

"Homemade banana-nut bread, just $3 a slice," barista Heidi Houchen announced as she carried out a baking pan, straight from Cafe Avanti's oven. The buttery aroma was enough allure in itself, but I knew I'd be safe from the gluten-heavy temptation, so long as I didn't get a good look (out of sight, out of mind-- right?).

And then Houchen walked over with a fork, "would you like to try some homemade banana-nut bread?" she asked, "we've got a little slice up at the counter." her killer smile was a bit more than I could take. And because it's about as hard for me to resist the persuasion of a pretty girl, as it is to say no to a well-made pastry, I nodded and took the fork. With a guilt-ridden gut, I made my way toward the best banana-nut bread I've had since living back home, where my own mother used to bake her own from-scratch-recipe in old coffee canisters.

A few bites, I asked Houchen about the bread and she informed me that the sweet treat has some serious family history. She went on to talk about growing up on a dairy farm in Iowa, where her mornings were spent churning butter and milking cows. "The banana-nut bread is an old Johanningmeier (Houchen's maiden name) favorite," she said. "When I called my mom for the recipe this morning, she was actually out milking the calves."

I made sure to let Houchen know that she'd foiled my gluten-free diet, to which she later replied, "you sure you don't want some more?"

This article was first published on Examiner.com