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I don’t know who is spreading around those nasty rumors about hollandaise sauce but I am here to tell you that they aren’t true! In my opinion hollandaise sauce is one of the easiest and fastest sauces to prepare. It has even become one of my lazy day sauces for times when I don’t feel like putting much effort into cooking. The beauty of hollandaise is that there is basically no guess work involved. The recipe is a fairly specific formula and once you have it down you can do it with your eyes closed. You can buy imitation hollandaise in a packet but the velvety smooth texture and delicate tang of the real thing is more than worth the minuscule effort required to prepare it from scratch. Of course as with just about any recipe there are countless variations, but this is a very basic and absolutely perfect version of this classic sauce. Also, I want to mention that my preparation of hollandaise sauce involves cooking the egg yolk. Some preparations use raw egg yolk. I like to cook the egg yolk because with the method that I use, the resulting sauce is thicker than if made with raw egg yolks. I am comfortable with consuming raw eggs but I understand why people may have an aversion to it. So rejoice! If raw eggs aren’t your thing than you can still make fresh hollandaise using this recipe.

This recipe will yield about 1 cup of hollandaise sauce.

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Banana bread was the first quick bread that I ever tried to bake (back in ’09). In fact the image here is of that very first loaf. Beautiful isn’t it? Whether you are making your first quick bread or you are an experienced baker this banana bread recipe will make you very happy. Quick breads that include fruit (especially bananas) are some of the easiest baked items to make. They give the recipe an incredible amount of slack because the fruit behaves like a sort of glue that simply holds together whatever else you throw at it. Therefor if this or that ingredient isn’t measured exactly, it probably wont make much of a difference. So if you are new to the world of baking, banana bread is a perfect place to start. All that aside I want to stress that this recipe just happens to produce the BEST banana bread that I have ever tasted. I never really had a thing for banana bread until I started making it. Now, when I get into the mood to make something sweet this is one of the first things that pop into my head. It is so moist and fresh tasting. It’s impossible to describe. You’ll just have to make it to understand!

This recipe makes one 8×4 inch loaf that will provide around 8 to 10 servings. Now, though the recipe specifies an 8×4 loaf pan you may choose to bake it in a round or square cake pan, different sized loaf pans or some other form. This is perfectly ok, only you will have to monitor the bread’s doneness as the size and shape of the pan will affect cooking time.

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Iced tea is such a light and refreshing beverage it amazes me that so few people know about it. I spent my young childhood in the south of the USA where it was usually referred to as “sweet tea” and generally contained a bit more sugar than other versions of iced tea. After living in the North East of the United States for most of my life I became accustomed to referring to it as “iced tea” and usually having the option between unsweetened and sweetened. Now that I live in Canada, while it is not completely unheard of, I am surprised to find it fairly difficult to find in any form other than super sweet bottled varieties. It is not common in restaurants and is rarely prepared and served in homes. Some people who I have met here have never even heard of iced tea. This is surprising to me since it is so easy to prepare, as well as being a very low cost and healthy alternative to soft drinks. I’ve even managed to wean my caffeine addicted husband off of daily Dr Pepper consumption by replacing it with iced tea. Being tea, it contains enough caffeine to satisfy that desire, and is refreshing while not being made mostly of sugar like most sodas and juices.

If you are someone who buys iced tea mixes then I urge you to reconsider this behavior. Making fresh iced tea is not difficult or time consuming and the end result is more delicious and good for you! Also by making it yourself you have control over the amount of sugar you consume.

This recipe yields two liters (quarts) of iced tea. (about 6 servings)