Banana chocolate chip cake

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I started cooking and collecting recipes in 1988, when I graduated from college and moved to New York. Banana bread is one of the first things I learned to bake. I know this because of the writing on the recipe card in my steel box. The box has a lot of yellowed clippings from The New York Times and some index cards with my handwriting.

I remember the blue Flair felt-tip marker I used to write down this banana bread recipe. The marker lived in a can on my desk in my Upper West Side apartment. I remember looking at this recipe card often in my tiny galley kitchen. What I don't remember is where the recipe came from, and it doesn't say on the card. But it's a great recipe, very flexible and forgiving. Over the years I've made changes that stuck - more banana, butter for margarine, yogurt for lemon juice. Now I use this master recipe as a base for muffins, cakes and sometimes even cookies.

Adding chocolate, by the way, was a change I made only after meeting my husband, a confirmed chocoholic. As far as he's concerned, nothing without chocolate qualifies as dessert. He's a wise, wise man.

Banana chocolate chip cake

• 4-5 medium bananas
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 4 cups flour (a combination of white and whole wheat is fine)
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set it aside.

Put the bananas in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and turn it on for about 30 seconds. The paddle will break up the bananas nicely. Stop the mixer and add the butter, yogurt, sugar and eggs; turn it on again and mix until everything is well combined, about 1 minute.

Onto a piece of parchment paper, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Fold up the sides and, with the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients a little at a time, until they are just incorporated. Stop the mixer and remove the bowl from the machine. With a spatula, mix in the wheat germ and chocolate chips. Spread the batter into the prepared baking pan.

Bake about 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean (except for the melted chocolate). Let cool at least 30 minutes before serving. No need to unmold the cake - serve it right from the pan.

A day at the food bank

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Today I'm writing about food from a different point of view.

This morning, instead of working at our computers in our comfortable Santa Monica office, about 40 people from my company descended on MEND, or Meet Each Need with Dignity. MEND, a nonprofit in a rough part of L.A.'s San Fernando Valley, helps people and families in need with clothing, food, medical and dental care, and educational programs.

The bulletin board near MEND's food bank offers nutritional information and healthy recipes

I spent my time in the food bank with a dozen of my coworkers, where we sorted through bags of donated food and gathered the edible stuff into boxes to be given away to MEND clients. MEND volunteers drive trucks around the valley to pick up donations. Sometimes these are packaged foods past their expiration date, or day-old bread. They get a lot of produce, too, much of which, unfortunately, has already turned the corner, and which, even more unfortunately, is generally mixed in with the good stuff. MEND is committed to providing clients with fresh produce whenever it can, so the volunteers spend a lot of time sifting through soft, rotten fruit to find the edible pieces within the piles. It's hard work, not the easiest job for which to recruit volunteers, according to Luke Ippoliti, assistant director of MEND's food bank.

Sorting bread

Food boxes ready for MEND clients

MEND serves both local families and homeless people

MEND gets a lot of donations from local Trader Joe's stores

Bread waiting for a home

MEND's food storage facility is huge - boxes piled up to the ceilings

The federal government supplies some of the canned goods MEND distributes

Filling boxes with cereal, beans, canned vegetables and milk

Food bank assistant director Luke Ippoliti in the volunteer-maintained MEND vegetable garden

Some food goes straight to the dumpster - it's spoiled by the time MEND gets it

Over dinner tonight I tried to tell my kids about the outing to MEND. I think it was hard for them to empathize, which is certainly not their fault. They've never gone hungry. They've never done without. When they want something to eat, I make it or we buy it. We try not to waste food in our house, but sometimes it happens: Bread molds, fruit rots, milk sours. As I was sorting through bags of discarded food today, I realized that my normal "throw it out" standards didn't apply at the food bank. If it wasn't spoiled, it went into someone's box. Because when you're hungry, soft bananas are better than no bananas.

I feel lucky to work for a company that considers it important enough to give back to the world that it's willing to pay a few dozen people to spend a day at a place like MEND. Next time I go, I'm taking my kids.

If you live in Los Angeles, MEND needs your help. November and December, leading up to the holidays, are their busiest time. Contact volunteer services director Lupe Martin, (818) 896-0246 x7327 or lupe@mendpoverty.org. They'll put you to work and use your time well.

Fish curry with kabocha squash

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Green fish curry with kabocha squash

Most of the fish my family eats comes from our local Costco. There is an excellent fish market a few miles away called Santa Monica Seafood, but it moved recently to a new location with inadequate parking, and it's no longer on my way home from work. Unfortunately, that means I rarely get there.

I've been pretty pleased with Costco's selection and quality. They often have wild salmon or steelhead. My husband likes the Dover sole. We also buy the large trays of tilapia filets, which I like because they're versatile. Sometimes I flour and pan-fry them, but because they're firm and meaty, often I include them in a stew or soup, like this green fish curry.

My eight-year-old wouldn't eat it, but I've given up trying to please him. He's going through a picky period and often prefers a bowl of cereal or a toasted cheese sandwich to whatever I've made for dinner. His loss. More for us.

Note: I use a bottled green curry paste I bought at an Indian grocery store. It's different from a thai green curry paste - it's got more fresh herbs (cilantro, mint) and less ginger. I must apologize: I can't remember the brand, threw away the jar and can't find any similar products online to which to link. However, it's relatively easy to make your own - just put cilantro, fresh mint, garlic, ginger, a jalapeno, some olive oil, and lemon or lime juice in the mini-chopper, and that's a pretty good approximation.

Fish curry with kabocha squash

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 1 bell pepper, thinly sliced (any color; I used part red and part orange)
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 cup water
• 3 Tbsp Indian green curry paste
• 1/2 kabocha squash, seeded and diced (leave skin on)
• 2 lbs tilapia filets
• 1/3 cup fresh lime juice (4-5 large limes)
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil, cilantro or mint, or a combination

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and saute 3-4 minutes, until the vegetables are softened. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds, just until you start to smell the garlic. Immediately add the coconut milk, water and curry paste; stir to combine. Add the kabocha squash, bring the mixture to a simmer, and cook covered about 15 minutes, until the squash is tender.

Add the tilapia filets to the liquid, cover, and simmer another 15 minutes, until the fish is tender and flakes easily. Stir in the lime juice and chopped herbs. Serve immediately over rice.

Pumpkin chili recipe

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Pumpkin beef chili keeps you warm all day

Chili is always a hit in our house, and we have several favorite recipes. When I'm feeling ultra-lazy I doctor up the version on the back of the chili spice mix envelope and make "Cheater's Chili." When I'm really lucky (as I was this week), Michael makes a batch of his famous chili bianco, a white chili with chicken and/or pork, white beans, tomatillos and cilantro.

And then sometimes I experiment with variations on the genre, as with this pumpkin chili. When I first made it last year I managed to mistake ground chipotle powder for regular chili powder, and it was delicious but ultra-spicy. This year I got it right. If you prefer chili that takes off the top of your head, feel free to add more spicy stuff.

Notes: This recipe can be made either on the stove or in a slow cooker; I've included instructions for both. If you've made a big pot and are wondering how else to repurpose the leftovers, they're a great addition to a chilaquiles casserole or a simple quesadilla.

Pumpkin chili with beef

• 3 lbs ground beef
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 red bell peppers, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
• 3 cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 4 Tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground chipotle powder (optional)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp salt, or to taste
• tortilla chips and shredded cheese (for garnish)

If you're planning to cook the chili on the stove, start with a large pot. If you're using a slow cooker, start with a large skillet.

In the appropriate vessel, brown the ground beef until no pink remains, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon. Add the onion and bell peppers and saute another 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir briefly.

Slow cooker: Put the beef mixture into the slow cooker along with the pumpkin puree, tomato paste, beans, spices and salt; stir to combine. Cook on low 8 hours or on high 4 hours.

Stovetop: Add the pumpkin puree, tomato paste, beans, spices and salt to the pot; stir to combine. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and simmer covered 2-3 hours. If the chili looks too dry, add a little water.

Serve hot, topped with shredded cheese and crumbled tortilla chips. Makes enough for a very large gathering plus leftovers.

Banana chocolate "milkshake" smoothie with lactose-free Lactaid milk

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Banana chocolate "milkshake" smoothie - 100 percent lactose-free!

We are a smoothie family. More mornings than not, I tell the kids to cover their ears so I can put the little blender on the counter through its paces. It's a great way to get fruit into my kids early in the day (so I can feel less guilty about the cookies they'll likely eat later on).

I know lots of people who slip kale, spinach and other greens into their smoothies. I'm not that evolved. I prefer smoothies that are closer to milkshakes - particularly this guilt-free family favorite, in which frozen bananas combine with deep, dark chocolate. It's healthy enough to serve for breakfast but decadent enough for dessert, and using frozen bananas give it a thick milkshake-like texture. That's my kind of smoothie.

This recipe is my entry into a contest sponsored by Moovision.com to attend the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival, so while you can use any milk you prefer for this smoothie, I've used Lactaid lactose-free cow's milk (I received a free sample to create this recipe). I was lactose intolerant for more than 10 years; amazingly, the condition improved when I was pregnant with my older son. During the years I had trouble with milk products, Lactaid milk got me through my daily coffee and morning cereal. It tastes a little sweeter than regular milk, and that makes it even better in this smoothie. Those who can't drink regular milk still need their calcium and vitamin D, which Lactaid provides - the only thing it's missing is the lactose! Anyone who has trouble digesting regular milk should give Lactaid a try. You'll also want to take a look at Moovision.com, where you can watch Moo News "mockumentaries," play an online game called Moolah!, and enter the Gourmoo Cookoff recipe contest (lots of great prizes!), all while learning more about lactose intolerance.

By the way, it took my son years to catch on to the fact that there wasn't actually any ice cream in this "milkshake." Now that he's in the know, he makes me call it a smoothie. He still likes it just as much, though.

Banana chocolate "milkshake" smoothie with Lactaid lactose-free cow's milk

• 2 medium bananas, frozen, broken into chunks
• 1 1/4 cups Lactaid lactose-free milk
• 2 tsp cocoa powder (the darker the better)
• 1 tsp agave nectar or honey (add more if you like a sweeter smoothie)

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Pour or spoon into a glass (it will be thick). Serve immediately with a straw and a spoon.

Frozen banana chunks

Lactaid milk, ready for the blender

In goes dark, rich cocoa powder

Adding a touch of agave nectar

The finished smoothie - frosty, thick and delicious!