Sweet Melissa Sunday was a decadent, sweet, and filling breakfast selection. Sauteed bananas dripping with a golden caramel sauce, served over Belgian waffles with a crispy exterior and light inner perfection. Lauren of Fried Pickles and Ice Cream chose Raised Waffles with Warm Brown Sugar Bananas (found on Lauren's blog or purchase the SMS baking book) and I could not be happier.
Banana pancakes are a favorite personal treat and yet rarely made. The pancake generally lacks in flavor and character. The SMS recipe using a heavy fruit, oily by nature (usually causing a heavy and oily end product) were nothing but perfection for an abundance of banana flavor, texture, and lightness. Making the batter the night before created a morning of ease and the kitchen promptly filled with the aroma of waffles baking and fresh coffee brewing. What a great Sunday breakfast!
Grating nutmeg could not be easier, adding wonderful flavor unmatched with store purchased, grated nutmeg.
I was curious if the yeast dough prepared and set out overnight would taste anything like sourdough. The end flavor did not hold a strong yeast taste nor were the waffles dense. Light and fluffy with a mild flavor (great as a base for any topping) is the best description I can give at this moment.
Caramel sauces are generally a breeze to make but adding rum can give any cook a "start" in the kitchen. Nothing like a lot of action and flames to replace the need of caffeine in the morning. 
The caramel sauce clung nicely to banana slices, creating a decadent and mouth-watering topping.
While the sauce cooled, waffle batter was completed. The Belgian waffle baker will bake a waffle golden brown in about 2 minutes. Thank you Lauren and Melissa ~ a perfect breakfast treat. I felt spoiled sitting down with a warm cup of coffee flavored with a little hazelnut cream and these delicious waffles with the perfect banana topping my taste buds have been looking for.
Added to this recipe is another recipe for entertaining or a light dinner treat: Crostini Caponata. I have been in the process of making 2 Thanksgiving dinners. The first is an all Italian Thanksgiving, prepared and served yesterday. I will list the whole meal in the blog because every aspect of the Italian meal was a first. The dinner consisted of courses served individually before sitting down to a full turkey with side dishes. Wines were selected for each course and the extra preparation added to an excitement of anticipation well worth the effort.
One of the best Thanksgiving dinners I have ever been part of ~ offering an air of competition and comparison for a more traditional Thanksgiving dinner to be served on Thanksgiving.
The recipe is quite simple. You will need:
2 Medium zucchini cut into 1/4" slices.
3 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped.5 Tablespoons Olive Oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 Tablespoon dried Oregano (or more to taste)
To taste: Salt and Freshly ground black Pepper
1 Loaf of Italian Bread, 3/4" thick slices
1 1/2 cups grated Mozzarella cheese (I use fresh Mozzi but the cheese is harder to grate)
Directions:Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. or 220 degrees C.
In a skillet, brown zucchini in oil. Add garlic, stir, and cook 15 seconds. Add tomatoes and seasonings. Cook 5 minutes over medium heat, or until juice from tomatoes has evaporated. Cool caponata before using.
Brush bread with a little olive oil on both sides. Place on middle oven rack, turning once to toast both sides.
Spread with caponata and top with grated Mozzarella. Return to oven until cheese is melted and a light golden brown. Serve immediately.
What a great recipe to share with family. I know we all love to share our baked goodies but, especially during the holidays, sharing the recipe as a Christmas cookie addition to be baked by our Moms, sisters, best friends (works great for best baking buds living in other states or countries) can be just as fun. Having the phone on speaker while baking (I have gotten cookie dough all over the phone before and learned from experience) is the way to go.
I loved the sugar coating. Reminds me of an oatmeal cookie recipe my family does (my Dad's favorite!).
The cookies spread out . . . in fact, the cookies are huge! I took some to work and Huge was the word of choice for everyone taking a cookie.
We have had family here visiting and now it is our turn to take Larry's Mom to his brother's home today, which is a 3 hour drive each way, so I am making this a shorter story then my usual =). 
I want to thank 
Ashley and I were able to squeeze in a little pumpkin carving too.
I know Melissa states to bake her sugar pumpkins at 400 degrees F. for about 1 1/2 hours but I choose to bake my pumpkins at 350 degrees F. for the same 1 1/2 hours.
I usually bake 6 sugar pumpkins for pumpkin pies, cheesecakes, breads, and these cookies. Each pumpkin weighs around 5 to 6 pounds.
Melissa did not mention on p. 197 for fresh pumpkin puree to: Make sure and strain the fresh pumpkin puree after processing in the food processor or blender. Pumpkins contain a 'lot' of water and need straining for several hours.
The finished pumpkin puree is ready to now be used immediately, refrigerated for several days or measured and put into Ziploc bags for the freezer (to be used when you like; already pre-measured).
Looking out my window, all the maple trees look gorgeous with brilliant oranges, reds, yellows, browns, and (because of several blustery windstorms the last several days) slightly bare branches.
Squirrels, chipmunks and cute little birds of various types are having a hay day in the yard looking for seeds. I love baking and watching out the window on the weekends to see all the activity.
Melissa's cookies were fun to make and I always enjoy using a pastry bag with different tips for interesting designs. 
I did have trouble with the baked cookie being a little too moist. I ended up spraying wax paper with a little PAM to keep the tops of the cookies from sticking to the waxed paper while piping on the filling (which I colored orange for Halloween spirit).
As you can see, very cute but extremely moist, which is not a bad thing but I have mine in the refrigerator right now to see if the cookie and the filling stiffen up just enough. I need them to stiffen up so I can share them with all my co-workers tomorrow. Hope they love them as much as I do and thank you Dee for choosing this recipe! You can find the recipe for the cookies at
Bake for 55-60 minutes at 350F (for the healthier version, you may need to bake longer, up to 1 hour and 20 minutes. If you don't want the bread to brown any more, tent some aluminum foil over the top.)
