Winter Pomegranate Salad

It's the end of pomegranate season and boy am I glad I did not miss it entirely. I stopped by the local San Jacinto Farms fruit and vegetable stand and picked up a few very ripe end of the season pomegranates. As dried up as they looked on the outside, the inside could not have been more beautiful with plump red seeds that were much more sweet and didn't have a bitter after taste that you can get with pomegranates that have not ripened enough. 

It's About to Get Nutty

As soon as Halloween ended this year, LA's KOST 103.5 started early on their glorious 2 month stint of Christmas songs on the radio--something I look forward to every year. Prancing around the hospital with Christmas jingles in my head gives me a major itch for holiday baking. To me, turning on the oven is like a cozy blanket filling the house with warm aromas of baked goods and sprinkling a bit of holiday cheer on everybody. While russian tea cakes are one of the classic Christmas go-to cookies I make, banana nut bread probably ties for first in the baked goods category. My aunt, without fail, will ask me for this recipe in addition to her own loaf every single year at our family Christmas gathering (I have no idea what she does with the recipe). Fluffy yet moist, and loaded with chocolate chips and walnuts galore, this banana bread is definitely a family favorite.  Now the only thing left is to decorate the house!