Bananas and Chocolate Ganache

Yesterday my Dear Husband, 5 Squirts, and I drove two hours to a small town of cute shops, a lake, and a pontoon boat rental. Today I made banana cupcakes with a dark chocolate ganache frosting. The two are connected but like the stars in a consellation the story is not apparent until the lines are drawn.

Dot one - Our mini van seats 8 people except the back belt was cut through six months ago. Long story for another day. There are 7 people in our family. The seat without a belt is the comfy one in the back which means someone has to use the middle back seat, designed for a thin stick midget who likes to sit next to a carseat with a little squirt who likes to poke you.

Dot two - Yesterday, being the sweet mom I am,  volunteered to sit in the dreaded middle back seat for the entire two hours.

Dot three - I never knew that sitting in the back makes you carsick, especially while reading to a little squirt.

Dot four - Days at a quaint little town with a lake are fun, especially when two hours of it are spent on a boat getting wet. Having one set of clothes and no swimsuit does not make for a fun car ride home.

Dot five -  Baby squirt likes to scream for two hours in car rides home when it is way past bedtime and you forgot their nighttime bottle.

Dot six - Our church starts at 9am and when you have squirts who spent the previous day in the lake it means getting up at 7am to bathe them regardless of when you got home.

Dot seven - Our sleep deprived baby squirt will scream for 3 hours of church if not given adequate sleep.

Dot eight - Tired mommies with screaming children deserately need banana cupcakes with chocolate ganache frosting to keep their sanity.

For your days like this I highly recommend the following recipe!!!

Cupcake - (by Wanda Thole from allrecipes.com)
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup ripe bananas (between 2 and 3)
1/4 cup buttermilk (I substituted 1/4 c. milk and 1/2 tsp vinegar)
2 cups flour (with cupcakes I recommend sifting and measuring if your crazy like I am)
1 teaspoon baking powder (Umm, I just realized I forgot this and didn't realize it - still tasted great!)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda (Having mis-read I used 1 tsp of baking soda)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a mixing bowl cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, bananas, and buttermilk. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to banana mixure. Spoon into paper lined muffin tins cups two-thirds full.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 min.

Ganache - (Alton Brown's recipe)
In a food processor add 8 ounces dark chocolate (I used Hersheys) or bittersweet chocolate. Put 8 ounces of heavy whipping cream in microwave for 1 minute. Slowly add cream to chocolate and pulse until creamy. Lick spoon. Either immediately dip cooled cupcake tops in ganache or put ganache in fridge for one hour, rewhip, and frost.