After an extended period of absence from the cooking segment of my blog, I am presenting the first recipe from my speciality: baking.

My whole life, I have enjoyed baking - it's meditative. Unlike cooking which requires "timing" and "scurrying", baking is more relaxing even though you have to be more precise with the measurements. You can put things together in a more leisurely way, then sit back & do something else (like, oh, read a good EU book) while you wait for your tasty treat to bake.

After years of holding the title of "designated baker" in my immediate & extended families and amongst all my friends, my father finally divulged the information that my grandfather, his father, was a baker! Who knew?

One thing that I love to do is take established recipes (like those from cookbooks or those my mother has hanging around her kitchen) and tweaking them endlessly until I am satisfied I have come up with something completely "my own." The first recipe I did this with was my mother's banana bread recipe. I believe originally the recipe had come from The Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook (you know, the one with the red checkered cover). Turns out, she made a few changes of her own before I got my hands on it.

So here it is, my first offering from my baking cookbook: Banana Bread. Ok, if it makes you feel better, I'll call it Bantha Bread just so it has a Star Wars twist!!!


Banana Bread

1 3/4 C. flour
2/3 C. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 C. mashed ripe bananas (2-3 medium bananas)
1/3 C. shortening
2 Tbs. milk
2 eggs
brown sugar
cinnamon
uncooked oatmeal
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven 350.

Prepare the loaf pan - grease bottom & sides of pan with butter or shortening. In a separate dish, mix together 3 Tbs. sugar and 1 1/2 Tbs. cinnamon. Sprinkle this mixture into the loaf pan, coating all the sides, bottom, deep into the corners - basically all places that are greased.

1. Combine 1 Cup of the flour, all the sugar, powder, soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.

2. Add banana, shortening and milk; with a hand mixer or countertop awesome piece of Kitchenaid machinery, beat on low until blended then on high for 2 minutes

3. Add eggs & remaining flour, beat until blended.

4. Pour into 8x4x2-inch prepared loaf pan (see above). Sprinkle the top generously with brown sugar, cinnamon and a little bit of uncooked oatmeal.

5. Bake 45-60 minutes. Do not over cook!

*For moist bread: you will notice that you can smell your bread baking when it is almost finished. Use the old toothpick method by sticking a toothpick into the center of the bread to test. Insert the toothpick then remove. If it is clean, your bread is done. Personally... um... I may take the bread out of the oven when the toothpick is very lightly coated. You're not going to eat the bread hot out of the oven (it needs time to rest & set) so that little bit of moisture will turn into banana bread yumminess.

6. Remove hot bread from the loaf pan (gently turn over the pan and tip out the bread) and cool bread on a baking rack for 10 minutes. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.


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