While I'm gathering my thoughts and memories of Paris, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite photos and moments from our time there. It's altogether the most picturesque, romantic, and lovely place I've ever visited. Hope you enjoy the sights + memories.
xo, E
You know what I mean... you were at the grocery store and decided to buy bananas. But you don't really like bananas that much. So they end up sitting there for a week (or two or three...) and they start to get too gross, even for a smoothie.
But the best thing about almost-rotten bananas is that they're great to bake with. My mom used to make this DELICIOUS banana bread on those rotten banana days, and I remember the smell of fresh baked bread filling the house.
Banana bread is really good the first day when it comes out of the oven warm, but its REALLY GREAT for the next several days when you cut yourself a slice or two, spread a little butter on it and throw it in the toaster oven.
and a dear friend of mine just did me a huge favor, so I was thinking about writing her a thank you card. But what's better than a thank you card?
A thank you card and banana bread.
I used a recipe for "Whole Wheat Banana Walnut Bread" in the Williams-Sonoma "Cooking At Home" book. It called for whole wheat flour and walnuts, but I (obviously) substituted chocolate chips for the nuts. I also decided to try out a local flour that I found at the Farmers market. If you frequent the farmers market you may find that there are some really cool vendors there that you never noticed before. It happened to me last time, and I've got to say that using the fresh, local flour made the whole baking experience a little more fun.
( M A K E S 1 L O A F )
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick of butter
1 cup sugar
2 mashed, very ripe bananas
2 eggs
1/2 cup chocolate chips
COMBINE flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl
WHIP the butter (room temperature) and the sugar in an electric mixer
BEAT in the eggs and the banana until completely mixed. It’s ok if it’s lumpy.
STIR in the chocolate chips, then the flour mixture until just combined
POUR into greased loaf pan + BAKE for 1 hour at 350 degrees
When I took the loaf out of the oven I put it straight onto a cooling rack. When it felt cool enough to touch I wrapped it in clear plastic wrap and cut a piece of butcher paper to wrap around the middle. I wrote a little note on it for my friend, but if you're interested in sharing the recipe click HERE for a printable version that you can hole-punch and tie onto your loaf.
I hope you enjoy your baking day!
xo, EM