It's Aliiiivveee

Random story:
 
There is one big difference between the Hermana and I that I haven't discussed yet.

Cooking and baking.

I, the responsible motherly angel child, love to cook and bake and take on motherly responsibilities whilst the Madre is at work.

Reibs? Not so much.....cleaning dishes isn't exactly her forte.

So Madre called yesterday to have one of us help start prepping for dinner, Rebekah (somewhat uncharacteristically) volunteered to saute the onions and bell pepper, because I was in the middle of getting ready.

Well well well.

I decided I should probably go check on her to see if she hadn't, um, burnt anything down, and this is what I was greeted with.

(Note: Picture does not do justice to the mess and microscopic bits/large chunks of onion in the bowl.)

"Jessica. Jessica. Jessica!! My eyes BURN!!!!!!"

Baby steps.

In other news, I got my bake on today!

I was rummaging through organizing the fridge when I came across this lovely gem:

If you don't make any sudden movements, it won't wake up!

No, as suggested by my brother, this isn't poop.

It's BaNaNaS!!!!!!!!!!

These lovelies were mashed a couple of weeks ago, as I was intending to bake them into something the next day...then I forgot about them. This is what they looked like before:

Two weeks in the fridge: all the better to bake.....

Bananas, my love
You make me Banana Bread
You're so delicious.

(Like my haiku? It kind of has the potential to be a really creepy love note....)

I got this recipe out of a Breadbecker's Cookbook - it's kind of like a Whole Foods for baked goods. They sell whole grains, and you can grind them fresh, and certain mixes, like an Ezekial Bread mix. It's pretty awesome.

So, you start out by (preheating your oven to 350* F) and combining the dry ingredients: 1 3/4 cup freshly milled flour*, 1 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/4 tsp of salt.

*Substitustions: I used about half freshly milled soft white flour, and half All-Purpose flour. I'm sure that All-Purpose flour would work, or whole-wheat, but I've never tried it. Perhaps it would be a bit denser with Whole Wheat?

In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients - 1/4 cup neutral-tasting oil (I used canola), 1/2 cup honey (I used Sage), 3/4 tsp vanilla, 1 egg, 1 cup mashed bananers.

Eww...looks like a brain.

Then, fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. I had to do this manually because the electric mixer was occupied by cookie dough - so if you have an electric mixer, add the wet slowly into the dry.

 

I was informed by Reba that "That is the grossest thing ever." Thanks, Rebekah, thanks.

Make sure to get the bottom too, stir stir stir, and your batter shall look like this:

 

Pour it into a greased 1/2 lb loaf pan.

Pop it into the oven and let it bake for 45-50 minutes! I actually doubled the recipe after taking pics for the single recipe, because it only makes one pan. Believe me, you'll probably need more than one.

And, assuming you're like me, your kitchen will probably be a disaster.

Luckily I have two feline helpers. :)

Mmm....as the bread bakes, the whole house will smell like honey and bananas!

You know it's perfect when it has a golden/honey colored top, the house smells like the nectar of God, and a dry spaghetti noodle comes out clean from the middle.

I see chunks of banana in there!

Woah, sorry for the blurred picture there. Sometimes I don't pick up on the quality because of the small camera screen.

There will be a variation of this eventually....perhaps in muffin form? *Laughs excitedly to self*

Oh, Banana Bread.

Why are you so scrumptious?

Get in my belly.