Biweekly banana bread bakeage–aka “4B morning”–using the old faithful recipe. I love this recipe because it’s so flexible. I can use fewer bananas and get a more cake-like bread, or more to get something really moist. There is an upper limit past which one winds up with goo, but I have yet to hit it. I do substitute white w/w flour for half the all-purpose. This way, I can add a little more moisture without worrying about goo. The w/w soaks it up.
Another thing I like is that I can vary the additives to my heart’s content. Chocolate chips work, but to be honest I prefer spices/nuts/dried fruit. This morning’s variety contains cinnamon, allspice, ground ginger, and mace. I also added 1/3 c. ginger chips, a 1/2 c. or so of raisins, and 2 tbsps dark rum. At this point, it pretty much stops being banana bread and becomes something fruitcakey. I typically let it sit at least 24 hours before cutting into it to give the flavors time to develop. The banana functions as a humectant–it grabs the moisture from the air and hangs onto it for dear life. This bread can last up to 2 weeks on my counter with no loss in taste.
A gorgeous morning, cool but sunny. Tomatoes are still hanging on. Bell peppers are trying–one plant has a pepper about an inch or so long. I doubt it will develop before the first frost, though. Peppers as a whole just didn’t do well this summer.
Oh well, enough of this. It’s thinky time.