I'm Back!

I'm back and I'm excited! It has been quite some time since I have blogged, so I decided to start from scratch and create a new blog entirely dedicated to food, fun, and travel. Yes, you will still get to see all of mine and John's adventures. Most importantly, yes, there will still be great recipes posted for you to try!

We are just wrapping up the holidays and I feel like all I have done for the last month and half is cook and bake. From Thanksgiving to Christmas to the New Year, all we have done is eat. Here we are in 2019 now, and not much has changed.

I posted a series of photos on Instagram of my banana nut bread (BNB) and several people responded that they want to try the recipe (I am looking at you Kensie). Rather than send you a message via Instagram, which is normally what happens, I will post the recipe here for everyone to enjoy.

Here is a little disclaimer and a fair warning - I am not a photographer or a food stylist, so you are going to see real, raw pics (nothing fancy).

Banana Nut Bread (BNB)
Makes 1 Loaf

Ingredients:

• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2-3 bananas)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 10 tablespoons + 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 cups flour (cake or all purpose)
• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped pecans (you can use walnuts if you like or omit these all together)

How to Make BNB:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a regular size loaf pan with 1 tablespoon of butter. 
2. Puree the bananas, sour cream, eggs and vanilla and set aside. Tip: if your bananas are not ripe enough, place them on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until they turn black. Let them cool and they will be good to go. Tip 2: you really want ripe bananas (mushy), otherwise your BNB will not taste like bananas. 
3. Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer with whisk attachment. If you don't have one, don't fret - you can use a hand mixer (I have made this both ways and it turns out either way). 
4. Add the 10 tablespoons of butter (this should be cut up into tablespoons and room temperature) to the flour mixture and mix on medium low until blended. You should not see chunks. 
5. Now add the banana mixture to the flour mixture in three batches mixing on medium. Scrape the sides of the bowl each time you add more banana. 
6. Finally, fold in the nuts and pour your mixture into your loaf pan. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar before baking. 
7. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. You know it is done when the top is nice and golden and you can insert a toothpick that comes out clean. 

Here are some more pictures just for good measure. Enjoy!

- H