Friday, February 26, 2010

Banana Bread

I know I was just extolling the virtues of having access to a kitchenaid, but last night I was reminded of the joys of baking with nothing more than a wooden spoon.

I was craving banana bread when I went grocery shopping last Sunday (I love banana bread), so once I finally had some free time after the birthday cakes of doom project, I had all the ingredients. I wanted to use my family's favorite recipe, which comes from a worn-out booklet of children's recipes that my mother ordered for fifty cents from Gold Medal Flour at least five years before she had any children, but I couldn't get her on the phone to read it to me, and I couldn't find it anywhere online. Instead, I went to that bastion of deliciousness, Smitten Kitchen.

Unlike a lot of the other recipes I found online, this one doesn't call for the butter and sugar to be creamed together. Neither does my family's recipe. Instead, I always use the biggest mixing bowl and my favorite wooden spoon to stir all the ingredients together by hand. Using a wooden spoon always makes me feel earth-mothery and old-fashioned, like I'm cooking the way Laura Ingalls Wilder and family always cooked.

And cleaning a wooden spoon is way easier than cleaning all the crevices in a kitchenaid.

Happy Friday, friends!
I hope your weekends are full of homemade baked goods and not too much cleanup.

12 comments:

  1. You're so right! Mixing by hand is so much more . . . satisfying!

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  2. "bastion of deliciousness" yessss...I love that site!

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  3. Darling post! That bread looks delicious! I am with you.. sometimes simpler IS better! Happy Weekend! xo

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  4. Mmmm...banana bread. My weekend will be full of BURNED homemade baked goods; but homemade baked goods, nonetheless.

    Happy, Happy Weekend, my love!! :)

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  5. Daisychain has never had banana bread...you need to fix that. I love mine with nuts!

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  6. There's nothing like wielding an old wooden spoon around the kitchen! :) I love Smitten Kitchen, too. Enjoy your weekend treat...it looks delicious!!

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  7. Yum yum yum ! I need to make banana bread someday. It's not very common in France. Actually it isn't common at all. I ddid bake a few batches of banana muffins while I was living in Canada though. Love those.
    I love your blog, btw :D

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  8. I would love to have a Kitchen Aid mixer, but there's nothing like a wooden spoon :) I've been surviving with it ever since!

    BTW- your banana bread looks divine!

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  9. Banana bread is my favorite food. My stomach is growling as I have not yet eaten---to the fridge!!! XO

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  10. yum! i love banana bread. i hope you got your wrapping done. :)

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  11. Ou family banana bread recipie from Abbie's Mom:

    3/4 C sugar
    1.5 C mashed bananas (can also use mashed pears -- then it's pear bread)
    3/4 c vegetable oil
    2 eggs
    2 C all purpose flour
    1/2 c chopped nuts (optional)
    1 tsp baking soda
    2 tsp vanilla
    1/2 tsp baking powder
    1/2 tsp salt

    Heat oven to 325 degrees
    grease loaf pan
    mix sugar, bananas, oil and eggs
    stir in rest of ingredients
    bake for 60 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean
    cool in pan 10 minutes
    cool on rack completely before slicing

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