Mom's Banana Bread

Last weekend, I whipped up my mom's banana bread recipe.  It's sweet and chewy and banana-y, and served best when it's fresh from the oven with a little bit of butter.

Mom's Banana Bread

1/3 c butter, plus some extra for the pan

1/2 c sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 c white flour

1/4 c wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c walnuts

1 frozen banana (the blacker the better)

3 very ripe un-frozen bananas (still yellow but with lots of brown spots)

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease loaf pan with a little bit of extra butter.  Combine butter, sugar, eggs in one bowl, then flour baking soda, and salt in another.  Add dry ingredients into wet, mixing well.  Thaw the frozen banana with skin on (I find the freezing process really brings out and concentrates the banana juices), cut the end off, and squeeze thawed banana mush into the batter, juices and all. This is by far the least appetizing part of the process, it gets a lot better from here on out. Mash two of the ripe bananas into the batter as well, don't worry if they don't break up entirely -- banana chunks are what you're going for here.  Stir in the walnuts.  Use the third ripe banana for decorative slices on the top of the loaf.  Bake for 45 -55 min, or until wooden skewer into the center comes out clean.

Eat warm, with butter, and a tall glass of milk.

Pickled Peppers

Matt has been experimenting with pickling things lately, mostly peppers from our garden.  Here's a sneak peak: 

 

This week in CSA news...

Hidden Villa's CSA is getting ridiculously good.  This week we had eggplants, tomatoes, anaheim peppers, red onions, carrots, lettuce, beans, collards, the biggest summer squash I've ever seen, and a gigantic bundle of basil that made my drive back from the farm smell like heaven. Whew!

   

 

Ridiculous!  Anybody have any good recipes for summer squash?  I'm all ears.

Reunions

Last week, two of my bestest best friends from college came out to visit me, and we packed our 7 days together with the most fun we could think of.  First it was a trip to Berkeley to visit the botanical garden there, then over to Santa Cruz for some strawberry picking and boutique ice cream.  Then we meandered up Highway 1, through little tiny beachy towns, and camped in Van Damm State Park for a few days of beach combing. Then we came back for a trip over to Pescadero for goat cheese, artichoke bread, and a hike through one of our favorite Redwood forests.  I didn't want to say goodbye by the end of it.  Here are some highlights:

For even more photos, go here.