Banana Bread

Harrison and I made some banana bread after school today. He is always willing to help out when I am baking something. Cooking is a good way to teach children about measurements and following instructions. Plus I am hoping that when they grow up they will help their wives with the cooking.

When we bake, Harrison's job is to dump all of the ingredients into the bowl. Today he also helped to mash the bananas which were extremely ripe (really brown). He looked at the bananas and asked why I was putting rotten ones in the bread.

His favorite thing though is cracking the eggs. To avoid getting shells into whatever we are making, we crack them first into a glass bowl. He does a pretty good job but I do have to remind him that squeezing the egg will make it explode all over you. We still haven't mastered not wiping our hands on our shirt.

And I am sure you are wondering....Yes, that is painters tape on my cabinets. We have been trying to get the kitchen cabinets painted for a month now. I am kind of getting use to the tape though. Maybe I will start a new trend.

Here's the recipe if you care to try it:

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Pinch nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup mashed bananas (2-3 medium)

2 large eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper leaving enough to hang over the long sides. Whisk together all ingredients in a large bowl starting with the dry ones and then adding the wet ingredients one at a time.

Pour the batter into the lined pan, spreading evenly and smoothing with spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack for about 1 hour.

And the finished product........