Family Recipe Banana Nut Bread

The family cookbook began when my Dad died, over 20 years ago. As part of my grieving for him I began to gather old family recipes and to ask my Mom and siblings to contribute ones they had and to tell me if there were ones they wanted. A little less than a year later we had a family reunion at the beach and I brought a copy for each sibling and one for my Mom. Unfortunately I had neglected to give the printer the page for the index, but Mom solved that by making her own index on the inside of the back cover.

The next version came about because I noticed that Mom's copy was getting tattered and a few other family members told me that theirs were, too. This was not surprising since the books were about 17 years old! Since I was working in graphic arts at the time I decided to create a fancy version with color photos and organized around types of food. The original had been organized around seasons. I like this book a lot except for the paper. It is a pretty glazed paper which makes the photos look great but is hard to write on for changes I might make to the recipes. My solution has been to use sticky notes for changes, which works well.

Some of the recipes in the book, which I called Classic Comfort Food for the newer version (2012) and Family Food in the original version (1995), have been written about in this blog, but some have never been posted in their original form.

This Banana Nut Bread is an example of a great recipe that I have posted variations of but not the original. Even this one is a tiny bit different because the original used all vegetable oil and I used some butter and some oil. Otherwise it is the same and it makes a very fragrant, slightly sweet, very moist bread. I used pecans but walnuts are wonderful in this bread. When I took the loaves from the oven and smelled the lovely warm banana fragrance I was transported back to my Mom's kitchen.

This is an easy quick bread. Make sure to really cream the butter, oil and sugar before adding the eggs and bananas. Mix the batter just until combined once you add the flour mixture. Fold in the nuts with a spatula and you are ready to use the same spatula to scoop the batter into the prepared pans!

Classic Comfort Food Banana Nut Bread

½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 ripe medium bananas, mashed
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon wheat germ
3 tablespoons milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup chopped nuts

Beat the oil (I used half soft butter and half oil) and sugar together. Add the eggs and banana pulp, and beat well. Sift the dry ingredients together. Add the sifted dry ingredients, milk and vanilla. Mix well and stir in the nuts.

Pour the batter into a greased and floured loaf pan (9” x 5” x 3”). Bake in a preheated 350⁰ F oven about 1 hour. Toothpick inserted in center will come out clean or with a few crumbs on it when bread is done. Cool well. Makes one loaf.

Rainy Weather Comfort Soup

The rains have come. Well, actually, they have been coming, now and then, during October and November, but this time we are having heavy precipitation that is going to continue for days in a row. That's exactly what should happen in late fall here in Northern California. The trees, shrubs and grasses are happy. The new dog, not so much. Perhaps being out in the rain reminds Pi of his time on the streets. Perhaps he has become spoiled by his new 'parents'. For whatever the reason, he really tries to avoid the rain, even going close to the house to take advantage of the eaves when he can.

I enjoy rainy weather as long as I don't have to do a lot of driving in it. I much prefer to stay at home baking bread and simmering soups and stews. One of my favorite rainy weather comfort soups comes from the Classic Comfort Food cookbook. It is Split Pea Soup. It makes enough for a couple of meals and can be doubled if you have a group for lunch or dinner. I usually add a ham hock for flavor but it is delicious without it. Onions and carrots add their own flavor notes and the dried peas cook up nice and tender with lots of simmering. You can take off the pot lid towards the end and simmer enough to make the consistency as thick or thin as you prefer. I like mine on the thick side so I allow an extra 45 minutes to an hour to get there.

I rarely find any debris in the dried split peas, but do check as you are rinsing them. You can jazz this up with herbs, too.

By the way, Classic Comfort Food cookbook, written by yours truly, contains lots of great recipes for fall and winter, including some classic Christmas cookies. It would make a great gift! You can order copies to be mailed directly to your loved one from Blurb, the online publisher. Click HERE. Between now and December 3rd, add the code HOLIDAY25 at checkout and save 25%! There is also a link at the top right of this blog. It is also the link to go directly to the Blurb store. This is not a moneymaker for me, dear reader. I think my profit is something like 50 cents. The reason I'm suggesting it as a gift is that it really will be a great one for friends and family who like sweet and savory classic dishes like macaroni and cheese and fresh coconut cake (both great recipes for this time of year).

Split Pea Soup
from Classic Comfort Food

2 cups dried split peas
8 cups hot water
1-2 lbs. ham bones or hocks
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, minced
1 stalk celery and tops, chopped
1 tablespoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Pick over and rinse the dried split peas. Combine ingredients. Heat to boiling, reduce heat, and simmer for one hour and fifteen minutes, or until peas are very soft. Remove ham bones and put soup through food mill or blend. Reheat and serve. Often served with croutons made from stale bread cubes baked until dry. Serves 8.

Another Year

Looks like this blog's birthday passed by while I was traveling. Heading into the seventh year...what an exhilerating time it's been!

The early years included more community with other bloggers, especially when I was part of the Daring Bakers enormous group. At that time I went through a heavy sweets phase, learned lots of new techniques and tried new recipes, for fancy desserts especially.

Once I discovered sourdough the bread phase began and it is still going, but not as strongly. The Bread Bakers Dog is gone and so is the dog it was named for. Our new dog, Pi, isn't given 'people food' so there is no begging when we sit down to eat...a nice change.

These days I spend less time visiting other blogs or even surfing the Internet. Since starting my page layout and design for books business I seem to have less time for other forms of computer fun. My cookbook, Classic Comfort Food, continues to sell on Blurb's site. It would be a great Christmas gift for friends who love to cook! If you want to order a copy or two, just click on the photo of the cover at the top right of this blog...you will go right to the sales page and in no time could have your own copy!

The Bread Baking Babes posts are still a monthly source of fun and learning, but I'm also experimenting more with savory dishes, especially ones that have healthy ingredients. It's a whole new world with things I haven't tried like Isreal couscous, dinosaur kale, quinoa and more.

Hope you'll keep stopping by to see what's new on the journey. Here's to another six or seven years! Cheers!