Friday, May 1, 2009

Vote for my post on Mom Blog Network

Exhaustion and Banana Bread

I am pooped. The last week or so of my life has been spent studying and preparing for finals. It's amazing what the brain and body can endure. I feel so tired and yet I know I have to keep going. I'm trying to stay focused on the present moment but our future life is pounding at the door. There's been a lot of hustle and bustle in the house over moving (just shy of 3 weeks) and how we are going to transport things down to Miami. The apartment is starting to look so bare and impersonal as all our personal items are packed away and our tiny space is crowded with boxes. I spent 2 hours packing today and I feel like I barely made any progress; there's still so much else to pack away. The sad part of the day was packing all my cookbooks away. I won't be seeing them for at least a month and I'm going to miss them. Hopefully they don't forget me! I can't wait to sell back my law books. Those books won't continue to haunt me once I get to Miami. The first one to bite the dust is this one:
I needed a distraction from all school/moving stuff so I baked. I needed something quick and easy because I didn't have much time. I decided to make a banana bread because banana bread always makes me happy. This particular one was really, really good and it tasted like the boxed ones I used to make with my mom when I was younger. The ingredients are so basic that you will undoubtedly have all of them in your kitchen now.
Banana Bread
Source: Williams-Sonoma (here)

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 medium very ripe bananas, peeled
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Grease an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch metal loaf pan with butter.

In a bowl, using a wooden spoon, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

In a large bowl, smash the bananas with a fork. Add the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla and beat with the wooden spoon until well blended.

Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir just until blended.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly with the wooden spoon. Put the pan in the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it, about 45 minutes.

Using oven mitts, remove the pan from the oven, set it on a wire cooling rack and let cool for 20 minutes.

Gently run a table knife along the inside edge of the pan to loosen the bread from the sides.

Using oven mitts, turn the pan on its side and slip the loaf out onto the wire rack. Let the loaf cool for 15 minutes before serving.

3 comments:

Mermaid Sews said...

Your loaf looks great. Good luck with finals and packing.

pinkstripes said...

Your banana bread looks wonderful. Good luck with finals and the move.

Elyse said...

It gets so much better after 1L year!! Promise. By the way, if you don't want to see RAP again, don't take wills and trusts. Just had that final two days ago...YUCK. This bread looks great. Sooo delicious!! Can't believe your move to Miami is so soon!! How exciting!