Mom's Banana Bread

It's humble. It's a modest housewife's sweet response to the ethos of Mom's Depression Era generation - 'waste not, want not'. It's one of the first baked quick breads that Mom showed me how to make. Granted, Mom came from the generation of bottled lemon juice and walnuts only at Thanksgiving time or for very special baking holidays. She came around in later years ... and now, her legacy lives on and continues to grow in her kids and grands, and great-grands.

Gram Lindquist's Banana Cake with Maple Frosting and Salted Hazelnuts

Banana Cake ... Maple Frosting ... Toasted and Salted Hazelnuts ... Yup, I squirreled a piece to bring home from the party. I know. I'm bad.

Ugh ... The February Funk ...

Bring on the chocolate, folks. It's February and in the little grey cottage, I am settling into the traditional February Funk. This always seems the cruelest time of the year. The sun begins to increase in intensity a bit, but the weather is so changeable. One day it's balmy and gives hope of Spring and the next a bitterly cold wind sweeps in from The North and dashes that hope AND the crust of ice on the driveway puddle. Wind chill makes everything seem even worse. So ... I retreat. I ignore my usual 'about town errands' and computer routines, don't go to church on Sunday morning, rattle the soup pots, put a sweater on over the turtle neck and big shirt, shirk as many responsibilities as possible, re-prioritize my Netflix queue, grab a good book or two, and let the library due dates expire.

Breakfast of Champions - Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

There's been a lodger in the grey cottage for the past couple weeks. Eric, the baby of the family, has moved home for a bit while he begins his new job and continues his classes in machine work. I love to see him enthusiastic about this new chapter in his life. He gets up raring to go and comes out of work each day with something to tell about the manufacturing process or what he has learned. He has purpose and a revived sense of self-esteem ... and that's a good thing. No more feeling beleaguered at a job that doesn't seem to be going anywhere ... my boy's feeling like the top banana ... the sweet one, the one worthy of making something really good of life and not waiting around for the sweetness!

Eric's Birthday Cake ...

Birthdays are the perfect occasion to bake a cake, right? The problem in our household is that I am trying to diet, SB doesn't want cakes that last all week long, and our kids are not sweets eaters. This weekend when I made a birthday dinner for our son, the request was made to have a light cake ... nothing over the top.

Okay ...