Aggravation Banana Bread

irritated yet?

I get aggravated sometimes when I am cooking. Maybe I get frustrated because I don’t know how to do something, or maybe it’s because something goes completely wrong. Worst of all is when I get in some imagined rush and I overlook something.

This bread is “Jacked Up Banana Bread” from Smitten Kitchen. She (Deb) got the recipe  from a friend of a friend and added a bit of whiskey to the recipe. I don’t know her… but I sho’ likes her style! Anyway this recipe and this bread gave me a bit of the irritated-itis.

I was unfamiliar with the mixing technique. Basically it was mix all wet ingredients (including melted butter) and add the dry ones, one at a time. It threw me off. Irritation. Nevertheless, I also added some walnuts to the bread. Along with the mixing, mix-up , I was taken aback by the volume of batter vs the size of the pan recommended. That little loaf pan was FULL and I wasn’t too impressed with the flavor of the very thin batter either. Heavy sigh.

To be safe I placed the loaf pan on a baking sheet and baked it for just under an hour.
It “didn’t look right.”  It was brown and dark. Irritation. I didn’t know if I should leave it in the pan to cool on a rack or take it out of the pan and put the warm loaf on a rack. Irritation.  Later without much hope I cut it open. It looked really dark, maybe undercooked. Irritation. I tasted it. Eh. Sigh.

photo shoot is almost over, last slice is almost gone.

Glory, glory for the morning!  This morning I took another taste. Kitchen irritation turned to understanding. Another taste. “Not bad.” Another taste. ” hummmm, pretty good.”  and then half the lot was gone. I wish I could tell you a friend came over and we devoured that half  loaf of boozy, spicy banana bread together while talking about all wonderful things and drinking tea. Truth is, I ate the pieces as I was taking pictures of them. I was all alone- it was one moist and spicy shoot.  This loaf is deelish.  Buy some bananas, let them go a few days and make this. I plan on making it several more times- and maybe sharing.