Gifts of Love

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. ~Desmond Tutu

Desmond was certainly on to something when he made that quote. Today is Valentines Day, the day that will either guilt you into buying stock in Hallmark or make your way through a bottle of red on your own. Or perhaps it will just be another day that goes on unnoticed.

As far back as I can remember, my Mom has celebrated Valentines Day. It was particularly important to her to make sure that we always had a special day to honor the gifts that God gave us, to her we were those gifts. Over the years my brothers and I would find ourselves with or without a special valentine in our lives, however, one thing we could always count on was a place-setting at Mom's table. Of course on Valentines day, there would be some little sweet treat wrapped in red tissue paper, a sweet card and a little paper cup filled with conversation hearts. It seems kind of cheesy but it's those sweet gestures we remember from our childhood that form the traditions we have now for our own families. I still do this same tradition with my family dinner even now, but with a little twist.
My husband and I never made it a tradition or habit to go out to eat on Valentine's Day (too expensive in the early years and far to stressful to get reservations). Instead, we started a tradition early on in our marriage where one of us would cook the dinner and the other would make dessert. Each year we would switch and that just became our "thing". My husband is an amazing cook and when he does jump into the kitchen you can bet you will be sitting down to a four star meal. For me, it’s just about the best gift of love there is., when someone pours their love and efforts into a meal. I truly appreciate that my Mom instilled in us at an early age that love comes in the little things that we do daily for one another. Cards and chocolates are sweet but being able to share a meal with the people you love or telling them daily how important they are far exceeds a Hallmark card... I’m jus' sayin'!

Little gifts of candy wrapped in red tissue

You guessed it - I got to make dessert this year. A simple dark chocolate bundt cake with fresh berries.
You can find the recipe here.

Going Bananas!

A week ago my neighbor came by to borrow some butter because he was making banana bread with his daughters and had run out. As soon as my daughter heard about what was being made next door, she started to go bananas (pun intended). It was as if banana bread had gone "viral" in our house. "Oh Mom, can you please make some?" and "Hey Mom, you know how delicious warm banana bread is, right?" Or,  "Mom, you know, I think it's perfectly ok to eat banana bread at all 3 meals including dessert don't you agree?"  Okay. I get it. Banana bread is now on this week's menu and my daughter's commentary forever earwormed in my head.

Over the years, I have made banana bread plenty of times. If you google or pinterest it, you will see that it's one of those recipes that has been made and re-made in every style imaginable, with versions including everything from coconut to chocolate chips to chili peppers in the batter. It has been made vegan, gluten free, low glycemic, paleo and raw. But I really just wanted to make my daughter the simplified recipe so I stuck with this one and modified it only a little. I doubled the recipe (because having an extra loaf tucked in the back of the freezer for those emergency "viral" or "earworm" moments) is a "super-mom" point maker.  I exchanged the walnuts for pistachios just in case my husband wanted some (he is allergic to peanuts/pecans/walnuts).

This recipe calls for slicing the bananas rather then mashing them. It claims to be really moist and that is what I was after. When I was pulling it out of the oven and its intoxicating aroma filled the house, I realized right then why we all go bananas for banana bread... I'm jus' sayin'!


Banana Pistachio Bread
Modified from this recipe

Preheat oven to 350º
Line 2 loaf pans with parchment paper.

Combine the following in this order, in a large bowl.

1 cup butter, melted
2 cup White Sugar
4 eggs (lightly beaten)
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sour cream
5 medium bananas (sliced not mashed)
3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup roasted pistachios (lightly chopped)

Mix until all is incorporated. Divide batter into the 2 loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle. Cool completely before slicing.

*Adult suggestion-while still cooling and warm, brush 2 tbsp of good bourbon over the top to glaze.