Unleashing Quarantine Talents Part 1 :)

Good evening all,

It is true that we are experiencing uncertain times and some people are dying to go out and experience that sun just like we did before. I can definitely get on board with that thought too because even though we are keeping ourselves busy, we do miss all the summer activities and being with people. So, how have you all been coping? What is interesting is that during these times I have been unleashing the creativity juices. Some of the creative juices or hidden talents I have come to realize is the ability to bake new things from scratch.

  It all started when I wanted to come and surprise my mom on her birthday and ended up staying here for the remainder of this quarantine. Part of the reason why it was a lot easier to decide to come is also because the kitchen was getting remodeled at my house so it only made sense and also because I got to spend time with my parents. Before getting remodeled, I recently got into baking but only things that had mixes just like most of you as an amateur, you must master how to follow the directions before attempting other things. When I did my first baked from scratch dish last year during the holidays which was the sweet potato casserole, it was a huge hit with the whole family so I thought to myself I think I will continue to keep learning and see what I come up with. With that said, I can never ignore my sweet tooth just as much as my parents.

So, probably in like the next few weeks I was here I put the oven into good use. My first creation of unleashing my talents began with the thought that when life gives you lemons you make lemonade so how did I implement it? Well, I decided to make bread from scratch. Before those great cooks out there, had generations to generations of recipes being passed down, however, nowadays, the past recipes are being added just one ingredient and it becomes something different or maybe you are able to cut corners. I love how now we have the recipes at our fingertips whether you want to attempt works from Chef Bobby Flay or even a lovely stay at home mom that loves to share their recipes for you to learn breaking it down. I went ahead and decided to go ahead and give it a go on trying out the banana nut bread so first thing I thought is do we have all the ingredients here or do we need to go out and buy them with the particular recipe I choose. I used Youtube to find the latest banana nut bread recipe that was very easy to follow and from scratch that was located in allrecipes.com. Just wanted to share the video with you all so you can give it a try too along with the ingredients to make this delicacy below:

Such a scrumptious treat 🙂

Ingredients needed for banana nut bread

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 cups mashed overripe bananas
• 4 eggs beaten
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup of raisins

Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 1 hr

10 mins

Total: 1 hr 30 mins

Servings: 24

Yield: 2 – 9×5 inch loaves

Directions

• Step 1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9×5 inch loaf pans.
• Step 2 Whisk the flour, salt and baking soda into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the butter or margarine and sugar until smooth. Stir in the bananas, eggs, and walnuts until well blended. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture, and stir just until blended. Divide the batter evenly between the two loaf pans.
• Step 3 Bake for 60 to 70 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted into the crown of the loaf comes out clean. Let the loaves cool in the pans for at least 5 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack, and cool completely. Wrap in aluminum foil to keep in the moisture. Ideally, refrigerate the loaves for 2 hours or more before serving.

After the bread came out of the oven, I could not wait to try it and show it to my parents it was a thank you for letting me stay here and also told them I wanted to try new things. It looked so moist and ofcourse did the toothpick test and it passed with the right temperature and nothing doughy, hooray perfect dessert to accompany the dinner! When my mom came home from work, she was able to taste it with all of us and it was so delicious that my parents were awaiting for more creations and that was the spark the passion that was the beginning of more recipes for dessert to try from scratch. Remember, you do not necessarily need to be an expert at cooking but if you want to try things do not be afraid to fail and keep on going you only need to take one step the desire to go for it no matter what. Never give up you never know you had all these hidden talents all along.

Goodnight for now as always looking forward to your comments if you decided to try it can’t wait to hear how it went?

Jojo