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I Had The Feeling That This Would Never Feel Better Again!

Last week was the challenge. I never knew I could have such absolute pain in my shin. Jesus, that thing's been in my leg all my life, but it's never bothered me. So that was different last week, and at times I had the feeling that this would never feel better again. Fortunately, when I woke up yesterday, I had a leg that felt a lot better. And I thought that after such a week it might be time to finally say, Today I'm going Absolutely Bananas. Together in the kitchen with the dogs. And as you know, that can sometimes cause situations that can warm up your laughing muscles.

My four-legged friends: Skipper, Myla and Lana were there immediately. They know that something delicious is in the offing. Which is exactly why they spun around me like hairy whirlwinds as I tried to bring my magical banana bread recipe to life.

The Dogs Are Quite Skilled At Licking Out The Batter Bowl

Well, I have to admit that it was quite a challenge to juggle my stiff leg while gathering all the ingredients. I had visited the village earlier, and walked the dogs, and I noticed while I was doing that my leg didn't feel as good as it did in the morning. Oh well, it is what it is, take a painkiller in and keep going. Sometimes just walking through the pain, and sometimes a little stumbling. But I moved from one side of the kitchen to the other, my faithful dogs following closely behind me. It almost seemed like they wanted to help, but their idea of help was mainly in the form of licking the batter bowl. Believe me, they are quite skilled at that! Only I wasn't that far yet, so they had to wait ... and although they also understand the word "Waiting" very well, they are really a lot less skilled at it.

Somewhere I Got The Idea That It Looked Like A Scene From A Slapstick Movie

Anyway, back to the banana bread. Trying to spare my leg, I tried to balance on my other leg at the counter to mash the bananas, chop the white chocolate with hazelnuts and mix all the ingredients in the right order in the same bowl. Somewhere during my hard work, I got the idea that it looked like a scene from a slapstick movie, with me as the clumsy star of the show. Not fun! Luckily my dogs were having the time of their lives, they didn't really seem to understand why I was being so clumsy, but I have to give them credit, they did their best and watched every move I made with great interest.

The Chaos Really Started!

After crushing the bananas and adding all the other ingredients, I had to put the batter in the oven. And that's when the chaos really started. When I poured the batter into the baking tin from the bowl in which I had made it, the dogs started to get restless. And of course they stood against my leg ... not so handy but understandable! They knew that as soon as the banana bread batter went into the oven, they could throw themselves into the batter bowl. And honestly, who can blame them? Batter is just too good to resist!

Time For The Dogs To Show Their Kitchen Skills

So, off the banana bread went into the oven, while my dogs danced around me with their tongues sticking out of their mouths. Then I have to pay attention because my little Myla is 14 years old, AND modest in character. She is easily pushed away by the more brutal Lana, and the young god Skipper. I made sure to position the bowl properly so that ALL 3 dogs could fully enjoy it. It was a cozy and happy chaos, which only added to the magic of the moment.

Enjoying Our Hard Work Together

In the end, the banana bread came out of the oven perfectly, with a wonderful smell that spread throughout the house. While I cut it on my wooden board, and with my uninspired brain I tried to think how I could make a nice picture of it. Gosh, every time I run into that again. Food Photography remains the biggest challenge for me to focus on. And while I was doing this I noticed that my dogs were still excited. They really seemed to think there was more goodies to come, even though it wasn't the batter this time. Now I had to think carefully, was I going to give them my banana bread too? They had worked hard helping me ... they had listened well, got in the way, had to wait a long time ... Ah what the heck! They deserve to enjoy a treat after all their efforts in the kitchen.

Conquered The Challenges

So there we were, me with a slice of my banana bread and my dogs with their excitement, ready to enjoy our delicious banana bread. And as I took a bite, gave each of them a small piece and they began to beg deliciously, I couldn't help but smile. Despite the challenges and awkwardness, it was an amazing adventure in the kitchen that I would never want to miss.

There will surely be a next time soon that we go Absolutely Bananas again!

Oh of course you want the recipe as I made it?

That starts of course with a baking tin of 25cm (30cm) is also allowed. And the following ingredients:

125 gr butter (melted)
200 grams of sugar
2 large eggs
60 ml of buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas
250 grams of flour
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
white chocolate bar with whole hazelnuts
1 extra banana for the top (optional)

How To Work The Magic?

Preheat the oven to 160˚C for a convection oven. Cover your baking tin with baking paper or grease it well. Then the fun begins.

First, mix the sugar with the butter and beat well. Don't be satisfied until it's really a creamy mass. Add the eggs one at a time and mix through. Now stir in the buttermilk and vanilla extract. Add the flour, baking soda and salt and stir. You don't have to beat this for very long. If it is well mixed, it is enough. After that it gets a bit "mashy"

Mash the bananas with a fork or puree them in a blender. Add to your batter and stir again until well distributed. Finally, add the chopped chocolate with nuts. I just shoveled this through the batter but didn't really mix it anymore.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for about 50-65 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out dry.

^{(If you want to use the extra banana, cut it in half lengthwise and press the convex sides into the batter.)}

Let it cool in the tin for 10 minutes before pouring it out and letting it cool further.

ENJOY!