Mom’s Banana Bread & a Few Thoughts…

I read something recently that I let bring me down… To be fair it really doesn’t take much for me to start second guessing myself, but this particular post really hit me pretty hard. I won’t go into all the details, but basically it was something of a cautionary tale to aspiring bloggers to not be basic.

So why did this upset me so much? Well I guess I feel like the Sweet & Simple Kitchen was born out of being basic. So to read that and feel like it was basically someone telling me there isn’t a space for me creatively hurt me, and made me really question if they were in fact correct.

It’s easy to feel not good enough in this industry. It’s easy to let comparison to others steal your joy… At least I feel that way… For me it’s an honour to be a part of this food blogging community – but if I’m being honest, I spend a lot of time feeling like I don’t really fit in here. You would think that as a gown woman I would no longer care about “fitting in”, but sometimes I still do.

It’s not that I don’t love what I do, because I really love what I do, and I am so grateful to be doing it… I guess it’s more that I don’t feel like how I do it is seen as “the right way.” Silly I know – because I mean who decides what exactly “the right way” is anyway? I mean if we were all the same that would be pretty boring right?

Anyway, I just wanted to share this because I wouldn’t want any aspiring blogger to read something similar to what I read, and feel discouraged in the way that I did. I think I what I would encourage you to do instead is to be your authentic self. More than anything I would say share what makes YOU happy; Be uniquely you. Share your light with the world; And above all, don’t let comparing yourself to others bring you down…

Perhaps my advice isn’t what will get you the most likes on instagram or grown your following in the quickest way possible… But I hope it will help you to stay true to yourself, which will in turn make all of this sustainable for you as a creative soul.

You see, for me there is no formula for creativity; there is no set time frame… and hey, I might be doing it all wrong, but that’s just how I operate. We are all different and there is a place for all of us. I am not in competition with anyone in this space and I never want to be.

Maybe that makes me a non-hustler or someone who isn’t doing all the things that she should be to be “successful.” But I really believe success is in the eye of the beholder, and I don’t want to waste anymore time chasing someone else’s idea of success – I’ve been there, done that.

In the end, all we can do is be true to ourselves…

So what is my truth? Well, I guess I’m a banana bread blogger… and I’m really happy with that.

So in the spirit of banana bread blogging… here is my absolute favourite basic banana bread recipe. I realized recently that I have never shared it, and I couldn’t think of a better time than now.

This is the banana bread of my childhood; The recipe that my mom has been making for us since we were kids. It is hand written on a recipe card in my recipe book cupboard and I have no idea where it comes from. I just know it’s the best.

Golden exterior, moist interior, tender crumb. What more could you possibly ask for?

Mom’s Banana Bread

Things you need… 

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp buttermilk
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Optional Additions
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (optional)
Salted Caramel Sauce

How to make… 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease one 9 x 5 loaf pan, set aside.
Peel your three bananas, and mash with a fork until there are no lumps. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, and sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in egg and vanilla extract’ beat until smooth and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add mashed bananas; beat until smooth.

In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and baking soda; set aside.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and salt. Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently combine. Add in buttermilk mixture and beat to just combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in remaining 1/2 of the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, being careful not to over mix.

Spoon the batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool to one hour before serving.

You can serve slightly warm or completely cooled. Serve on its own or with your favourite spread. My go to is butter and raspberry jam.