Fall Baking

The weather is finally starting to become a tad cooler here, and I LOVE it!  Fall is my absolute favorite season.  I love everything about it.  I think my husband likes the fact that I start baking again.  I just can't seem to get the urge to bake when it's so hot and humid out.  Regardless if we have central air now, it's just not something that I want to do in the summer.  Yet as soon as the temperatures start to change I can feel an itch.  I picked up some golden delicious apples up at the store the other day.  They are my favorite to bake with.  That and the kids love to eat them, so they never get wasted in our home.  I haven't decided yet what to make with them.  My favorite is by far apple crisp, DH is apple dumplings, or apple pie.  I love the taste of apple crisp the best, and the plus is it's SO easy to make!

 Today I noticed I had a few over ripe bananas, so the apples will have to wait.  Miss A and I enjoyed our morning alone now that C is in PreK and did some baking.  This is my favorite banana recipe.  It's the sweetest, most moist banana bread I've found.  It's even delicious made into muffins.  Just use the same recipe but instead of filling a bread pan, use cupcake liners and bake in a cupcake pan.  In the fall and winter I have a cake stand that I love to put muffins, cupcakes, cookies and the like in and have at easy reach.  Seems if I bake something and it is out of sight it always ends up wasted.  This way it makes my kitchen look nice, and is not getting forgotten about.  DH loves to come home to something freshly baked.  I'm sure he'll be pleasantly surprised to see that the baking has returned and will be digging into a piece of banana bread the second he walks through the door!

Here is the recipe I love so much for banana bread.

Banana Bread

2 cups flour
1 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour milk...you make sour milk by taking 1/2 cup reg milk and adding in 1 TB vinegar (this can be used to replace buttermilk in recipes also :)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
2 or 3 mashed bananas

Cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs and banana, mixing well.  Combine dry ingredients and add alternately with sour milk til batter is smooth.  Pour into greased/floured loaf pan.  Bake approx. 60-70 min at 350 degrees.