Meeting My Goddaughter-To-Be and a Banana Bread Recipe

Yesterday we drove to Kingston, Ont. (almost 2 hours from here) to visit our friends from church who just had a their forth child, a baby girl named Anna.  They've asked me to be her Godmother!  Her mother is a Chinese convert to Orthodoxy and her father is Russian.  We had a really nice visit with them all!  Here is a photo of the two papas with their girls:

 

I made banana muffins to bring to them using a recipe (below) from the Food for Paradise cookbook (original recipe is for Banana Bread).  I made them with tahini which added a nice nutty flavor.  I wish I had added chocolate chips though!  They really make it delicious!  I poured the batter into these nifty cupcake holders (on right) that my sister (Thanks, Martha!) had given me. They do not require the use of a muffin or cupcake pan as they no not collapse with the batter. So I stuffed them all on a baking sheet to bake. Some of them turned out in sort of funny shapes from being squashed next to each other.

Here is the finished product!

I really recommend this recipe during Lent!  I try to look for old bananas in the grocery store when they have produce marked down (usually I can get about 7-8 for $1).  I throw the bananas in the freezer when I get home and pull them out when I want to make Banana Bread.  

Lenten Banana Bread
from Food for Paradise

1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oil (or tahini for oil free)
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup (2 or 3) mashed bananas
1/2 cup chopped nuts and or chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°.  Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Beat together oil, sugar, water, and banana.  Add flour mixture to banana mixture.  Stir in nuts or chocolate if using.  Pour into greased loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes or until done.  Cool in pan for 15 minutes.