Therapy

I've been wallowing a little bit later...in self pity, in self criticism, in self loathing, in self consciousness. It's funny how these things a) come in waves, and b) tend to be slightly contagious. My two good friends have also been throwing themselves a bit of a pity party lately. It's not as if we don't have a thing in the world to complain about, but events which, under other circumstances, we might have been able to roll with, seem to be holding us up.

There is some dwelling going on.

So last night I decided to take matters into my own hands. It was time for some banana bread. I truly think that it is a cure all. Like chicken soup to a physical ailment, banana bread is equally comforting to the emotional self. And it's the whole experience of the bread...the smell of it baking, the slathering of the butter on the steaming slices, the ice cold glass of milk. I've always thought that if you have to have a serious conversation with someone, tell them bad news or whatever, you'd better have a loaf of banana bread in the oven. Real estate agents like the smell of coffee or baking cookies in an open house...I think they're missing the boat - banana bread would be far more effective. Walk into a house baking banana bread and you are immediately at ease, calm, warm.

I don't like bananas, truth be told. I don't like them because I am averse to their consistency. It makes me gag. Fruit should be juicy...not smushy. For a long time I thought I was weird for thinking like this...but just the other week I met a like minded individual - a kindred spirit. Anyways, my point is that I buy bananas, and put them directly in the freezer...cause then whenever it's time for the banana bread, all I have to do is pull them out and defrost them in the microwave.

I have my secrets to a good banana bread. First of all, I can't stand chunks of banana in the bread - see above. So I put them through my potato ricer - smooth like butter. And second of all I like my bread moist, so I add almost twice the required banana portion - but again, smooth not lumpy. The most important secrets are the spices: clearly cinnamon and lots of it, but the lesser known and more important, in my view, one is allspice. Allspice provides depth of flavor, and, most importantly, that dark caramel color to the loaf.

One of my favorite restaurants in Vancouver, Glowbal, serves banana bread with a cinnamon butter at its brunch sitting. It's one of my favorite things about this restaurant (also their Benny - rivals Fruits Folie...for sure) . But under ordinary circumstances, I think that banana bread is best hot with butter, and a cold glass of milk. Obviously if you are just removing it from the oven this is not a problem, but I've found that when it come to reheating, slices of banana bread stand up quite nicely in the toaster. And toasting also crunches up the crust rather nicely too.

Anyways, the banana bread definitely did the trick. The three of us polished off an entire loaf and a litre of milk, and then giggled our way through Grey's Anatomy, and played with the kitten. Terminated/suspended relationships were not mentioned even once.

And this morning, as I run the baking gear through the dishwasher, and tidy up my apartment, I am comforted to know that I still have a half a dozen bananas in my freezer: ready to be mobilized as soon as there is a need.