So before I provide a nice and semi novel-esque reason as to why, know this -- my love for this blog, for food, cooking, baking and creating has not dissipated! It's just been hindered by a few other [quite] monumental events... read on.... ;-)
First and foremost... I am now a proudly engaged woman to the most amazing man in the world, my fiancé Tony. June was our 5 year anniversary (crazy!), this handsome man did quite a bit of thinking and worked this lovely event right into our already planned vacation to Cozumel with his family. It was beautiful. There were tears. And of course, I said yes.
Next up... we have a house! That's right, the fiancé and I bought our first home and have been happy homeowners for a little over 2 months. We're absolutely loving it, veggies growing in our newly built planter boxes, sprinklers spraying water across our lawn. My kitchen -- yes...mine...and no, he won't argue that ;-) -- is just what I need to start back up on this blogging journey.
But, with every new house comes a new, well, a different oven. And well.... it's going to take a little getting used to. It's.... bananas!
I finally got the urge, that uncontrollable itch to bake. To gather all of my GF ingredients, a little sweetness and chocolate, and make something divine. With an overwhelming number of past-due bananas in the freezer, homemade banana bread was calling my name. I wanted to try a new recipe but wasn't quite up for the challenge of creating my own with the possibility of a failure, so, I came across this beauty and went to work -- Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Chunk and Walnut Banana Bread. Simple, quite easy to put together, the aroma while baking was irresistible.
And then, the fun began. I got up to check on this lovely loaf with about 5 minutes remaining on the timer. The top was puffed, getting pretty brown and firm to the touch - thank goodness I got up to check! I let it cool (as one should) for about 5 minutes before taking it out of the loaf pan and moving to my cooling rack. Waited a little longer before slicing into it to devour for my own tasting... piece #1: beautiful! Piece #2: wonderful! Piece #3: uh oh. The middle of my lovely loaf was, uncooked. Gasp! Of course, my red hair began to show, i.e. my temper. I felt defeated. Going so long without baking.... beginning again in a new oven.... I believe I actually said out loud, "Well, if ya don't use it ya lose it!" (slightly gritting my teeth). I put the broken loaf back into the hot oven for a while longer, hoping to save it.
Second try.... a little better but still... the middle was mush. At this point, I took out one of the done slices and devoured it. I mean, I should at least get to enjoy this disaster, right?
All in all, it was delicious. Sweet enough, full banana flavor, little bits of chocolate to satisfy that cocoa craving. It wasn't all bad! I then tried to salvage the rest. Breaking off the portions that were edible, building a pile of the goup back in the pan. Along the way... eating piece after piece in what I'm convinced was an emotional train wreck. I managed to save 4 full slices, with several other "pieces" that will be quite nice in the coming days when I wake up ravenous and am putting together my breakfast. I am sure that I ate at least 2 [large] pieces with all the nibbling here an there and let me tell you.... emotional train wreck eating.... not so pleasing to my stomach. Eh, oh well. Lesson learned.
What this silly event did do, was spark back my inspiration. Turned back on my kitchen gears and in the end, made me laugh quite a bit at how ridiculous the whole thing turned out.
In this life, we learn. We learn and we get inspired. We create, we fail, we create some more and then we succeed.
So get ready for plenty of recipes, photos and off-track stories to come your way. I'm back baby. Let's get cooking.