2 Good Things About Winter: Banana Bread + Box Forts

A friend and I were speaking today about some of our favorite things about winter because this time of year, it's easy to get a bit depressed about the whole thing.

Cold weather can force you to stay indoors and find enjoyment in the simple things in life, we agreed.

Two of those simple things for me are big box forts and baking.

The kids who live across the street brought this huge box over last week. So much fun has been had inside! The mail has been delivered, the baby put to sleep, Santa has come with presents down the chimney, toys have been arranged and read to... all of a sudden everything is fun, just because it's done in a box!

I have a big box memory to share...

I was playing at a friend's house one day when they had a new kitchen appliance delivered. My friend and I and his two older brothers took the huge box to the top of the stairs, climbed in and slid down the wooden staircase. I think we only made it down once before we were found out and lost our box privileges. We were pretty proud of ourselves for having made it down the stairs before we got caught. I still remember quite vividly our looks of astonishment and laughter as we made our descent.



Banana bread is one of the ultimate winter comfort foods! I've been making it a fair bit lately. Over the years, I've experimented with a bunch of different recipes.

Here is my recipe that has come about from all those years of practice.

Banana Bread

DRY
2 cups spelt flour
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon

WET
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar (I used demerara)
1/2 cup of any kind of milk (I used almond)
zest of 1 orange
2 tsp. vanilla

*combine wet and dry until just mixed*

ADD
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped medjoul dates

Directions

Pour batter into a well greased loaf pan
Bake at 350 for about 50 minutes
Continue to bake until a toothpick can be inserted and comes out clean
Leave loaf in the pan for a few minutes before removing to cool



Hopefully we'll be up to more of my favorite winter things this week, like making snowmen and hot cocoa! I hope you are enjoying some of your favorite winter things this week too!

♥ Andrea ♥