Cassie vs. the Winter, and how the Bananas saved Everything.

Winter, I’m tired of you.

The winter had stolen my appetite. I’d flipped, half-heartedly through my recent issue of Bon Appetit, the Greens’ Cookbook who’s spine I’d barely cracked. I’d even broken open CT's Vegetables, hoping that maybe the audacity of his recipes might inspire me.

Nothing.

Instead of appetite, I felt only apathy. Is it snowing, again?

Megan's three old bananas rotted away on our baker's rack, a testament to the death of all things living, a gastronomic eulogy for the green and spring and growing that I so desperately longed for...

But in these bananas - is it possible, dare I hope? - that I might find rebirth?

Black Tea-Scented Banana Bread

I've tried to make this chai infused bread eight million times, but always fail because, shockingly, bananas are much more obtrusive than you'd expect. And thus my cunningly flavored banana bread usually just turns out like plain old banana bread. But this time it worked! Three cheers for the bananas!

The base for this bread is based on a recipe from Bon Appetit.

1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp. baking soda
1 stick of butter at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3 very ripe bananas, mashed to smithereens
2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tbs. black tea leaves, gently crushed
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
a dash of freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup slivered almonds

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x5 loaf pan. Combine the sour cream and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside. It will become wonderfully fluffy and foamy, just you wait! Using a pastry cutter (or fine, if you're fancy, an electric mixer) to cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl; mix in eggs, bananas and sour cream mixture. Sift in flour and baking soda, and add tea and spices, and stir until well combined. Fold in almonds.

Spoon batter into the prepared pan, and bake until set in the center, I'd say about an hour. Cool at least 10 minutes. Dreaming of spring, enjoy a slice while still warm.