A hail storm swept through Saturday evening and wiped out half the garden. No pictures as I was both dazzled by nature's beautiful power and saddened as pieces of damaged flowers fell to the ground. Windows rattled and the pounding upon the roof made it impossible to hear anything except the hail.
The storm didn't last long, and the damage was confined, surprisingly, to the yards. As the torrent subsided, we opened the doors to let in the cool air, courtesy of the giant bits of ice balls everywhere. What struck me most was how the air—all around—smelled like Christmas, as if the branches on every pine tree were sliced open to release their fragrance.
A lot of back-aching clean up started at 6:00 am the next morning, but I'm not too disheartened because I know everything will grow back healthy and even more beautiful than before. Thankfully, the roses were, for the most part, spared, and of course, my dependable heather plants came through with barely a scratch.
And since hail storms and sweet-scented Pondersa pines have nothing to do with banana bread, onward to the books and bread.
The books of Lori Benton and Elizabeth Camden are featured prominently in this post. Both are wonderful authors whose stories I have spent many hours enjoying.
Whatever your choice of reading material, a slice of this moist banana bread will pair with it nicely. This is a recipe I have used for twenty-plus years, and do not recall from where the original came. I find most banana bread recipes variations are similar. I like these best as mini loaves or muffins, and of course, they come out great baked in full loaf pans.
Did you know that banana bread is the most widely-searched bread recipe? Seriously, I didn't know, but King Arthur Flour put together an interesting bit of history on banana bread that you can read here. Since I need to spend my research time on post-Civil War Montana and not on banana bread, I defer to their post. If you like to bake and like history, then it's worth a read.
Speaking of research, and writing, I better get back to both. The recipe link is below, and I hope you enjoy it!
Try the banana bread recipe!
Until next time, be well, be kind, and stay bookish!