Has anyone who is a newlywed ever had the argument where your spouse says something along the lines of: “that’s not how my mom made it?” I know for me and my husband that was a real struggle for us, at first! I would make something that didn’t quite fit the flavor or way that Steven’s mom (Jamie) had made it, and he would critique me. At first, this made me pretty upset. He liked his mother’s cooking more than mine!

Being a newer cook, at the time, this really smacked a blow on my confidence in the kitchen. I found myself only following Jamie’s recipes to the dot, so that my husband wouldn’t critique them as much. After a lot of long talks, some gentle encouragement by my parents, and some experimenting with my own recipes, we were able to learn something about food and our marriage.

I didn’t have to only cook his mother’s recipes, and over time Steven was willing to try new things. But, I also came to terms with the fact that Jamie is an AMAZING baker and cook, and there are certain things that she may always have me beat on. I had to realize that the food Steven’s mother made had a special place in his heart, and it reminded him of his home in Georgia – an entire country away. We learned that he needed to expand his taste buds, and I needed to accept where he came from. We met in the middle, and it worked out wonderfully! I've altered some of Jamie's recipes to make them my own, but I've also kept most of them the same in our family cookbook, as she really knows how to knock it out of the park.

So, in honor of Jamie and the place Steven grew up: Georgia, USA, I present to you Jamie’s Banana Nut Bread recipe.

I hope you enjoy! It’s delicious.

BANANA NUT BREAD

Recipe By: Jamie

Prep Time: 15 min Cook Time: 1 hour

Yields: 3 loaves

INGREDIENTS

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups sugar

2 sticks butter

7 RIPE bananas, mashed

Splash lemon juice

½ cup chopped walnuts

4 eggs

DIRECTIONS

1. Beat sugar and butter, until well blended. Add eggs and beat, until light and fluffy.

2. Add dry ingredients to a bowl and mix well, then add dry ingredient mixture to egg mixture and mix only until dry ingredients are incorporated into wet ingredients (like mixing pancakes).

3. Fold in mashed bananas and nuts.

4. Pour dough batter into 3 greased and floured bread pans.

5. Bake at 350° F, for about an hour (until a knife/skewer in the middle comes out dry). Depending on how your oven cooks, the bread might be done a little sooner or a little later.

6. Cool in pans for about 10 minutes, then turn out on wire racks to cool.

** Bread freezes well.

#Banana #NutBread #Baking