Banana Bread-the comeback story
Now that my daughter is married and my son is almost 20 I understand Empty Nest syndrome. They don't really need much from me anymore. This is not a pity party, just a statement of fact and I'm ecstatic they can take care of themselves. Isn't that the eventual goal of all good parenting, to have your child be able to stand on their own? Even while they were growing up, so was I, and it makes me very proud to look at them now as adults and see how wonderful they turned out. Everyone knows kids don't come with handbooks but if you are paying attention, you begin writing your own. It starts out as umm, "note to self" and then it becomes a novel, your bible, and eventually, your scrapbook of memories. I'm still creating memories but now it's hard to find time in our busy lives to get together as much as I like. Having discovered that food is the one draw that continues to pay off I use that knowledge to my full advantage whenever possible. I tease my son about his dinner radar. He seems to appear, sometimes without warning, exactly when dinner is ready. There are days when I can text him with one word: dinner? And, just like that, the trap is baited. It's wonderful to sit and have him fill me in on the details of his day and really get to just enjoy his company. My daughter is a little harder to bribe with food. She doesn't trust me because I cook like a Southerner. My favorite recipes come from Paula Deen's cookbook, including one for Banana Bread. It used to be one of my daughter's favorites too until she found out the recipe called for shortening, she refused to eat it anymore because she said it had lard in it. Just for the record, I used vegetable shortening and Crisco claims it's 50% less saturated fat than butter and Kosher for Passover. Turns out my son-in-law loves the stuff! Not the lard, the Banana Bread. When my daughter was saving for "The Wedding", I offered to cook dinner to help stretch their budget. A couple nights a week she would come by with her then fiancé, now my favorite son-in-law, for dinner. They were really appreciative and thought I was doing them a favor but in fact it was just part of my master plan. I love those dinners and learned the key to my son-in-law's heart was also through his stomach. One night we were talking about some favorite childhood foods and when banana bread came up I offered to make some. My son-in-law became a fan and my campaign to lure my kids home with food continued. As soon as I put a batch in the oven, I send him a text: "Banana Bread" and he appears, sometimes without warning, to pick it up. Even though it's not the same thing as being needed, it's nice to make them happy. And, it may be a peculiar trait but, feeding them makes me happy.
I've made adjustments to the original recipe to make it a little healthier after all I don't want to fatten up my son-in law-he's always watching his figure!
SweetlySaid Banana Bread : http://sweetlysaid.blogspot.com/2011/08/banana-bread-comeback-story.html
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