Thursday, January 2, 2014

If I Knew You Were Coming

If I knew you were coming, San Geraldo would have baked a cake. And I would have washed up after him. Instead, San Geraldo baked six loaves of banana bread, six loaves of cranberry-orange bread, and six loaves of date spice bread (three loaves at a time). And I washed up after him... every time. The breads are incredible, as is San Geraldo.




Slushee's son, Antony, (click here if you don't know who Slushee is) tasted the banana bread and decided he deserves his own personal loaf. Little did he know, San Geraldo baked a batch of banana muffins to test the recipe. Antony will get those "testers" as well.

San Geraldo and I have sampled the cranberry orange bread (my favorite) and the date spice bread (my favorite). The Date Spice Bread is supposed to be Date Nut Spice Bread, but San Geraldo hates nuts. And, although I love nuts, I'm not complaining. We haven't tried the banana bread (made with Canary Island bananas that are out of this world), because San Geraldo, like I said, is a saint.

THE SAINT.  RELEASED FROM THE KITCHEN FOR NEW YEAR'S EVE.

Speaking of saints, I haven't had any chocolate since New Year's Eve... OK, only because that's when I ran out and all the stores were closed New Year's Day. But still...

DATE SPICE BREAD. (THE DATES WERE SOAKED IN COINTREAU.)
A LOAF OF CRANBERRY-ORANGE BREAD.
LESS THAN A LOAF OF CRANBERRY-ORANGE BREAD.

Speaking of Slushee
Christmas Eve Day, while San Geraldo and I were enjoying our usual morning coffees, a woman passed by that made Slushee gasp and say, "I've been de-slushed!"

I'M JUST JEALOUS BECAUSE SHE HAS HAIR.

ANTONY SCORES! (ON HIS FÚTBOL APP)
(CHRISTMAS DAY WITH SLUSHEE, DARREN, AND ANTONY.)
DARREN... 
SAN GERALDO AND DELIGHTFUL, DELIRIOUS...  DESLUSHEE.

The Recipes (for the bread, not the pink hair)

Best Banana Bread from food.com
(http://www.food.com/recipe/best-banana-bread-2886)

Cranberry-Orange Quick Bread from chow.com
(http://www.chow.com/recipes/29110-cranberry-orange-quick-bread)

Date Nut Spice Bread from foodnetwork.com
(http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/date-nut-spice-bread-recipe/index.html)

27 comments:

  1. Love the cranberry orange combination - going to try the recipe! Much love to you and Jerry and a very happy 2014!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Carole:
      You'll love it! Jerry used to make cranberry-pumpkin bread that we really liked. But, no pumpkin filling here, so he found a new recipe. We liked it even more. Happy 2014 to you, Todd, and the "kids."

      Delete
    2. I can send you some canned pumpkin puree, if you like. Its plentiful here,

      Delete
    3. Carole:
      Thanks. But we simply adapt!

      Delete
  2. My favorite is cranberry orange bread! You lucky man, all those loaves are great substitute for that chocolate. Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheapchick:
      Substitute??? Can't I have my cake... and chocolate, too?

      Delete
  3. Look at you, giving us a post with recipes! :) Man, oh, man, that's a LOT of baking and cleaning up. Hats off to you two.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Judy:
      I was very impressed with myself. San Geraldo is back in the kitchen baking up another batch of cranberry-orange bread (and I'm about to head back in to do clean-up round 1 as they go into the oven).

      Delete
  4. I'm indifferent to banana bread but LOVE date nut bread and orange cranberry breads. I agree that the absence of nuts is sad but what the heck, they are still scrumptious!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ms. Sparrow:
      The date/spice bread has a nutty taste even without the nuts. But they'll all "do" just fine!

      Delete
  5. Ann Kolita (Slushee)02 January, 2014 19:54

    I may have to hide the banana bread if Darren and I are to even get a sniff of it!! We enjoyed Christmas day and also New years day lunch. looking forward to doing it again next year. xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Slushee:
      We can always give YOU the muffins for Antony... but then you're on your honor.

      Delete
  6. Do you freeze it for later?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Andrew:
      Yes, we (as in San Geraldo) freeze them as soon as they've cooled.

      Delete
  7. What a good 'bake team' you guys make!
    Those 'breads' look wonderful! The Date/Nut/Spice sounds up my alley!
    Now, one thing Mitchell......I really hope you are singing this song around the apartment while San Geraldo is working away in the kitchen!! I SO remember this tune....love it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jim:
      Sadly, we BOTH sing that song every time San Geraldo bakes. I've course, I sing the correct words...

      Delete
  8. Are you two going on a bread-eating orgy? Was there a sale on flour? And, now, dammit, that darned song keeps going through my head... I don't even have to play your video, I'm so old I remember the original. Seriously, if I could swim, I might consider trying to swim the ocean to get to that cranberry bread.... wait a minute... I'm on the Pacific side now. Oh well... enjoy it for me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sharon:
      Sale? What's that? Don't all the oceans eventually connect? We'll wait.

      Delete
  9. Mrs. C. make banana nut bread occasionally and I love to hold a loaf in my hands and feel the warmth when she pops it out of the pan and wraps it up.

    ReplyDelete
  10. You are truly amazing! How did you know when you were writing this post that the first question that came to my mind was whether you were using Canary Island bananas and how well did they translate into a quickbread recipe developed for other bananas?

    Thank you for your tireless efforts in advancing culinary science! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Will J:
      Aren't Canary Island bananas amazing? And the flavor carries over to the bread. Better than ever.

      That's me... a culinary scientist...

      Delete
  11. The Date "without nut" Spiced Cake is outstanding! Its my new favourite breakfast dish

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tynan:
      You won't believe the latest batch (maybe he'll make more...). Medjool dates and raisins. Unbelievable. And doesn't Elena HATE raisins? No competition!

      Delete
  12. What's the recipe to make me a Darren?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Spo:
      Slushee says she'd be glad to ship off the one-and-only, if you'll pay postage.

      Delete

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