Banana and Chocolate Loaf, Anna-Style

Step 1: For a few days, look with concern at banana supply.  Note how many there are, and how many will be eaten before they get to the very ripe stage.  Realise that there will be a couple too ripe to eat, unless consumption increases to more than one a day.  (Unlikely).

Step 2:  Google kiwi fruit recipes (there being a bag of about 6 kiwi fruit in the fridge).  There are only 11 recipes listed on taste.com.au.  Type 'banana' into the search box.  24 pages come up.  After a few recipe readings, decide that this one looks like a winner.  Start playing a suitable album (in my case, The Resistance by Muse).

Step 3:  Assemble ingredients on bench-top, left to right.  Find that there's really not much self raising flour left, so bring out the plain flour and baking powder as well.  Find that there's really not much brown sugar left either, so bring out the caster sugar as well.  Of course, don't worry about lightly beating the eggs just yet.

Step 4:  Actually read the method listed in the recipe.  Read it again to work out which lot of ingredients really needs a large bowl, and which can get by with a regular mixing bowl.  Preheat oven to 170C; grease and line a 10x20cm loaf tin.

Step 5:  Set up sieve over large mixing bowl.  Carefully measure out a cup of self raising flour, transfer to sieve.  Really carefully, fill the 1/2 cup measure with self raising flour, transfer to sieve.  Do a little happy dance because you have exactly the right amount of flour.  Remember that you are a messy baker and don an apron.  Sift flour into bowl.  Measure 1/3 cup brown sugar, add to flour.  Measure remainder of brown sugar (not really 1/3 cup, more like 1/6 cup) and top up with raw caster sugar, add to flour.  Ponder the differences in squishability between the 2 sugar types. Add 1/4 teaspoon mixed spice and 1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda to flour.  Mix it all together using the 1/2 teaspoon measure, knowing it's not the most efficient method but it's in your hand.  Make a well in the centre.

Step 6:  Crack eggs into medium mixing bowl and give them a little whisk with a fork.  Pour in 1/2 cup milk and 1/3 cup olive oil, checking several times that you have the right measuring cup and the right amount according to the recipe.  Give it a bit more of a whisk.

Step 7:  Peel the first banana, break it into large chunks in the 1 cup measure.  Note that it doesn't come to much.  Peel the second banana, break it into large chunks in the 1 cup measure.  Note that, together, they don't come to much, definitely not the 3/4 cup listed in the recipe, more like 1/2 cup if you're feeling generous.  Mash with a fork but don't be too diligent.  Add banana, what there is of it, to egg mix.

Step 8:  Resist taste-testing any of the dark chocolate melts.  Break them into smaller bits (my new favourite method - stack a few at a time the same way between fingers, press with thumbs).  Reminisce on a lovely former student who brought you choc chip cookies, freshly baked from food tech, with these larger choc bits.  Fill 1 cup with dark chocolate, add to egg mix.  Go to pantry.  Contemplate using some Lindt 85%.  Reconsider.  Spy the Cadbury baking white chocolate.  Decide it's a better option than using the super good stuff.  After opening the packet and breaking off a chunk, discover it's much harder to break into chunks than the dark melts.  Find a board and a knife and start chopping.  Don't resist taste-testing.  Eat a few pieces to ensure no tainted bit is put into the mix.  Once full rows have been chopped, find you have about 3/4 cup white chocolate, add it to egg mix (if you must, justify the extra chocolate with the reduced banana quantity, even though you know it's more a texture thing than a solid amount thing).  Mix a bit with fork, trying belatedly to reduce the size of banana bits.

Step 9:  Pour banana mix into flour mix, folding gently until just combined.  Spoon into prepared loaf tin, mixing the last bit of flour at the bottom that you always miss when the method says 'until just combined'.  Put tin into oven, bake for 45 minutes.  Refer to loaf as Chocolate (with banana) Loaf.  Test with a skewer and find chocolatey batter at point.  Put tin back into oven, lick chocolatey batter from skewer, bake for another 5 minutes.  Remove from oven, test successfully with skewer, turn off oven, leave loaf to cool in tin for about 5-10 minutes.

Step 10:  Slice loaf, note the softness of the loaf and the amount of chocolate that appears on the knife.  Hmm.  Cut another slice.  Take some photos, until the steam fogs up the camera lens.  Place slices on plates, enjoy.  Plan to maybe have a slice tomorrow, then slice the remainder and freeze so you don't pig out over the next couple of days.  You know what you're like.  After writing the above, download photos and find none really suitable.  Slice a few more, take some more photos - fog-free! - and find one you like.  Upload to blog.

Ponder what to do with the freshly cut slices.  As it's fish and chips for dinner tonight, be good!

Today's daily photo:

Our first sunny day in ages.  Having had a run this morning, I put on a load of washing.  Back in pajamas, lounging on the sofa, I heard the washing machine finish.  First-world problem:  I wanted to put my washing on the line outside, but I didn't want to get out of my pajamas.  Stuff the neighbours.  I put the washing on the outside line while still in pajamas.  As soon as I pulled up the line, my eyes were dazzled by an array of glistening drops.  I have many photos with water features.  One thing I like about droplet photos (and even, the droplets themselves when you look at them closely) - inverted worlds, in miniature.