Today screamed for banana nut bread and a little father-son bonding time. The bananas were far too gone to eat and I can’t remember the last time I baked. It is strange to go through the cook books and written recipes and see Carrie’s handwriting. It is a pleasant reminder that she was once here. Yet even though I dug through everything looking for the recipe, I came up empty.
So the boy and I improvised. By improvising I mean I called grandma and asked for her recipe; Bisquick for simplicity, softened butter, eggs, vanilla extract, sugar, and nuts. The nuts are Pecans in our case, although I prefer walnuts. Carrie loved pecans and I still have several pounds to use up sooner or later. Hmmm. Do they ever go bad?
We put the ingredients together, including the well-ripened bananas, and then the boy took over. He likes running the mixer or, as he prefers, the manly term—crushing-everything-together-electrical-powered-mechanical-device. In either case, the individual ingredients were no longer distinguishable as the crushed/ground/pulverized mixture was then poured into a greased and floured loaf pan.
The pan was then inserted into our pseudo-lava infused molecular altering of victuals device set to 450.15 Kelvin and left for about 50 minutes. The result is a wondrously fragrant, superbly moist, and incredibly delicious loaf of banana nut bread.
Then the real bonding began—reaping the rewards of our labors. A lesson every young man should learn. Now, if we could just find someone to clean up the mess………… 😉
think relationally... 
I have a couple dozen cookbooks that sit on a shelf off the kitchen. Rarely is it I find it necessary to go looking for a recipe, I’ve been cooking for a gazillion years. BUT if I see something in a magazine or feel like eating something I’ve never cooked before I find it easier to go to the internet and do a search.
You can search the main ingredient or dinner for two or even find well known restaurants recipes!
I have to admit I don’t know if pecans go bad or not. I imagine if they are out of their shell they just might after a long period of time. Maybe refrigerate them? Oh heck with it! Use them! In pies and cookies, eat them on their own or with some fruits and yogurt. 🙂
When my daughter was learning to cook at the ripe age of 27 she would find elaborate recipes here or there (Food & Wine magazine was one fav source). It was interesting because I would read the recipe and give her hints on how to reduce the prepare/cook time. But she gained a new appreciation to all the meals I had cooked over the years and how much work but also love goes into meal prep for a family.
We would pick a theme a week. Pasta one week, or chicken or one month we got stuck doing colors. Everything has to be orange for instance. Orange chicken with curry rice…both kind of orange. That gets pretty challenging let me tell you to plan a well balanced meal of food that is all in the same color range. Food coloring wasn’t allowed! lol
There’s not a lot of things one can do as a bonding experience that is so fulfilling, fun, adventurous and filling as cooking with each other! I hope you continue to do so. Maybe branch out to different areas.