Banana Bread at Bedtime

It was bordering on Elli's bedtime, but I didn't care. A) I was tired of looking at the browning bananas. B) It was Friday night; she could stay up a little later. "Elli, let's make banana bread." "Banananah bed." Banana Bread 2/3 cup butter 1 1/2 cup sugar 1 2/3 cup flour 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon baking soda 4 tablespoons milk 2 eggs 2 bananas, mashed 1/3 cup pecans, crushed (optional) Preheat oven 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together in large bowl. Pour batter into greased loaf pan; bake 50-60 minutes, or until done. This recipe came from one of my mom's co-workers. It's one of those recipes that you never have to shift out of first; just my speed. And just the right choice when it's 30 minutes until bedtime and you still have to give your child her breathing treatments. Let me pause here and explain this piece of what makes Elli the glorious little Elli she is. A lung condition makes her airways very sensitive to the mildest of colds. Translation: at the first sign of running nose or cough, she goes on breathing treatments. For all parents out there, I probably don't need to point out that it is one nasty cold and flu season right now. For Elli, that means practically constant treatments. She doesn't mind them at all, so long as she has "Bubbles" (her nebulizer's mask shaped like a fish head) and DVD entertainment. Say what you will about kids watching TV, it works like a charm getting a toddler to sit still for 10 to 15 minutes. Lately she is hooked on her "etters" (letters) DVD. Coming full circle, I was pressed for time before Bubbles time. So, we set about preparing to make the "banananah" bread, getting out all the ingredients and measuring utensils. Then we turned to the banana mashing phase. "How many bananas, Elli?" "Sefen." "Two. Can you help me count to two?" We counted each banana as we put them into the stand mixer bowl, and she stood fascinated by the mixer paddle as it spun the bananas around into a mush. Next came the butter. I cut up the sticks into small chunks and showed Elli how to drop them in the bowl.

"OK, now the sugar," I said. "Soogur." "Sugar. Can you help me pour the sugar? We need to pour it into the bowl." I gently guided her hand onto the handle of the measuring cup and then helped her pour the sugar into the bowl. "Soogur!" she said with a smile. "Sugar," I confirmed. "Now it's time for the flour." Probably tripped up by the fact flour and sugar are the same color, Elli insisted that the flour was soogur. There was no convincing her otherwise. "Soogur, soogur," she said and put her finger into the bowl to gather some of the flour. "I'm not sure you're going to like that," I told her. I was wrong. The finger soon returned. I kept it from coming back by continuing to pour in the other ingredients, and then lowering the mixer into the bowl. The mixer paddle might as well have been a magic wand. Elli watched (at a safe distance) the paddle whirl around.

"Watch, Elli. Watch how it changes." The piles of ingredients slowly churned into a pleasant-smelling batter. "Mmm, smells good," I told Elli. "Good," Elli confirmed. The batter was mixed and it was time to pour, but a realized I had forgotten to set out a scrapper. Before I stepped over to the utensil drawer, I left Elli with the instructions to keep her fingers to herself. I don't know why I thought that would work.

"Now, Mommy is going to take this bowl and pour the batter into the pan." Elli reached her chubby little arms to help me pour out the batter, which she has down before, but not with the stainless steel bowl from the mixer. "Thank you, sweet girl," I told her. "Mommy will pour it. This bowl is heavy." "Bow Hefy," she said. "Right. Heavy. Watch Mommy pour." It was a lumpy batter, and I wondered if it was supposed to be that lumpy. I went with the self-comforting assumption that the lumps would bake out. Either way, Elli didn't seem to mind.

"Into the oven!" I announced when the batter had settled into the pan. As Elli snuck in more finger swipes off the mixer paddle, I put the bread in the oven. I was able to figuratively pry her away from the mixer by turning on the oven light for her to see the bread inside. What happened next, I captured in video:

Things Elli could do:

Count...bananas, scoops of sugar/flour, etc. Help dump ingredients into bowl Monitor bread baking through the oven window

Banana Bread Overall Ratings:

Elli-friendly cooking: 5 Elli-friendly eating: 5 Simple: 5 Fast: 4 (fast prep, long bake) Frugal: 5

Question of the Day: What would you allow your child to stay up late to do?