Saturday, March 29, 2008

Lyndsay's Victory Lap Banana Bread!

Bananas very rarely manage to ripen in my favourite orange veg and fruit hanger (circa 1969). However, for whatever reason, this week has seen a decrease in the number of bananas appearing in oatmeal.

This morning, I found myself, a wide awake Vegan CowGirl, with a load of nearly nasty bananas. What does a Vegan CowGirl do with a load of nearly nasty bananas? Obviously she makes banana bread. Now. Let me tell you. There were many, many, many attempts to make banana bread back home. It was, after all, one of my omni-mom's best kept secrets (psst: lemon zest, sour cream and cream cheese...sorry mom).

Despite dedication to reinvention, I was never satisfied with what came out of my Ontario oven. Many moons have come and gone since I felt capable enough to battle the banana bread god (desses), but, perhaps with the support I feel from this wonderful vegan blogging community, I was able to champion my demons and from out of my Belgian oven and onto K's plate came a steaming and delicious slice of LYNDSAY'S VICTORY LAP BANANA BREAD.

I share my disasters (see last post) and my victories. Raw Raw Roar.

The recipe was one I fiddled with from Isa's never ending plethora of foodie knowledge. I omitted the fat, went with apple sauce, cut down the sugar, but added dates (I quite liked the ones on top). K reports a crispy top, moist, yet firm interior and an apartment that smells oh so sweet. (come on K that is obviously ME!)

I served the bread with our usual morning tea (No, not the uber-expensive (read: over priced) tea we bought from the tea shoppe which in turn inspired last night's disaster).

10 comments:

Liz Ranger (Bubble Tea for Dinner) said...

that looks SO good, I love the dates on top!

psst, and I tagged you to reveal 5 Things about yourself. :D

Rural Vegan said...

Just adding the dates on top is like a whole new take on banana bread, I love it!

Anonymous said...

WOW! That looks so good!! =) Great work!!

ah said...

Your blog is my new favourite cookbook! Amelie says dates are the new raisins!

Lindsay (Happy Herbivore) said...

oh yum~! I love banana bread but I am going nuts over the dates on top. Not only does it spice up a boring looking bread, I bet the flavors marry well!

p.s. We didnt like the curry at all! your way sounds so much better!

J said...

That bread looks fantastic! I love banana bread so much! Mmmm, that looks like a COMPLETE success. You can come to Missouri and make that for me ANYTIME, seriously, I wouldn't mind at all....

VeganCowGirl said...

Thanks Liz! I will be sure to get on the tag....darn it! I read yours - totally great to see your art! Excellent stuff.

Thanks Rural....its all about new takes!!!

Jennifer - I am on my way to Missouri RIGHT now. :) I will even bring some Belgian chocolate with me. No waffles though...can't seem to find a Belgian vegan waffle to save my life.

Romina - thanks loads! It is super duper tasty.

Amelie - you have NO IDEA.

laura k said...

Hi!

I got your comment a week or so ago--sorry I'm just now getting back to you but life has been pretty crazy for me over the last couple of months...

So you're going to be in Atlanta? I think it's a pretty vegan-friendly little town, if you know where to look. I don't know what part of town you will be in--my guess would be downtown--which doesn't exactly have the most to offer. If you get the chance, you should check out Cafe Sunflower (www.cafesunflower.com)--it's a vegetarian/almost vegan restaurant in the north end of town that serves fabulous entrees and a nice variety of vegan desserts. That would be my number one recommendation.... There are several veggie places listed on Happy Cow in the Atlanta area, but unfortunately I haven't been able to visit them all yet! If you get the chance, though, also stop by Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe (www.cosmosveganshoppe.com). It's a neat little retail store with some unique products.

I've been to a lot of the restaurants around town with my company, and though most of them don't exactly have vegan-friendly menus, I have never had a problem getting an elegant and tasty vegan meal. That's an option for you, if you find yourself going to a restaurant with a group and you don't know what you're going to find there. I usually call the places in advance, if I can...

Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions. I hope your trip goes well! And thanks for visiting my blog! :)

Abram said...

I also tried modifying Isa's banana bread, but while the house smelled wonderful all evening, the bread itself was a disaster. The batter had been too thick and it was hard as an over-baked pie crust. Yuck!

I have two bananas getting very ripe, so I will have to give it another go.

I'm a little jealous right now.

VeganCowGirl said...

Abram, I will be sure to pack up some banana loaf and cheese cake and ship it to Guelph ASAP.

In the mean time, head to the cornerstone down town - over the christmas holiday, while K and I were home visiting my parents, we had some of the BEST vegan chocolate cheese cake...and the girl gave us the remaining cake FOR FREE!!! How nice.

They have other great nummies too. But I am sure you have visited....ohhh...have you been to the salsatieria??? Best vegan burritos ever. Later skater.