What to do on a rainy day...

Well, what not to do is take the dog out before 8am and get absolutely soaked!  You know that the weather is bad when not even your 9 month old puppy is keen to go out!

Old bananas = banana bread...ta dah!

Instead, a much better thing to do is to use up the squishy old bananas that have been lurking in the fruit bowl to make banana bread...mhhhhm! I can see a slice of this with a hot mug of tea in my near future...The funny thing about this weather is that instead of wanting summer foods like salads, I am now craving casseroles and looking forward to making Christmas cake...that is just wrong in July, isn't it?



Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 285g/10oz flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  
• ½ tsp salt
• 110g/4oz butter plus extra for greasing
• 225g/8oz caster sugar
• 2 free-range eggs
• 4 ripe bananas, mashed
• 85ml/3fl oz buttermilk (or normal milk mixed with 1½ tsp lemon juice or vinegar)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
  
  Method:
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
     
  2. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large mixing bowl.
     
  3. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
     
  4. Add the eggs, mashed bananas, buttermilk and vanilla extract to the butter and sugar mixture and mix well. Fold in the flour mixture.
     
  5. Grease a 20cm x 12.5cm/8in x 5in loaf tin and pour the cake mixture into the tin.
     
  6. Transfer to the oven and bake for about an hour, or until well-risen and golden-brown.
     
  7. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
     Optional: top loaf with lemon icing once cooled (made by mixing icing sugar with lemon juice)
     
  
  
(original recipe from BBC Good Food website)