Friday Favorites

My dear friend Heidi, has been posting these on her family blog the past few weeks and I decided to steal the idea. I'm always interested in a post idea that is quick!

Please keep in mind that I have a terrible time picking a single favorite of anything. I am both too fickle and too indecisive to stick to one favorite ice cream flavor, song, book, or color. This means that I should be able to post lots of these Friday favorites over the weeks or months to come, because my favorites are vast and somewhat changing.

Anyhow, without further ado, here are a few of my favorites today:

Ice Cream? I don't want it this week unless it is vanilla bean, paired with my current favorite fruit in a pie, cider, turnover, crisp:


Favorite thing to curl up with this weekend (since my other favorite thing to curl up with will be in Tahoe):


As my eyebrows are ridiculously blond, this is my favorite item in my make-up bag (LM brow definer):


Favorite photo I've recently snapped (Isaac on his first birthday, eating a cupcake his aunt Michal made for him):

Favorite blog post I read this week: Suldog's Where I'm From. Read it and be touched and inspired to compose your own. Well done, Suldog!

Favorite thing I made this week: Whole Wheat Banana Bread. I really really adore this recipe and hadn't made it for a while. It is so very yummy. Here's the 4 loaf version (since I have a new/old mixer now). You can cut it in half for two loaves, but I recommend making the larger batch and freezing or giving away what you don't scarf down immediately.

• 5 cups whole wheat flour
• 4 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 cups sugar
• 4 cups smashed ripe bananas (about 6-8)
• 8 eggs
• 2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans, optional (I left them out because I wanted my kids to eat it this time. When I don't want to share with them, I always opt for the pecans.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 Celsius). Spray 4 loaf pans liberally.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, soda, and salt. Stir and toss together, then set aside.

In your stand mixer (you can also use a hand mixer), combine the butter and sugar and beat well. Beat in the banana, then the eggs. The mixture will look curdled. Stir in the nuts, if using. Add the dry ingredients and mix lightly in mixer or stir in just till blended.

Spread evenly into loaf pans. Bake for about 55 minutes, until a skewer or toothpick comes out clean. Cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from the pans. Try not to eat the entire loaf in one sitting.

What are your favorites this week?