We had planned on an addition/kitchen remodel in the near future. Unfortunately with the state of things right now, and the financial uncertainties of the future, we've decided to postpone most likely a few years.

While I am sad, I also decided that it doesn't mean we couldn't do a refresh. The goal was to build a kitchen, cash only, not dipping into any kind of savings. I believe the term is "shoe string" budget. 

Adding to this problem? We're in a global pandemic, you can't just go to a store and get stuff. So I've been relying on a combo of materials I had on hand and whatever Amazon was willing to deliver. I decided to do everything possible from scratch to save even more. Here's where we are at one month in.

My grandmother's banana bread is unparalleled. Unfortunately she refuses to give the recipe to anyone. She claimed to have given it to my aunt, but I believe it was a fake. Oh those grandmothers and their secret recipes!
 
I've long given up trying to replicate hers and instead have spent some time making different ones. 
 
Quarantine has brought about an abundance of overripe bananas in our house. I decided to challenge myself to make a banana bread from scratch, using what I had, but try to elevate it some way. I ended up making a banana cake of sorts, it had the flavor of banana bread and the texture of a piece of cake it isn't really one or the other so maybe it's a banana brake (Can you tell I need to get out of my house?. I bet you have all the ingredients I used. This hit the spots; sweet, nutty, and comforting. ​

In trying to keep a sense of normalcy around here, I thought I would take some time to do a cookbook review, this being Saturday and all!
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With everyone being stuck at home, I know that many people have increased their cooking and baking. I've been thinking about why this is, but I think in part it's because there is an extreme sense of comfort to be derived from being in the kitchen. The world feels very overwhelming right now, and things feel a bit out of control. But cooking? You can control that. If you whisk eggs and cream and butter, you know what you're going to get. There's comfort in that.

For this week's review I've selected the Magnolia Table cookbook from Joanna Gaines. I am reviewing her first book as she has her second one coming out this week.