It had been a few months since I’d made a loaf of my Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, so when we ended up with a couple of overripe bananas, I volunteered to mash those suckers and make a loaf of bread.
Before we get to the debacle, you need a little background. So, here goes. Our old loaf pans were nonstick and not that old, but already flaking (we also used them for meatloaf). So, I decided that since everything else in the kitchen was now stainless steel, I wanted stainless steel loaf pans. We bought them and they were gorgeous! While they looked a little small, they handled a meatloaf with no problem and the batter for the banana bread recipe fit in perfectly. Now, about that debacle.
I made banana bread while we were also doing some other cooking. (You know where this is going, right?) I was busy when the loaf finished its time in the oven. My wife took the loaf out of the oven and asked me what I thought. (In my defense, I was in the middle of chopping something else at the time). However, I stopped, poked the bread with a tester, and pronounced it done.
After the bread had cooled for ten minutes and was ready to be removed from the pan, I loosened the edges and flipped the loaf over onto a rack. It popped right out without even the chocolate chips sticking. Pat on back, job well done—until I turned it over to finish cooling.
Have you ever seen a loaf of banana bread split open like the earth’s crust in an eco-thriller movie? Let me tell you, it gets ugly. Batter oozing. Chocolate chips melting. Oh, and then there was my ego having its own meltdown on the countertop. I salvaged the bread by getting it into a pan and baking the crap out of it. (Okay, not actually, but it sure felt like it at the time!) The banana bread was delicious, it just looked…well, like a toppled skyscraper in that eco-thriller. Lessons learned—don’t rush the baking process and NEVER multitask while baking!
One thing I can guarantee you is that Marquetta, Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast’s cook (and soon-to-be wife of owner Rick Atwood) would never have this kind of baking disaster. She’s way too organized and a much better multitasker. But how about you? Have you got a baking disaster story you’d like to share? Leave a comment and let me know. And while you’re at it, click here to enter my Book Birthday Contest. The winner receives a $35 Amazon gift card. Use the bonus code #KraftyKillers and you’ll get three bonus entries!
A Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery, Book 6
The wedding of Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast owner Rick Atwood and Marquetta Weiss is only days away and the B&B is abuzz with excitement. But the mood changes when Rick’s daughter Alex does a little snooping. She overhears Henry Nicholas on his cellphone with his wife, and it’s not Tara, the woman who checked in as Mrs. Nicholas.
When Alex outs Henry at breakfast, Tara explodes. She demands Henry leave immediately. He checks into the town’s motel. But the next morning, Henry is found dead in his room. Rick and Police Chief Adam Cunningham investigate the death, focusing on Tara, who was seen outside the room at the time of the murder.
Alex is convinced Tara is innocent and starts investigating. The trail leads her to a rocky bluff over the ocean and a deadly showdown with a sociopath. There, the truth, and Alex’s life, hang in the balance.
