Starting School With a Smile, or, How To Get Your Neighbor To Call You a Goddess

     Geez, it's been a while.  There is nothing like the brain/bandwidth/energy/space sucking effect of completely destroying your kitchen as a DIY project to subsume almost everything else.  That has been my summer.  Garden has gone to hell.  No trips, no vacations, not much cooking, nothing to post.  Except the progress of the kitchen.  The result is FANTASTIC.  It's not done (yet) but the kitchen is completely functional, and pumping out dinners, breakfasts, canned applesauce, tomato sauce, and baked goods.  I love my kitchen!  I am baaaaack, and starting to calm down all over the place.  Wahoo!  I have even planned a long weekend trip to visit my friend Katie!
     The kitchen progress is another post.  This post is about cake.  This cake is a stalwart backbone of my baking repertoire, and never fails to please.  Bryce loves it, even though it has nuts in it.  My neighbor loves it.  It keeps well.  It travels well.  It serves well for breakfast, dessert, snack.   I can hardly recall where I obtained this recipe, but did the due diligence to google it, and I am betting Sunset is my source.  Their source is a place called Aravaipa Farms.  All well and good, but I am here to say that I have doctored, nay, nursed (hah!) this to a different recipe:  tweaked it so much, that it only somewhat resembles the original recipe.  You can google it with the above references if you want the original recipe, but why bother?  This is the one that will get you called a goddess.
     It will also send your kid out of the house with a smile on her face, this first day of school.  I am choosing to believe that this is at least partly due to the cake, and not to the fact that the strike is over, and the serious socializing---er, learning---can now begin!
     I have made this in a pan before, but find it turns out better in a tube pan.   I could see it working well in individual bundt pans if you have them but adjust baking times accordingly.

Morning Banana Cake

(adapted heavily from Sunset's recipe from Aravaipa Farms)

1 1/2 c. white flour

1 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. chopped walnuts

1 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

Stir together and set aside.

1 1/2 c sugar

1 c. mashed bananas

1T vanilla

Mix in a medium bowl, then add:

2 eggs

1/2 c. melted butter

Then add the following, alternating with the flour mixture, until moistened:

1/2 c. applesauce

1 c. buttermilk, or yogurt mixed with milk

Pour into a buttered tube pan, bake at 350F until a long skewer comes out clean and cake pulls from the pan sides, 50-60 minutes.  

Cool x 15 minutes, then remove from pan.  Serve warm or cool, and wait for the accolades to come.