This version uses pecans, mini chocolate chips, flax seed, and 1/2 whole-wheat, 1/2 all-purpose flour.

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread
(from The San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook)

This recipe is from Flo Braker who writes about baking for the newspaper.

1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped toasted walnuts
1 cup mashed banana (about 2 medium bananas)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Adjust the rack in the lower third of the oven; preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the walnuts.

Combine the banana, eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla; add to the flour mixture. Stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 to 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the loaf comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then turn the loaf out onto a rack to cool completely.
Slice thinly to serve.

Serves 16

Trying on dresses at Spitafields Market in London. I snagged this gorgeous number for only £10.

Here are a couple of shots of the baby bump (at around 22 weeks.)

It has definitely become more pronounced in the last little while! I finally feel like I look pregnant. One thing I’ve noticed is that the dip in my tummy hasn’t smoothed out. I thought that pregnant bellies were always nice and round. Not mine. Perhaps the roundness will appear in the coming weeks. I’ll keep you posted. ;) 

Sorry this space has been silent. We arrived home on Saturday and besides nursing some nasty jet-lag I’ve been a flurry of activity. Most of this week has been filled with unpacking, sorting, purging, and reorganizing our whole house… I’ve been dreaming about it for months.

I am officially nesting!

One of the best things about being a mama so far has been the thoughtful gifts I’ve recieved from family and friends. At Christmas my mom gave me a little stamp that showed the size of our baby’s foot at ten weeks. Annie and Paul gave us a gorgeous Pierre Belvedere journal to put down our thoughts. And Avital sent me Mama Goddess tea in this lovely wrapped package! Even though I’m so far away I feel in a small way that I’m nesting.