Nanner Bread

I currently await a finished loaf of banana bread, based on my friend Linsey's recipe. In my bread maker, if the fucking thing doesn't set itself on fire. (First time user; I turned it on without cleaning out the oven part beforehand. That was stupid.)

I veganized it by using Spectrum Vegetable Shortening, egg replacer, coconut milk with lemon juice to ape buttermilk, and vegan chocolate chips. (I'm not a vegan--I could never give up my cheese and occasional omelets--but I rarely keep any eggs or dairy other than cheese and yogurt in the fridge.) So far the edges have risen and cooked more than the middle, which scares me despite the fact that I'm less than twenty minutes into baking it.

My sweet new (to me) KitchenAid C-3 mixer also made its usage debut this evening. I found the mixer without accoutrements at a thrift shop for next to nothing, then bought a second, non-working mixer of the same model on eBay for parts. Happiness is that faint yellow hunk of metal, probably older than my mother, sitting on the small red table I keep in the kitchen as makeshift counter space. Chicago apartments criminally lack kitchen counters.

The thing about gluten-free bread is that the dough is often not doughy at all. This batter was much more fluid than most breads. There are exceptions--the artisan crusty bread I made at Christmas last year was a fairly firm lump before I tossed it into the dutch oven. (Yeah, I snicker too whenever I see it.)

I hope this shit is edible. I'm going to cast on for my new knitting project (GAH! Blog crossover!) and await the next forty minutes with patience, drafty windows, and the Kinks. If this goes well, perhaps I'll begin saluting autumn's onset with a sweet, crusty loaf of banana bread each year.