Still on the roller coaster
Dear friends,
We made it through August! Not a huge number of heat advisory days here in Minnesota, but quite a lot of storms, and those don't typically disappear with fall here. So we're braced for (hey ho) the wind and the rain. This is not a metaphor. Unless it is.
I've sold eight stories in this tumultuous summer. Is that a lot? Yes, it is a lot. Nor do I feel like I've come to an end of the really productive period I've been in, so...don't take your seatbelts off yet, folks, we're still on this ride. Two more stories are coming out just in this week alone.
Meanwhile here's August's publication: Denebian Glamour's Hot or Not for the Next Millennium in Nature Futures. Sure, you've read trend pieces before--endlessly, in fact--but did they tell you what condiment goes with sandworms and whether you live in the trendy part of the galaxy? I think not. This story actually came from a rant I was delivering in the group chat about one of the items on this list and just...grew from there. (You work in this field long enough, you'll develop OPINIONS about the tropes. "Long enough" may be five minutes, that's up to you.)
We're in the middle of a family-rich week here, lots of low-key time with people I love, which is great for me, less great for the length of newsletter I'm interested in writing. So I'll just sign off with my grandma's recipe for banana bread and catch you again with more stories in a month.
Excelsior,
Marissa
I've tried six or seven other banana bread recipes, and many of them were fine, even good, but they're not actually as good or as versatile as Grandma's. When our neighbors had a baby this spring, I dropped a loaf on the doorstep and texted them so as not to wake anybody up with the doorbell if they could possibly be sleeping. They sheepishly wrote back a few months later saying that they were craving it and would I possibly share the recipe? I would. I will. Here it is.
Grandma's Banana Bread
1/2 c. butter
1 c sugar
2 eggs
2 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1/8 t. salt
1 T. sour milk (I never have this, so I use milk with a squirt of lemon juice, and it comes out fine.)
3 mashed bananas
Optional: 1/2 c. chopped nuts (Walnuts are great here if no one has a walnut allergy--I do, and I'm not the only one in our family--so I tend to use pecans. Almonds are also good. You can also substitute chocolate chips, blueberries, or raspberries, depending on your inclinations and what you have on hand. Blueberries and raspberries tend to make it less purely a BANANA bread per se, but not in a bad way, just in a different way.)
Cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in 1 egg at a time. Mix in dry ingredients. Add nuts (if using), milk, and bananas. Pour into greased, floured loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour depending on your oven and how dark you like your crust.
Freezes well.