Sage Banana Bread for Transitioning Out of Negativity
Maybe on some unconscious level we all know that bananas represent transition and that’s why everyone baked banana bread at the beginning of the pandemic.
My life entered a major transition period at the end of June. I was let go from my job of almost 7 years. It’s obviously been a difficult time. I thought I would be there forever, and had been told I would be. But things happen and budgets change.
I deal with a lot of things through baking, including change. It’s important to me to move forward and this recipe is my way of honoring that. Let’s get to the recipe and the intention behind the ingredients.
If you want to get a little witchy, click on each ingredient to see the intention behind it.
-
Bananas often represent transition. Regardless of how I wished things were different, I needed to accept that I was transitioning into a new era.
The natural bright sweetness they bring to foods was important, as well. I wanted to stave off any bitterness that I was feeling.
-
You can use more or less sage here. If you want to use dry sage, use 2 tablespoons.
Sage is always good to use in cooking when you want to cleanse yourself of negative emotions.
For me, this sage was particularly special. I started growing a balcony garden this year. It’s helped my spririt. There’s something special about using items you’ve grown yourself. It feels like you are putting more of you in the food.
OF course, if you don’t have fresh, store bought is fine.
-
I’m sure I could write some profound thing about the intentions of baking with sugar, but let’s be for real, it’s here because it has to be.
-
Flour in baking. Groundbreaking.
-
Gotta help those good intentions rise up!
-
Banish those demons and also blah blah blah cooking is chemistry
-
The olive oil in the bread is different, I know. But, I’ve wanted to use it in baking for a long time. This felt like the right time. Classically, olive oil was used for cleansing. I needed as much of that as possible to let go of all of the emotions that were taking up residence in my body.
-
I got nothing for intention here. I could say that it’s here because it was in my mother’s traditional recipe for banana bread, but I didn’t think of that as anything intentional at the time.
-
Listen, I could go on about the eggs being a symbol for new beginnings, which they are, but I wasn’t thinking about that in this moment. I just knew it needed three eggs.
Keep reading though, because eggs and new beginnings do pop up when I plate the bread.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell you to say an incantation over your Kitchen Aid. I mean, you can if you want to. It might be fun. But, I don’t. I simply think about the things I want the food to embody, especially when I add the associated ingredients.
close up of banana bread batter being mixed in yellow mixer
Preheat your oven to 350c.
Get out all of those negative emotions and smash the heck out of those bananas. This is a great step if you are transitioning out of a negative relationship with a man. SMASH SMASH SMASH
Roll up pieces of the sage together and rub them between your hands to release some of its natural oils. Then, you can either chop them or tear them into small pieces.
I used an electric mixer for this, but it’s not difficult to mix these ingredients by hand.
Whisk together the sugar and eggs. Add the rest of the dry ingredients, but save the sage for the last step. Then mix in the milk and olive oil. Mix the sage into the batter in stages. You do not want it to clump together in the mixture. Make sure it’s evenly dispersed.
Pour into a loaf pan and bake for an hour and 10 minutes. The olive oil makes this bread very moist, so it will be soft in the center. If you’d like to be more firm, you can bake it for longer, but place tin foil over the top to keep the edges from burning.
Which brings me to how I baked and served the bread. I used a Nordic Ware flower mini bundt pan. The middle was definitely gooey, which I didn’t mind, but again, if you do, tin foil is your friend.
The reason for this particular pan is that I wanted to have the bread for breakfast. The inside of the flower makes the perfect basket for a poached egg.
This is where the egg as a symbolism of new beginnings comes in. This is where things get a bit meditative. We’re used to eating our food with a bunch of distractions. When you’re cooking intentionally, you also want to eat intentionally. Set up a space to eat that makes you feel good. Then as you eat, think about why you used the ingredients. Think about how you want this transition to work out.
This isn’t about casting a spell or creating a new reality. It’s simply about putting yourself in the right of mind to control what you can and accept that you’re entering a new era.
Plus, there’s something about your fork going through a runny poached egg and seeing the bright color stream over delicious bread. It’s pretty heavenly.
On the other hand, you can fill the center of the flowers with berries and clotted cream, chocolate, or an amazing bourbon caramel sauce.
This recipe is versatile. The bread can be paired with savory or sweet foods.
