Dear Megs,

Hm. Impressive baked goods for a family of foodies. Well, maybe a dessert that looks pretty and has to be built, like these FAB shortbread cookies I made once, maybe topped with lemon curd and fresh raspberries? With lavender, somehow? Or the lemon loves? Or, Sugar Plum Blog (she is great) has lots of recipes for truffles. They seem easy but they're really beautiful. And then again, nothing beats PIE. Or flourless chocolate cake with sour mash whipped cream...

So, today I was thinking about how if we are going to be real food bloggers, we have to make our own recipes, as you said. I never have done this with baked goods; I'm a recipe follower. So I decided to see if I could make banana bread - good banana bread - with no recipe. It worked, and it's good! Banana bread is not something I ever make, so I feel this means I have some fundamental grasp of what baking is all about. Next I will try cake, but I realize now that making up a recipe maybe doesn't mean much, because there are only so many different ways to make a cake. The basic kind, I mean.

I won't bother posting the recipe I wrote, because, as a New York Times columnist who was trashing Gwyneth Paltrow's blog put it, who needs another recipe for banana bread? But here's the pic; if it seems to be floating it's because apparently you can't photograph food at night and I had to stick it right under a lamp.

Loves!

L