my friend jane asked me if i had made bread yet in my newly-moved-into kitchen. i told her i had only made chocolate chip banana bread, to which she replied, "Choco chip banana bread…yum…”Mae Bakes”…”Baking with Mae”…”Mae I Bake With You?”…”Making Bread the Mae Way”…"Mae Kneads to Make Bread”…"

if i was a baker and had my own tv show or even podcast, i would take "mae i bake with you?" and "mae kneads to make bread"... oh, but what about "mae kneads to break bread"?! ah, i love it all, and i love her.

and so here's my first ever chocolate chip banana bread made from scratch. it was pretty delicious for a first try, and for using whole wheat flour, brown sugar, and of course my butter of choice, kerrygold. and i'll confess, i didn't actually use chocolate chips. when i last visited sf, a friend gifted me with five bars (or was it six?) of my favorite ghirardelli chocolates, one of which was the dark chocolate cabernet. i mean, what else was i gonna do with this much chocolate? yes, i shared most of the bars and kept two of the cabernets, but that was still too much chocolate for me. and if there were people that were going to be my guinea pigs, it would be my family, because they give me tough love and will tell me if this thang was gross or not. it was not. IT WAS NOT!!!

next on the menu is bread! i will probably need help from my friend noelle because she has made plenty of bread and other so-fucking-delicious thangs to put in my belly. i'm pretty excited because this would be my first try at bread as well. i remember my mom kneading bread in the kitchen and there would be flour ALL OVER THE DINING TABLE. that's where she used to knead the dough, and honestly, i kinda wanna break my kitchen in that way!

while we're on the subject of food, here is what my staple is usually like (when i'm not french kissing chocolate or making love to a burrito or an in n' out burger or what have you). i rarely cook meat when i cook for myself, and i usually will pick a vegetable dish when eating out. the staple usually includes brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, beans, spinach, kale, quinoa, rice, avocado... is it just me or is there anyone else out there that can eat guacamole like it's pudding? just me? ohh...

roasted brussel sprouts with quinoa and sunflower seeds on the left, roasted cauliflower with quinoa and capers on the right. both are seasoned with salt, pepper, lemon...

what about you? what is your staple mostly made of? and what do you enjoy cooking/baking/making?