Honey Sage Cornbread

With fall approaching in Los Angeles [I say approaching because although its technically fall, LA weather has been teeter-tottering between somewhat cold and disgustingly hot the past few weeks], its nice to have something warm and comforting on those chilly nights. I was making turkey chilli for dinner and what better to go with chilli, than cornbread? They are pretty much a match made in heaven.

Cornbread can be a little boring though, but some simple ways to jazz it up are by adding some honey, some fresh herbs, cheese or a mild onion. Many things can turn plain old cornbread into a delicious masterpiece. I went with a honey-sage combo because my mom found sage flavored honey at a farmers market and I had fresh sage at home, so it seemed perfect.

I just used this recipe on the back of the cornmeal box, with a few of my own touches and it is one of the quickest one-bowl wonders ever.

Cream Cheese Stuffed Banana Bread

In my household, every time my grandma would make banana or zucchini bread  it was customary to shmear (yes, shmear) it with cream cheese. That's the way I have grown up eating it, and the way I will continue to eat it...until now

I had an epiphany and thought, what if I put the cream cheese INSIDE the banana bread? So I did it, and it was wonderful. I also sprinkled the top with some chopped walnuts, which gave a nice textural balance and is pretty common with banana bread.

Bananas Foster Banana Bread

Banana bread is one of those things that's always good. Whether its piping hot and fresh out of the oven, smeared with butter or cream cheese, or just plain at room temperature- its always delicious. And when there are a lovely bunch of super-ripe bananas sitting in a fruit bowl on my kitchen table, you know I'm going to bake banana bread with them! Extra ripe bananas are key for an amazing banana bread. The ones that are really soft, brown, and aesthetically unappealing make for the best concentrated banana flavor.

Well, then I got to thinking about how I could make one that's not just any ol' banana bread. Somehow it hit me to make one that resembles the classic dessert, bananas foster. That bubbling brown sugar caramel and spiced rum essence would be great on this banana cake bread, since its so yummy on just plain bananas.