We had an eventful weekend, just Olive and I! It has been so long since it has just been the two of us girls for more than 2 hours at a time. On Saturday morning we packed up the car and headed south of the border to Watertown, NY to compete in the Snow Town Skating Invitational. (The competition sure lived up to its name as we trudged through 2 feet of snow and 60km/h winds to get into the rink… !)
I’ve been a skater all my life. Growing up in this sport has taught me so many life lessons… From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, this sport has brought me through all the feels, including this past weekend as I coached my daughter in her first-ever competition. We were the only Canadian team at the competition, and she certainly was able to hold her own. I kept telling her we were going for the experience, but she was going for the hardware! I have never seen anyone, not even a 5 year old, so excited to get out there and compete. I usually have to pull out my best “how-to-beat-those-nerves” coach speech, but Olive was having none of that. She had the chance to watch and cheer on our other club skaters on both Saturday and Sunday which made her all the more exited to lace up her skates on Sunday afternoon.
Can you believe it? She brought home the bronze! To say I am a proud Momma is an understatement. Yet again, this sport has given me another life lesson, this time as a proud (but nervous) skating mom. It takes a whole car load of guts to go out there on your own in a rink full of on-lookers. I think I might learn a thing or two from this inspirational 5.9 year old!
So, what do you eat on a 2 day rink adventure in another country? It’s no secret that we love our banana bread! Before we left, Olive helped me bake a few of these loaves to help power us through those long rink days. I have been on a Tahini kick for quite some time now, so adding some in to a banana bread seemed like the right decision (and it did not disappoint). I only have one rule when it comes to eating banana bread – the slices must be cut thick… Like, I mean THICK-thick!!
TAHINI, PECAN AND DARK CHOCOLATE BANANA BREAD
makes one loaf
ingredients
1/4 cup non-flavoured vegetable oil
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/3 cup mashed bananas (approximately 3 bananas)
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup almond meal
125g dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds
1 1/2 tsp. demerara sugar
1 whole fresh banana, halved lengthwise for topping
steps
Preheat oven to 350°F and line a loaf tin with baking paper.
Toast the pecans on a baking tray in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
In a large bowl, whisk together oil, tahini, honey, dark brown sugar, vanilla and eggs. When mixed, stir in mashed banana and set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together the baking soda, salt, flour, and almond meal. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry and mix just until combined. Fold in the dark chocolate and/or pecans.
Pour batter into your prepared loaf pan and top with halved banana. Sprinkle demerara sugar over the banana and the sesame seeds over the entire loaf.
Bake 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out just clean. Let cool in the loaf pan before removing and serving (in thick slices)!
