For the past few months, I have found myself cooking and baking more frequently at Andrew’s than my own place. There are many reasons for this: his place is very central, located downtown he lives about three blocks from the main building of my school and where I do my screen printing projects; I live with five people (including myself) in a huge old 1920’s house in a great neighborhood in NE Portland, however it’s a few miles bike ride from most places I need to be; and sharing a kitchen (that is most of the time pretty messy just because of the sheer numbers using it) with five people can be a bit of a trial. I tried not to let it get to me, but when I started doing a few baking projects at Andrew’s, I realized how much easier it was when I did not have to clean the kitchen before and after I did a project. Sweet! Plus, sharing my baking treasures with him is so much better and much more fun than with anyone else! He’s a good taste tester 
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This brings me to the ergonomics of baking in his kitchen. It is not much bigger than a postage stamp and I work with only two utensils: a wide metal bowl and a wooden spoon. Most of the time, I find myself “creaming” the butter and sugar together with my hands, getting really messy and kneading the batter together (super fun!). I didn’t even think twice about what I was doing until one day I was telling my friend Chelsea about it. She laughed and said, you’ve got to write about that! And the more I thought about it, the more I realized how strange it is these days for any cook or baker to have only a few tools they use in the kitchen. I mean, kitchen utensils are addicting! (don’t let me near a Sur La Table or William Sonoma!) I am sure many of you have plenty of gadgets and tools around our kitchens that lay dormant for most of the year, if not for years. But we may find ourselves going back to our same favorite bowl, spatula, and pan to cook and bake with endlessly. I know I do, despite having many odds and ends around the kitchen. I do own a hot pink (yes, that’s right, it’s hot pink!) kitchen aide mixer that I am just waiting for the motor to burn out one of these days from it’s overuse! However, it has gotten a good break for a while. I foresee some quality bonding time with my mixer in the near future. Perhaps after my oral defense! A baking flurry will be in the midst .
I made banana bread again. This is a great recipe! Especially when you need something comforting while you are practicing for your oral defense…
Cheers!
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