A wee bit neglectful

I've not had much free time lately, so that's my excuse for neglecting my blog.

We had our high about a month ago when Carter was born, and, we've hit a low in terms of parenting moments. My adorable 2-year-old is acting like, well, a 2 year old. Who just got his mom stolen. It sounds so rational. In reality, however, it makes me very irrational. Like thinking I could keep him from getting every drop of water from the tub onto the bathroom floor. Nope. Or trying to keep him from peeing all over his bed. Not gonna happen. And wanting so badly for him to stop hurling toys out of the car while he kicks and screams about getting buckled in. Uh-uh.

Luckily this week I did find some motivation, even if it had nothing to do with parenting (perhaps it was because it had nothing to do with parenting). Some friends of ours had their own new baby to celebrate, and knowing how miserable the hospital food can be, I packed up a dinner (take-out, folks) and a few slices of some of the best banana bread I've made. And since I'm in no position to be cocky right now, I give all the credit to this recipe, which I followed precisely.

The recipe is from Orangette, this adorable food blog from an Oklahoma-raised, Seattle-living writer. I have a love-hate relationship with this woman I've never met. I feel like because we're both Northwest transplants from Oklahoma that we should have more in common. She, however, has an insanely popular food blog, a published food memoir and a regular column in Bon Appetit. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot to be thankful for, but in my sappy state, I feel like all I've got right now are stretch marks, early onset dementia and an endless pile of laundry. Seriously, which one of us do you envy?

But, all that aside, I do continuously go back to Molly Wizenberg's blog. The stories are usually charming and the recipes she shares are approachable, or at least she makes them seem that way, spinning a fun little story about where the recipe came from -- a dinner party, a childhood friend's mom or her late father.

If Banana Bread with Cinnamon Crumble Topping doesn't sound delicious enough, check out one of her other banana bread recipes like this one or this one.

There are no shortages of excuses for baking this month, so preheat the oven and pull those blackened bananas out of the freezer.