Stay calm, wash your hands, and bake banana bread…

Like many people over the past few weeks, I have been vacillating between extreme concern over the COVID-19 virus, and not giving it too much power. It’s been difficult to maintain my balance – especially if you follow the news – in any form, or if you interact with people who are in panic mode.

I make no mistake that this is deadly serious – many people have already become sick and died, and we’re not close to containment or treatment yet. I know that the vast majority of people will live, which gives me hope. However, I also know that this is not the time to panic – panic is what really kills, think of people trying to leave a crowded stadium or arena in an emergency.

Many countries are shut down, and entire populations are quarantined. When I was in the supermarket yesterday buying food for my family, I saw a floor supervisor measuring the temperature of a worker stocking the shelves. I thought to myself – yes, this shit’s real and it’s close, but I didn’t panic and run out of the store – then my family wouldn’t have anything to eat. I finished shopping, went home and washed my hands thoroughly.

This is a test, a test of our humanity - both individually and as a civilization. Humans are a very clever species – in the end nature reigns supreme, and every once-in-a-while nature reminds us of that, and that we need to live in balance and harmony with our ecosystem and each other.

I have hope. I’ve lived many years and never seen anything like this. This crisis will define a generation, our children will see how we respond to it and will learn from it. Hopefully, we will all learn from it. In the end, humanity will survive and thrive again, and be a little wiser – the interim will be very difficult for everyone.

This is also a test for our leaders – people are watching to see who will act in integrity to serve the people they lead.

There are no good and bad guys here – except for the ones who attempt to take advantage of the situation, and profit personally in one way or another. Blaming is easy - finding sustainable solutions is challenging.

I feel for the people who are suffering and will lose someone they love – unfortunately, this is not a novel experience, it happens every day and we mostly don’t pay attention because it doesn’t affect us directly. What’s different now is that there’s no place to hide – we’re all affected - directly or indirectly, and it’s time for all of us to step up and bring our best game…and to remember those who continue to suffer once this is over.

Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of the healthcare workers and medical researchers who are working tirelessly to curb this virus; and to all the grocery and drug store employees, those who continue to provide services and deliveries to us in our time of need - they are our heroines and heroes!

At my core, I am an optimist – I believe that humans have the ability to be kind, compassionate and generous – it is the key to our survival and advancement. 

So, where does the banana bread come in?

Those who know me well, know that I love to cook and bake. One of my specialties, is banana bread – I love cappuccinos and baked goods, and generally find store-bought goods too sweet. A few years ago, my wife downloaded a recipe from the Internet and baked it for me. After a while she grew tired of making it, and handed me the recipe. Over years of experimentation I’ve adapted it to my taste. 

I often bake on the weekends, sometimes with my son, and usually bring half of a loaf into work to share with my colleagues. Many of them have asked for my recipe, which I only have only had in hard copy and never bothered to copy into a digital form that is easier to share – until now. The recipe is now copied below – feel free to share it with anyone who may like it.

Why is this important?

I’ll share a very personal story. I am American, second-generation Italian. One of my greatest joys as a child was going to my grandparents’ home in Park Slope, Brooklyn on Sunday afternoons. It was special for two reasons: my grandmother always cooked on Sundays; and as my father came from a rather large family (10 siblings) there were always assorted cousins, aunts, uncles and neighbors coming and going – it was like the familial community center. They knew they could drop in because my grandmother would be cooking and we could connect – we’d eat, play, talk, make music and dance.

Years later when my grandmother became ill, I went to visit her in the hospital with the woman I was living with at the time, whom she hadn’t met before. My grandmother was frail, and was happy to see me. I remember one of the last things she said to me, “Does she cook for you?” She didn’t ask if she loved me or cared for me, because for her that’s what cooking meant.

To put this in context, my grandmother was born in the Campania outside of Naples in the 1890s, emigrated to the States when she was 16 and raised 11 children. It was a different time and a different world.

I learned a lot from my grandmother and carried this tradition to this day – I cook and bake for people because I love and care about them, and want to nourish them…it makes me feel good. To Italians and people of many cultures, food = love.

Take this to today, I’m feeling a little off center because of what’s going on. This morning I cooked a traditional breakfast of pancakes for my family, which I do most Sundays – my son loves this tradition, probably as much as I did when my father did it for me as a kid. Then I baked a banana bread – as my wife walked through the kitchen, she commented “Oooh, that smells so good.” That also made me happy because it took her away from her worries for a moment. And then I made a hearty lunch for my family with the food I purchased at the market yesterday. Then I sat down to write. Now I feel more centered and connected.

I’d like to conclude with a couple of points:

Focus on what you can control, because most of it you can’t – control is an illusion that isn’t sustainable. Sometimes it feels like my life’s out of my control, and in reality – it is for the most part. But there are still things I can do to bring me back to center – we all can.

Don’t forget your rituals and traditions - whatever they are, especially when your social rituals are closed off for whatever reasons, rely on your personal and familial rituals – they will ground you.

And if you haven’t done it before, bake a banana bread – it’s relaxing, relatively simple, healthy and you can find most of the ingredients in your cupboard…or find another recipe you like!

I wish you all well in these troubled times – please continue to be kind, compassionate and generous, and human...

As always, I’d love to receive your feedback and read your comments.

Banana Bread Recipe (Jerry’s adaptation :)

 Originally taken from: c.1996 M.S. Milliken & S. Feniger, all rights reserved

 Prep time: 30-45 minutes    

Baking time: 1 hour +/- 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4/5 or ~ 90 g cup of granulated sugar (I usually mixed raw unrefined sugar with white sugar) – you can use more or less depending on how sweet you like it and how ripe the bananas are (riper = sweeter)
• 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup, ? lb. or 113 g) of unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 3 ripe bananas (if they’re small, I use 4)
• 2 cups or 256 g, of all-purpose flour (I generally mix 1 cup baking flour and 1 cup whole grain flour because I like it a little denser)
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of salt (I also use a little less)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325? F or 160 C (I turn on the oven 10-15 minutes before I’m done preparing the ingredients)
2. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch or 23 x 13 x 8 cm loaf pan
3. Mix the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy; add the eggs one at a time and mix them thoroughly (I use a hand-mixer)
4. In another bowl, mash or mix the bananas; mixing in the milk and cinnamon
5. I mix the dry ingredients in a large measuring cup – flour, baking powder and soda, and salt
6. Mix the banana mush with the butter and egg mixture in one of the two bowls until relatively creamy
7. Slowly pour in the flour mix, stirring slowly with a baking spatula until all of the flour disappears completely into the creamy mix
8. Pour the batter into the baking pan and bake for approximately an hour – I test it by sticking a long thin wooden stick into the bread – if no batter comes out on the stick then it is done…if you see batter on the stick put it back in the oven for a few minutes and repeat until the stick comes out clean
9. Cool it on a rack, and then it’s ready to serve

 Once you’ve done this once or twice – it’s easy and you can adjust it to your taste. Sometimes it’s a little more than I need at that time and it freezes quite well, I double wrap it to prevent freezer burn. If not, it could turn moldy within 4 days depending on the conditions where it’s stored.

Enjoy and share!