Banana Bread Bake Off - Round One

First, you will have to forgive me. I failed to document our first challenge in an appropriate fashion. Never in my wildest dreams did I anticipate turning this new little hobby into a mind-blowing blog, but such is life and you will have to live with the few photos I did take.

The rules were simple -- one loaf of banana bread using the bananas given to us by Tim which would head to banana heaven if not taken home from the CircleK. AJ and I absolutely used the bananas given to us because we did not have any other bananas at our disposal nor do we work for CircleK. I believe Jenna Meyers also used the bananas originally given to her, but I have to question Tim. I am by no mean suggestion he cheated, I am simply posing the question.

All loafs arrived covered in foil and Geoff (Jenna's fiance) was in charge of preparing the taste testing table.

Now, please, keep in mind, this was our first crack at this little cooking club contest. We very quickly learned we need to recruit more judges then 1 non-baking judge and 4-baking judges. In order to have a really non-biased taste test there obviously needs to be more tasters than bakers! I suggested we at least utilize blind folds, but was quickly shot down!

Jenna's visually was very easy to identify because of the dark color and mold she used. She opted for a very non-traditional banana bread using chocolate, pomegranates and orange juice. It had nice flavor, but we all decided was a bit dry.

Mine was also somewhat easy to identify because it did not have nuts. Both Tim and AJ chose to incorporate pecans into their loaves. Interestingly enough, all three of us used very different moist ingredients to mix our dry ingredients. Tim used buttermilk, AJ used sour cream and I used a non-fat plain yogurt. All three were light and airy.

We went around the table and voted. I, of course, voted for mine because I do not like nuts in my bread, but all in all, the vote came down to AJ's and Tim's breads. Being the wonderful doting wife that I am -- voted for Tim's and thus catapulted him to his first victory (sorry honey)! Don't worry Tim -- I ordered your trophy this afternoon and it should arrive in a few days. Although, there is truly nothing "amateur" about Tim's cooking abilities, he did have a fabulous banana bread.

Our first journey was a great lesson in how to better prepare for our club's cook-offs. In fact, right now are are accepting applications for judges to participate in our next challenge.....homemade fruit pie! Let me know if you are interested and I will update the blog once the date is confirmed.

While this blog will focus on the AACC challenges, I will also do my best to give you a sneak peak into the Blusiewicz's kitchen and all our culinary adventures along the way. Stay tuned in.....much more to come!