mid morning experiments - coffee bags & brown bananas

Yesterday morning I decided to tick off a few things on my steadily growing to do list.. First up was transforming a bunch of forgotten and very brown bananas, into some kind of banana bread/cake thing.

Having never made banana loaf before and not being one to stick to a recipe, I did as I always do.., started with a basic idea and then made it up as I went..

Then with the loaf baking away and Thom tucked in for his morning nap, I got to work on a new lampshade for a favorite vintage lamp. I've been meaning to replace the shade forever, the current one is all cracked inside and to be honest is just boring..

Awhile ago I picked up a burlap coffee sack from Reverse Garbage and then found a simple polypropylene drum shade at Ikea. After a quick google search for diy lampshades, it was a matter of grabbing scissors, spray adhesive, a bunch of pegs and voila, I have myself a spiffing new shade!! I admit it still needs couple of lengths of fabric binding to finish it off in the inside, but not bad for less than 20 dollars and 15 or so minutes of my time..!

one..

two..

three..

ta da!!

and here's the other side.

The banana loaf turned out ok too. Here's the recipe (of sorts)..

130g white self-raising flour
130g whole meal self-raising flour
40g plain flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup walnuts (roughly chopped), plus extra for the top
1/3 cup shredded coconut
2/3 cup brown sugar

2 ripe bananas (mashed)
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs (lightly whisked)
50g melted butter (cooled)
1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Preheat oven at 180 degrees
2. Grease and line a loaf tin with baking paper.
3. Add dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl.
4. Combine wet ingredients in another bowl and then add to the dry ingredients.
5. Mix together until well combined.
6. Spoon mixture into lined tin and top with the extra walnuts.
7. Bake for 45 - 50 mins or until golden on top (or a skewer to the centre comes out clean).

Cool, then slice and enjoy with a nice cuppa..