By June. Summer stretches ahead with its particular blend of freedom and obligation. Freedom from the school schedule, obligation to everything else — Curtis's care, Set the Table, the cookbook queries (five rejections now, two still pending), the house hunt (still circling Cascade Heights like a hawk over a field), and the ongoing, relentless, beautiful work of feeding a household that now includes Isaiah for the summer.
Set the Table summer intensive begins again. Same format as last year — Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday, twenty-five girls this year (the enrollment grows every year because the need grows and the program's reputation grows and word of mouth in Atlanta's Black community is the most effective marketing on earth). This summer's curriculum: "Sunday Dinner" — teaching the girls to plan, shop for, and cook a complete multi-dish meal. Not individual recipes but the whole symphony. Menu planning. Grocery budgets. Timing multiple dishes. The art of having everything hot at the same time.
A publisher in Athens, Georgia, responded to my query. Not a rejection — a request for the full manuscript. I read the email three times to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. Then I read it to Derek, who said, "Send it." Then I read it to Curtis, who said, "What book?" (Curtis does not pay attention to anything that doesn't involve food or football.) I sent the manuscript Monday morning. All sixty recipes. All sixty stories. The introduction I wrote at 2 AM with tears on the pages. The whole of Brenda Jackson's kitchen, packaged in a Word document and attached to an email and sent into the universe with a prayer and a deep breath.
Made Mama's Sunday dinner to celebrate — fried chicken, collard greens, mac and cheese, cornbread. The full spread. For five (Isaiah is home). The celebration of a small thing that might become a big thing. Curtis said, "What are we celebrating?" I said, "Tuesday." He said, "It's Monday." Close enough.
We had the fried chicken and the greens and the mac and cheese, and Derek opened a bottle of wine, and somewhere between the second plate and the cornbread I remembered the overripe bananas on the counter that had been waiting patiently all week — patient the way I was trying to be about the manuscript, about the publisher, about all of it. So I made this bread after dinner, late, while Isaiah cleaned up and Curtis watched highlights. Elise Jesse’s bourbon banana bread is the kind of recipe that rewards waiting: ripe bananas, a measure of bourbon, a slow bake while the house settles. It felt exactly right for a Monday that was worth celebrating, even if we weren’t entirely sure yet what we were celebrating.
Elise Jesse Bourbon Banana Bread
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 65 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes | Servings: 10 slices
Ingredients
- 3 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 1/4 cups)
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Optional: 1/2 cup toasted walnuts or pecans, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan with butter or nonstick spray and set aside.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, mash the bananas until nearly smooth — a few small lumps are fine. Stir in the melted butter, bourbon, sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract until well combined.
- Add leavening. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt directly over the banana mixture and stir to incorporate. This activates the baking soda right in the bowl.
- Fold in the dry ingredients. Add the flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir gently with a wooden spoon or spatula until just combined — do not overmix or the bread will be tough. Fold in nuts if using.
- Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake for 60–65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is deep golden brown. Tent loosely with foil after 45 minutes if the top is browning too quickly.
- Cool before slicing. Let the bread cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool at least 20 more minutes before slicing. The bourbon flavor deepens as it cools.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 235 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 39g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 185mg