Maida will always be HOT to me. Her ability to create desserts and recipes and write about them in truly entertaining prose will never cease to thrill me. I read her books, well, like Books! Cover to cover and then back again, going over the parts I like the most. Many of her recipes are power-packed with flavor, but she can be restrained as well, as with her Peanut Banana Bread. It is so plain and simple as to be easily overlooked – except that this particular recipe, from Maida Heatter’s Book of Great American Desserts – has possibly the wackiest headnote I have ever read. Let’s just say it’s about the restaurant industry, how to manage a successful publicity campaign, the Republican party, bananas, peanuts and eating elephants. Yup, you read that right. Makes you wanna learn more, right? It did for me too. Check it out here under Peanut Banana Bread. You will either scratch your head quizzically, grin or chuckle out loud. Any which way, if you aren’t familiar with Maida yet, I hope it encourages you to read more of her works.
