Growing up we had a lot of cookbooks. Usual suspects, Greens, Moosewood, Silver Palate- that type. I would leaf through the pages and delighted in reading every recipe (or at least the dessert recipes). But there was one that I religiously avoided: Beard on Bread. I never actually opened the book- somehow I took it's title too literally— the image of some hippy-looking man with his beard all over a loaf of bread ingrained in my mind. Disgusting.
This past fall my mom sent me several cookbooks to help me settle into my new apartment. And there it was. Beard on Bread had returned to me.

And I like it.

On Sunday I made banana bread, and mostly followed his recipe. Well. Half the recommended amount of sugar, a few spoonfuls of ricotta cheese, and for no reason in particular, I added 2 pinches of coriander. It was good.