Tobi Fairley is a Thermador brand partner.

Not much “feeds” my soul like being in the kitchen. I have been cooking since I was 10 – and today it’s my therapy and an escape from the whirlwind of my design and consulting business.

I loved cooking with my mother when I was younger, and my own 10-year old daughter loves to cook and bake, too! It’s a way that the three of us can connect together. We enjoy getting into the kitchen and cooking up a storm for our families because food is definitely a way we Southerners show love to those important people in our lives!

One of the most fun adventures the three of us had together recently was getting to tour the Thermador Experience & Design Center in California. We were able to try out so many of the company’s innovative appliances; they are absolutely fabulous tools that those of us who love to cook want and need in our kitchens!

My mom, who taught me everything I know about cooking, has a fabulous Thermador range with a fantastic, large single oven that she’s had for years in her beautiful mint green kitchen—shown in the photo below. Not only is it handsome to look at, it also makes great meals, whether Mom’s cooking her delicious beef tenderloin, her homemade lasagna or her signature “Bebe Eggs.” Her oven has been responsible for many a happy holiday meal and lots of my family’s full and happy tummies. We love the ExtraLow® Burner, which enables us to keep delicate sauces and soups simmering without overheating, and the fast preheat of the oven helps us get cooking even faster – and we always know it’ll provide even heating for our favorite meals to be cooked to perfection.

Thermador is an appliance line for cooks. Real cooks. And that’s exactly what I consider myself to be. So, after “test driving” some of the amazing models at the Thermador Experience & Design Center, I finally have an idea of what must be included in my new kitchen. If you’ve been following along with my blog’s New House Diary, you’ll know that we are just about to begin a full renovation of my kitchen, and I am excited to turn it into my culinary dream!

The newly launched 30” Five Burner Pro Harmony® Range appeals to me for two reasons. First, it’s the only professional-style range to offer five burners in the luxury appliance world! That gives me a lot of cooking space for dinner parties and holidays – and each burner features the Thermador Star Burner, which provides more cooking space and more even heating than a regular round burner. Plus, it’s a fun design!

The second reason that I love this new range is because it can be installed right up against the rear wall, and custom tile work can be installed directly behind it! It has a venting technology that reduces the back wall temperature by about 20%. That gives me a lot more flexibility for my kitchen’s design.

And have you seen the Thermador Steam and Convection Oven?! Ever since I was able to use one during our cooking experience in Irvine, CA, I have dreamed about this oven! It’s a dream come true for anyone who loves to create moist breads and mile-high cakes, not to mention perfectly browned, moist meats that are so incredibly full of flavor. So that is also going on my must-have list in my new kitchen.

The one thing that I’ll miss when I start that renovation this summer is being able to cook in my own kitchen with my mom and daughter. We’ll have to meet in my mom’s house to help me get my cooking “fix.”

Not only is it fun to be in the kitchen with my “girls,” but another thing I love about making a meal or a sweet is that even the most labor-intensive recipes are still complete in a few hours. So much of my work is never-ending, or at least takes months to complete, so there is something super-satisfying about the beginning and the end of a culinary creation all happening in the same day. It’s an amazing sense of accomplishment.

And one of my favorite things to create in the kitchen with my daughter is one of my mom’s recipes that I remember from my childhood, and that is her delicious banana bread.

So, in honor of my new blogging experience with Thermador, I’m going to give you the recipe here. Try it out with your family this weekend!

BeBe’s Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour, sifted

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda in 1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup mashed ripe bananas

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs, flour, and salt. Mix thoroughly, then add buttermilk mixture and beat until combined. Mix in bananas and nuts. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until done. I like to bake in 5 mini-loaf pans so I can easily share with friends. For 5 mini loaves, it takes 30-35 minutes.

To see more of my culinary creations, follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, or my blog!