The Kitchen with Brianne Howey

Brianne Howey loves baking, so she has kindly shared her delicious banana bread recipe with all of you today. If you make it, let us know how it came out!

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter (softened at room temperature) 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup of sugar 2-3 mashed ripe bananas 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/2 cup flour

Directions: Preheat oven to 350.

In large bowl mix together wet ingredients: butter, eggs, vanilla, sugar, and bananas.

In separate bowl sift together the dry ingredients: salt, baking soda and flour.

Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together. Pour batter into a greased pan. You can create a decorative crease in the bread by running your finger along the top. Lightly sprinkle a little sugar on top of batter to create a crisp top. Bake for 30-40 minutes and enjoy!

Photography // Megan Welker Styling // Sarah Chorley Hair // Whitney Olson

Clothing Credits // Blue dress: BooHoo

At Home with Brianne Howey

Today, we have the pleasure of featuring one of our favorite gals from "Twisted" - Brianne Howey. She kindly let us into her home, where we had far too much fun exploring, eating her delicious banana bread (recipe), and biking. She also talks to us about her family, inspiration, and her thoughts on recent news. This intelligent, bright, and charming lady is certainly one to watch.

What does a typical day look like for you?

My first stop every morning is the coffee maker. Can’t live with out it! If I’m not on set or heading to an audition then I’m usually trying to do something else to stay creative. On productive days my friends and I are collaborating on passion projects and on unproductive days I’m probably watching a "Top Chef" marathon. That’s creative, right?

Do you do a lot of cooking and baking?

Yes! Breakfast and dessert are my favorite meals of the day. I love to make quiches, breads and anything with dark chocolate. Whenever I’m bored I find myself rummaging through the kitchen to see how crafty I can be with what I have.

Who taught you to bake?

Baking is practically a custom in my family. I grew up baking with my mom, aunts and my grandma. Whenever we were excited or celebrating something it was always, “let’s bake!” Or whenever we were feeling down or stressed out it was always, “let’s bake!” Baking is still my answer to everything.

What is your favorite dish or recipe?

Homemade banana fosters pancakes. The pancakes are just an excuse to eat caramelized bananas in buttery brown sugar sauce... it doesn’t get any better then that.

Blouse: "Deco Lace Blouse" from Avenle. Shorts: Lumier by Bariano. Hat: Nordstrom. Bracelet: Simon & Ruby.

You seem like a pretty active person. What do you like doing for exercise and recreation? Biking?

I love to do spin and yoga. Spin is an intense cardio work out and yoga helps to stretch it all out. I also love being outside and will make up any excuse to walk places.

How do you usually spend your free time?

Trying new restaurants and catching up on movies!

What is your ideal day of relaxation look like?

Sleep in, head to a farmers market, go on a nice long walk and then end the day with a glass of pinot noir and Mad Men.

What TV show or movie is your favorite role thus far in your career?

I had a lot of fun playing Whitney on "Twisted." I felt risky as Whitney which was a great exercise for me. It made me realize I’d like to live more of my life that way. It got me excited about acting all over again.

Can you give us a glimpse into "Viral," your new film that is about to be released?

Get ready for respirator masks, high school mischief and blood! It’s a fun thriller with a great cast and talented directors.

There has been a lot of violence in the news of late such as the Santa Barbara shooting. What would you say is the root cause of these acts of violence? Lack of education? What are your thoughts overall? Are there other news stories that have caught your attention lately?

My little sister actually attends UCSB so that incident hit very close to home for us. Sadly, I think it’s impossible to pin point one single root cause of these horrific acts. However, there are a few things that are in our control as a society that I think we need to look at. I strongly believe that the process of easily obtaining a firearm absolutely needs to be re-evaluated. Also, I think that if the media stopped sensationalizing these events so much, we wouldn’t see these senseless deaths and cruel crimes occurring as frequently as they do. It’s devastating.

What are some ways you think the average joe could simply spread a whole lot more love around the world? We're always looking for ways to spread kindness, because don't you think there should be elementary school lessons on this subject?

Absolutely. My acting teacher always reminds us of this quote from Meister Eckhart, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough." I think those two simple words would be a pretty great start.

Lastly before we get too political, talk to us about your family – you seem to be quite close with your siblings! And we love it!

Yes! Lucky for me I’m from LA so I get to see my family all the time. There are a lot of us so our family gatherings are crazy and never lack an abundance of food (if you couldn’t already tell). I have four younger siblings, two brothers and two sisters, who are my whole world. I’m always at one of their sports games and it’s my favorite thing ever to make sure I cheer as loud as possible to embarrass them in front of all their friends. I get so overwhelmed with pride and I’m constantly in awe of them.

What or who would you say is your biggest inspiration in not just your acting career, but life in general?

My mom always has been and always will be my biggest inspiration. If I turn out to be half the woman she was then I’ll know I did something right.

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Photography // Megan Welker

Styling // Sarah Chorley

Hair // Whitney Olson

Essentials of the Week / 1

Some days call for major retail therapy, and today is one of those days. After splurging, or I mean, thoughtfully shopping, I found items that I thought our readers would like. So what am I enamored with this week?

The Batchel: From Cambridge Satchel, in Oxblood. Every other color is so perfect, but this one definitely takes the top with the rest of this outfit.

Saffron Dress: From one of my favorite online retailer, Shabby Apple. This is part of their new Moroccan-inspired collection and it's absolutely lovely. Don't mind me, I'll just be twirling over here.

Lip Balm: From EOS, of course. Nothing I'd rather be using, especially when on-to-go, which is basically all day and every day.

RIGHT NOW Sandals: From Seychelles Footwear. How appropriate is the name of the sandals? No time like now, right?

Lip Tar: In Neon Fuchsia from Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics. A dab of this and EOS, and my lips are ready for a show.

Dark Tortoise Eye Glasses: These are my new glasses from See Saw Seen. While I do wear contacts, I always prefer the look of glasses. It's just a great accessory, and these are definitely my favorite.

Essentials // Lucia Tran, Editor-in-Chief Illustrations // Katie Ryan for Zooey Magazine