That’s right, Banana Bread!

Want to hear something weird? I get excited whenever our bananas start to go bad.

Because that means … wait for it … banana bread!

Bananas on the Turn

See, brown, mushy bananas are perfect for banana bread. The older a banana gets, the more flavor it develops. Have you ever eaten a banana that was still a little green? Almost no flavor at all, right? Now try one that has a few brown spots on it. Mucho flavor.

Let that same banana age another day or two and you are in for a culinary treat.

I love banana bread because it sounds healthy but is actually a sugary,  chocolatey indulgence: “What are you eating?” “Banana bread.” “Oh, okay, that’s good.”

I chock my banana bread with chocolate chips, so it kind of tastes like banana flavored chocolate chip cookies. There’s also a ton of butter in it, so it’s texture is dense and filling. My love for banana bread is tempered by the fact that I can’t eat very much of it without getting full.

Banana bread, still slightly warm from the oven with a hard brown crust on it, is like nothing else in the world. You don’t need to slather it with butter or add anything to it at all, except maybe a late winter afternoon and a cup of hot tea.

Now that’s living.

About 30 years ago, my mother and her friends collected recipes from all the ladies in our parish and published them in a book, “The St. Catherine’s of Alexandria Cookbook”.  A lot of the recipes are kind of dated, or at least not nutritionally “correct”, but I think that’s what I love about them. They are kind of like a document of how life was when I was growing up.

This banana bread recipe is from that cookbook.

Banana Bread

1/3 cup butter (5-3/4 TBS)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, well beaten

3 TBS sour milk (or sour cream or buttermilk)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 bananas (the riper the better)

1 cup chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bake in greased bread pan at 350F for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I realized I haven’t had any baking recipes until now in this blog. That’s partially because it’s been warm out and baking goes more with cooler weather. But I admit that while I enjoy baking, it’s not my strong suit. Like they say, cooking is art, baking is more like chemistry.

But to improve I must focus on my weakness, so more baking. Plus it’s getting cooler out, so baking makes more sense now.

What tried and true recipes do you like to make for a cool autumn afternoon? Why not tell us about them in the comments section below? And thanks for looking at my blog!

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