Banana Bread

When I was a little kid, we lived in Hawaii. In our backyard was a banana tree. My Mom said any time we saw a banana on the tree we wanted it. We did not want to eat it when it was ripe. Today I still prefer my bananas with a little green on them. When they are all yellow, bananas seem slimy to me. My children enjoy their bananas the same way I do. 

If we still have any bananas that are ripe, I will either cut them up and freeze them. They make a great addition to smoothies. I will also make banana bread for gifts.

Banana Bread
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
4 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease 2 loaf pans.
3. Cream sugar with the butter until well blended.
4. Mix in the eggs and blend well.
5. Add the bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
6. Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt until just moistened.
7. Bake the loaves for one hour on the lowest position rack in the oven.
8. Check with a tooth pick and it should come out clean when inserted into the middle of the loaf.
9. Allow the loaves to cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pans. 
10. Allow to cool completely before slicing.
11. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days or 10 days in the refrigerator.

Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker 40th Anniversary Edition Cookbook.

Did You already know..............
-A cluster of bananas are called a hand.
-Banana beer is available for purchase.
-Americans on average purchase 28 pounds of bananas a year.
-A pound of bananas are roughly 3 medium bananas.