Favorite Banana Bread Recipe

Do you have over-ripe bananas on the counter? Your family is bound to appreciate it if you turn them into banana bread...

Note that this recipe calls for sour milk. This is an old recipe, dating from when people kept a milk cow and sour milk was easy to come by. You probably don't have a cow, so use this easy substitute: Just add a tablespoon of vinegar to the measuring cup before you measure the milk. Do this when you first start gathering ingredients so the vinegar and milk have a chance to blend.

Preheat the oven on to 350 degrees.

Ingredients:

One well-greased loaf pan
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour milk
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup well-mashed bananas

Using a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar and shortening together until they look smooth and creamy. Add the beaten eggs and bananas and mix well.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, soda, and salt. Be sure you mix these well so the soda doesn't end up all in one spot.

Add the flour mixture and the milk to the banana and sugar mixture and mix it well.

If you like, you can mix in a handful of chopped nuts.

Now put it all in the loaf pan and put it in the oven. Start watching it after about a half hour - it may take closer to an hour to bake, depending upon the size of your loaf pan and your individual oven. Watch for signs that the bread is pulling away from the edges of the pan, then test by inserting a toothpick in the middle. When the toothpick comes out clean, the banana bread is done.

You can also bake this in "individual sized" aluminum pans - remember that with less mass the bread will bake faster.

Ever try a carrot sandwich?

Today I volunteered to help out at a ladies' fashion show and tea fundraiser, and I came home with a new recipe.

All the members of this group brought tea sandwiches and/or treats to serve to an audience of about 60 ladies. I've never before seen so many calorie-laden goodies get eaten so fast! From tiny cherry tarts to cream cheese stuffed strawberries with chocolate, to old fashioned brownies and cornflake/peanut butter balls - the goodies were abundant.

But what was more interesting to me (because too many sweets make me queasy) was the variety of sandwiches - including one I'd never seen before. It wasn't very pretty, but talk about good! Served on whole wheat bread, the filling consisted of nothing more than cream cheese filled with finely shredded raw carrots.

We don't serve tea sandwiches around home, but my bet is this would make a great spread on crackers.

Thinking about goodies prompted me to add a new page to our "Carl Cooks" website - so as of now you can find the banana bread recipe that's been used in my family since a friend shared it with my mom some time in the 1940's. You know it's good, or we'd have found a new one by now!

So you can enjoy it too, here's the direct link to Mrs. Lydia Falk's Banana Bread recipe.

Wishing you a happy Memorial Day week-end...

Marte