June 22 11

At approximately 3:30pm every single day, I turn to my co-worker Alicia and say, “THIS DAY NEEDS MORE BAKED GOODS!” But because I am lazy, or possibly focused on super important things like watching the saddest video of Amy Winehouse or how that 16-year-old person engaged to that creepy guy from LOST is most definitely not 16 and might not even be a female or how badly I want to own this Miguelina dress. When Alicia cannot provide the baked goods to satisfy my cravings, I text message my husband and tell him how badly I need banana bread. (Some couples do the sexting thing…I do the dessert thing. Don’t judge.)

And then I eat rice cakes. And dream of banana bread.

Sometimes, my husband shows up at my office with a fresh banana bread. I realize it’s probably only because he wants me to be more popular at work and everyone knows that the best way to win friends is with delicious sugar and carby goodness (and not with salad, Lisa Simpson.)

But sometimes, there are only undelicious and unsatisfying rice cakes. Even the white cheddar ones are not interesting enough for my stomach.

BUT.

Alas! I have a hidden superpower. I am really, really great at buying too many bananas. If our family will eat 8 in a week, I buy 14. If they will eat 12, I buy 20. It’s because I have ulterior motives, obviously. Because…do you know what you ABSOLUTELY HAVE to do with browning bananas?


You *do* know, don’t you?

Aunt Mary’s Banana Bread

Adapted from Granny’s Kitchen. Please note: I do not have an Aunt Mary and I do not even have a Granny. And yet, this is an secret old family recipe, and, by far, the best one I have ever tasted. And because I am a giver, today I am sharing it with you.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3 bananas, mashed
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional…but honestly, they are really only optional if you happen to NOT have any chocolate chips in your house. I’m just saying.)

Preparation:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in eggs and mashed bananas. Sift dry ingredients together. Add to creamed mixture. Fold in chocolate chips.
  3. Pour into greased 9×5 loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes – 1 hour.

You can just feel me getting more popular now, can’t you?

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  1. Whenever I buy bananas, I feel like I’m being timed. This is a great recipe.

    Comment by kirida on June 23, 2011
  2. Seriously? He shows up at work with a fresh banana bread? You’re a lucky woman, Ali Martell.

    Comment by Jessica on June 23, 2011
  3. This is THE TRUTH. I don’t know what I have done to deserve it, but I’ll take it!

    Comment by ali on June 23, 2011
  4. ALI. GURL. You don’t even KNOW how much I love banana bread– I used to eat whole loaves of it every day when I was pregnant with Elias. Thank you so much for the recipe, I’m going to try it out ASAP. 😀

    PS: She is not 16. If she’s 16, I’m a horse.

    Comment by becca on June 23, 2011
  5. I am going to make my banana bread muffins for you and you will decide that MY recipe is the best ever.

    Can I bring baked goods into Canada?

    Comment by Kristabella on June 23, 2011
  6. those are some fighting words there, Johnson.

    I smell a banana bread bake-off in our future! I LIKE IT!

    Comment by ali on June 23, 2011
  7. YES!

    I actually don’t boast about anything I make and am usually very self-deprecating when it comes to things I cook, but this is the ONE thing I boast about.

    IT IS THAT GOOD.

    Comment by Kristabella on June 23, 2011
  8. I’m baking this banana bread at this moment! thanks for the recipe, it smells sooooo yummy. Good for the soul, and boy do I need that this week…

    Comment by sarah on June 23, 2011
  9. How awesome is it that you work close enough to your husband that he can deliver treats? Another point for working downtown.

    Comment by Tamara on June 23, 2011
  10. I am not an enormous fan of banana bread. I mean, it’s good, and if offered I’ll eat it, but it’s not at the top of my list. What I am a HUGE fan of, however, are old family recipes. It’s a little piece of the past that lives and continues to bring joy to the present.

    Comment by MonsteRawr on June 24, 2011
  11. Every so often I buy bananas…completely forgetting that everyone in my family refuses to eat them. Perhaps the next time I randomly buy them I will try this.

    Also, god bless that Gav.

    Comment by Jen on June 27, 2011
  12. OHMYGOD, YUM!

    Comment by Shauna on June 27, 2011
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