Banana Bread

Sometimes, you just crave a classic dish. Food that brings you back to a different time and place. Food like you mother made when you were a child. Food that makes you feel good and brings back memories.

The truth is Proust’s In Remembrance of Things Past, a huge collections of stories covering the history of several branches of one family, starts out with someone savoring a bite of a madeleine. This one bite causes a rush of memories to surface, and the result: a huge, long classic of French literature.Summer is over, and Fall has begun. In fact, in New York, it just became Fall one day. Summer decided that it had been around long enough, and POOF! Fall. Naturally, banana bread is a natural way to usher in the cooler temperatures. Banana bread represents the promise of lazy weekends, never ending mugs of tea, curled up blankets, and silly movies.

While we certainly did not have most of those things this past weekend (oy! so busy we are these days) we did make banana bread. The recipe a classic. Not just like mother used to make, exactly what mother used to make!

My mother sent me her recipe for banana bread. The same recipe she’s been using since before I was born. The recipe from The Good Housekeeping Cookbook, an earlier version of which she received as a wedding gift and still uses today.

The basics are this, for one loaf:

1 3 / 4 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 /4 tsp baking powder
1 /2 tsp salt
1 /3 c butter (recipe calls for shortening, but we used butter)
2 /3 c granulated sugar
2 eggs
3 mashed bananas (overly ripened work best)

To make this, you need three bowls. In one of your bowls, cream the butter and sugar with a mixer, then add eggs and mix until light and fluffy. I added some vanilla extract to the wet mixture. In a second bowl, sift all dry ingredients. I added a little cinnamon and nutmeg to the dry ingredients. In a third bowl, mash up your bananas. I added some creme de banane liqueur to these to enhance the flavor.

Slowly incorporate all ingredients with a mixer by alternating flour and bananas into your wet mixture. Done. Dough. Ready.
This is where you can get inventive. Or not. I ended up opting for a very classic combination and added chopped walnuts and chocolate chips to the dough. You can, of course, add whatever you like (or nothing at all).

Using a rubber spatula, put your dough in a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, until a knife comes out clean. Let your bread cool on a wire rack before slicing.

And, there you have it. A simple, classic recipe that reminds you why you love food and why you love the Fall. And why your mother’s recipes are the best.

Serve with tea or coffee. Preferably on a cool Fall day, when you don’t want to go outside.