This Bread is Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

There is something you should know about my mother: She gets out of bed at 6:30 AM at the latest every morning. Every morning. One of the perks of having an early-riser mother , particularly my mother, is that most weekend mornings I'd wake to the smell of something cooking (I feel like a lot of entries are going to start like this). I was never a big breakfast person, but I always got a little excited when my mom made banana-nut muffins.

Well, with an allergy developed later in life, and a sensitive belly, banana bread has become a staple in my diet. Bananas are the 'B' in the BRAT diet-- which stands for Bananas Rice Applesauce (and) Tea. While I used to be ordered to pick up the BRAT diet by doctors, I now adopt it when my stomach is extra sensitive... and of course I've adapted it a little to make it a bit more exciting (Banana bread, Rice pudding, homemade Applesauce, and Tea).

You could make muffins instead of a loaf, I just hate dealing with those little cups. I always make a mess. So here's how you do it:

Banana Bread
1 1/2 Cups Four
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1/4 Cup Melted Butter (plus, 1 Tblsp.)
3 Bananas
1 Pinch Salt

Preheat the oven to 350*f
1. Combine the flour, baking soda, sugar, eggs, butter, and salt in a medium bowl.
2. In another medium bowl, mash up the bananas.
3. Add the bananas to the flour mixture and mix thoroughly.
4. Grease a loaf pan with 1 Tblsp. butter and flour the pan to be sure the loaf doesn't stick.
5. Pour in the batter and stick it in the oven!
6. When a wooden dowel inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean, the bread is done.

A few notes:
- To make a loaf, the bread does take a bit of time to cook. The best part? Cooking it nice and slowly makes for a nice crispy, crusty, top, and a soft, sweet inside!

- This is a great recipe for old bananas. When the bananas start to get brown spots on the peals and get really soft they're kind of funky to eat, so use them to make bread or muffins instead. If you don't want to make bread right away, throw them in the freezer until you do.

- You could really go to town with this bread. Nuts, chocolate chips, raisins, dried cranberries, even chopped apples taste great in it!