Mom's Banana Bread

My mom has been making banana bread since before I can remember. She bakes it for new neighbors, friends who just had a baby, a friend who is sick or for people at Christmas. For me, it is one of those foods that when I smell it reminds me of home. And my mother.
Enjoy!



My workspace doesn't look like Barefoot Contessa. My bad.



Before you get started, grease your loaf pan with Crisco. My picture doesn't have it, but sprinkle flour in as well.



Cream 1/2 cup shortening and 1 1/2 cup sugar.


Add 2 eggs and 1/2 tsp salt. Beat until fluffy. Like cloud fluffy.


Next, stir 1 tsp. baking soda into 1/4 cup buttermilk. This is where I had problems. We had no buttermilk. So I had to make my own. Since I needed 1/4 cup milk, I just added 1/4 tbsp of white vinegar and let it sit for 15 minutes. Ta-da!


Add 2 cups flour and your milk alternately.



Before I knew the art of banana bread I used to wonder why I would go to the fridge in our garage and find very old bananas in the meat drawer. But now, I see why. Moral of the story: the older your bananas the better your bread. Trust me.



Smash up three bananas and add them along with 1 tsp. vanilla to your mix.



Your mix should fill two 9X5X3 loaf pans. Bake at 350 for about 1 hour.



After you pull your loafs out, let them cool for a few minutes. Then turn them upside down and give 'em a few hard pats on the bottom of the pan. Your loaf should fall in your hands.

Banana bread tastes great with butter or by itself. We like to eat it for a snack and at breakfast.