Since my beloved Dad passed away on December 4, I’ve been moping around.  I sort of   lost my “funny bone”–the truth is–I’m still not myself.  I miss him terribly and think about him every day.  The sane part of me realizes this grief is normal and to heal one must grieve first–so at the oddest times I think about my Dad, my Superman — and I cry. Hey, I’m no stranger to this process, and I firmly believe in the saying… “and this too shall pass”. This having been said–

For the first time in a long time, yesterday, when I saw rotten bananas in the fruit basket I thought about banana bread instead of just rotten bananas. And just like that, yesterday I made banana bread!  Today I give you the best basic banana bread recipe there is. It comes from the old Betty Crocker’s Cookbook.  This book is my go-to-book for basic recipes.  It was given to me by my best friend’s mom, Isabelle Loscalzo — I think about her every time I use it.

Without further ado, the recipe for Banana Bread:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 3 tablespoons canola oil, 1/3 cup milk, 1 egg,1 1/4 cup mashed banana (2 to 3 medium), 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional).  Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease bottom only of loaf pan, 9x5x3 inches.  Mix all ingredients; beat 30 seconds.  Pour into loaf pan.  Bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 55-65 minutes.  Remove from oven, cool slightly.  Loosen sides from loaf pan; remove from pan.  Cool completely before slicing.

Easy!  And you probably have all the ingredients on hand.  For a special treat, try a slice slathered with peanut butter and strawberry jam.  Enjoy!