You see, I love bread. I love bananas. I love banana bread. For the last year I have had five bananas in the freezer just waiting to be used. Each time I opened the freezer door I could hear a scream from the inside “hello, remember us? You do intend to use us, don’t you?” I am not one to ignore the last requests of frozen fruit so last evening I was in a baking mood and decided to use these not-so-nice looking bananas. Yes, I baked banana bread!

After searching for a recipe that I liked that didn’t involve heavy machinery, I gathered the ingredients and made my batter. Yay, it was easy! Really, the ingredients were basic and the preparation was simple. One hour later I have a banana bread loaf warm and ready. Any takers? Well, sorry this one is already claimed. To treat myself I made a small round of banana bread with some extra batter which I have been tempted to nibble on throughout this entry. Below is the recipe that I used and chose to replace the oil with an equal amount of yogurt, something I often do to cut down the fat, calories and cholesterol of the dish.

Banana Bread

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
4 very ripe bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda and powder, salt. In a large bowl cream together eggs and sugar. Stir in mashed bananas, vanilla, oil and cinnamon. Stir in flour mixture, a third at a time, until just combined. Divide batter into two 9×5 loaf pans. Bake for about 1 hour.

On a non banana bread note, this evening I am scheduled to go to a symposium on the over representation of minority students in special education classrooms. The gathering will be held at the University of Maryland Golf Club and I was lucky enough to be sponsored by my superintendent so I did not have to personally pay for it. This is a professional interest of mine since most schools I have worked in have been primarily minority populated with my current school as no exception. I will be sure to share what I am able to gather this evening.