Banana Bread

This is all that is left.
It goes fast in our house.
Adrianne came home from work today and used up the over-ripe bananas and made a loaf of moist luscious goodness.  I walked in the kitchen and she was underway at the mixer.  Here is her recipe.  It is from Paula Deen Kitchen Classics cookbook:

1 stick butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 ripe bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 350*.  Grease a 9 X 5 inch loaf pan.  In a mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar; mix well.  Add the salt, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and bananas, and mix well.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes.

You can use a mixer if you want, but this recipe is so simple and straightforward you can just mix it in a bowl by hand too.

Adrianne's Gifted Hands

Adrianne has beautiful hands.  She plays the piano, crafts, embroiders to rival our grandmothers.  Her fingers are long and slender.  Pretty too.  But don't let any of that deceive you.  They are strong as well.  She gives the BEST massages/back rubs.  Today was a lonnnggg day and my body had worked itself into a major stress-lack-of sleep-overtired headache from the middle of my back all the way up.  The kind of headache where you just might think you are going to be 'sick'.  She and I were on dinner duty together tonight and in between the steps of building lasagne she kneaded those tense muscles. 

OH!  It was heaven.  I had already taken 2 extra-strength tylenol which hadn't done much to alleviate the pounding, but by the time we had to assemble the main dish, I was feeling so much better.  I asked her how she learned to do that.  Her answer:  no where.  I just do what I like to have done.

Well, you should go into the business, dear.  For the first time in two days my headache was gone!

And the lasagne was divine along with young, fresh, first of season zuchinni.  You know the kind:  that soft buttery texture and taste with a little sprinkle of kosher salt and a smidge of melted butter.  I love the combination of lasagne with a side of zuchinni.  Sometimes I could make the zuchinni my main dish.