Deadlines, Revisits and The End

I don't know about y'all but I'm loving these revisits. Not because they're easy, but because it's like a Best-of. The Who's Who of some of our favorite recipes. So while Jan and I succumb to deadline mania, you get to reap the rewards.

What do you do when your bananas look like this? 

Well, in my house, it calls for a batch of banana nut bread. Over the years I've tried lots of different recipes. Some good, some not so good. The recipe I'm going to share with you today is one of the best I've tried. Of course, it's courtesy of Martha Stewart, so what would you expect.

You're going to need:

• 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour (Martha says unbleached all-purpose; I used the better-for-bread variety)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan or four smaller pans (I opted for the smaller pans).

With an electric mixer (perhaps one named Edna), cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs and beat well.

Sift the dry ingredients together and combine with the butter mixture.

Blend well. Add the bananas, sour cream (the ingredient I think makes this recipe stand out), and vanilla. Stir well. (I used my electric mixer on the lowest speed)

Stir in the nuts.

Pour into prepared pan(s).

For one large pan, the instructions are to back for one hour, until a cake tester comes out clean. For my four small loaves, I found 40 minutes to be just right.

Turn baked loaves onto rack to cool.

I love keeping these little guys in the freezer so they're ready whenever I need them. Sometimes, I'll put them in a cellophane bag with a pretty ribbon and give them as gifts.

Of course, they also go perfect with cup of tea. I'm having a little one-on-one with some Cream Earl Green. He's so smooth, you know.



Tea's on, gang. Who's ready to join me?

Okay, even deadlines can't keep me from my tea. It's the fuel I need to keep my brain cells firing.
So I've got a Nov. 1st deadline. Yesterday I typed THE END on my rough draft. 
Okay, so my rough isn't that rough. Now it's on to the polishing. A little spit, some elbow grease and, Lord willing, that puppy will come out shining like a diamond. Or at least a CZ. 
And while THE END isn't really the end, there's something about getting the story out of your head and onto the page. Wouldn't you agree?
Now I can fix whatever's wrong. But the story is complete.
Of course, it's just a matter of time before the next characters come knocking.
And so goes the life of a writer.