Day #3 - Banana Bread

This is one of my personal favorites and has been in my own recipe collection for years.  My husband, Tom, plays darts on Wednesday nights, I wanted to surprise him and make something so that when he came home the house would smell delightful and since there were banana's on the counter, Banana Bread won!  Tom won't be very happy with me, because the banana's are for his cereal in the morning, and how can you resist banana bread!  I actually don't like banana's, they smell funny and the texture is just all wrong, but mashed up and baked in this bread, it's all good!

Here is the recipe:
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, softened (the original recipe calls for 1/2 cup melted shortening, but I like butter)
3 bananas, mashed (most of the time I put them in whole and let the mixer mash them)
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
1/2 cup nuts(I like to use walnuts, you can leave the nuts out if you don't like them)

Cream the sugar and butter, then add the eggs

Add the bananas and mix

Add 2 cups flour, baking soda and pinch salt and mix

Stir in 1/2 cup nuts(if using)

Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for 1 hour (in my oven I usually have to let it bake a little longer, just insert a knife and if it comes out clean it's done).

Here is the finished product! Too bad you can't do scratch and sniff on the computer, it really smells yummy!

I started swimming today, I am not the best swimmer, probably because I do not like to put my head under water.  The reason I started swimming was last fall I tore a muscle in my leg  playing soccer (at least I think it was a tear, I never went to the doctor, but it felt like a rubber band snapped), I did not run (which I love to run) for 4 months!  I just recently started running again and did my first 5k a couple of weeks ago, my sister and I are working our way up to a 10k by July when the Wharf to Wharf happens in Santa Cruz.  I am slowly getting back to where I was last year, it just takes a little longer to heal from injuries, mentally I am still 16, however, my body is objecting just a little bit.  Thank god I am doing all this exercise, now I can eat the goodies I am making!

Hope you enjoy the Banana Bread and your house will smell delicious when it is baking!