Take Those Old, Brown, Smelly Bananas ...

... and make Banana Bread, of course! Or rather, at our house, Banana Muffins. The girls love them and this is my favorite recipe from that grand old master of American cooking, James Beard. I never remember the nuts but that doesn't matter. These are wonderful without them.

Banana Bread
(from Beard on Bread)

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter or other shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed, very ripe bananas (2-3 bananas)
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Sift the flour with the soda and salt. Cream the butter and gradually add the sugar. Mix well. Add the eggs and bananas and blend thoroughly. Combine the milk and lemon juice, which will curdle a bit. Slowly and alternately fold in the flour mixture and milk mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. blend well after each addition. Stir in the nuts, then pour the batter into a lavishly buttered 9 x 5 x 3-inch pan and bake in a preheated 350° degree oven for 1 hour, or until th ebread springs back when lightly touched in the center.

For 12 Large Muffins: spoon into a 12-cup muffin tin (lavishly buttered as Beard says!) and bake for 20 minutes. Let the muffins sit for 5 minutes in the tin and then tip out onto a rack to cool.