If you bake it, they will come

Nothing seems to get the attention of the family more than baking. I could have a turkey roasting or some spices in the kettle simmering, but it is the baking that always has doors opening. The Dude was literally sleeping and came out and said 'Um, do I smell what I think I smell?" Yes, the scents that really get them is apple pie and Banana Bread. I love the smell of banana bread; I hate bananas. It was made worse when 8 years ago I got really sick in the middle of the night and the Dude brought me to the emergency room. They ran test after test and decided to some kind of scan (it was like 3 AM and I was sick I wanted to die and can't remember what scan) and I had to drink a 20 ounce bottle of some God awful thick liquid goo that was strawberry-banana flavored. Don't you have grape or orange? Nope, strawberry-banana. Shudder. But I love to bake muffins and bread with bananas. Something about that warm, fruity scent transports me somewhere-not sure where, but some happy place.

A lot of times I will just make this in the extra large cupcake pans because it never seems to fail. The center is still gooey while the outside is overly done. I topped this with foil and took it off with the last 15 minutes to go. I do think it is my oven-I'm pushing for that new duel-fuel one at the appliance store! I did nuke it for 4 minutes after letting it sit on the counter for about 15 minutes-just because it looked too soft in the middle. It is almost gone today, so it must have worked out.

Banana Bread

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk (I used whipping cream as I only had enough milk for kids breakfast)

1/2 cup shortening

1 tsp soda

3 medium bananas, soft and mashed

2 eggs, beaten lightly

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1 cup nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix sugar, milk, shortening, bananas and eggs. Add remaining ingredients slowly and don't overmix. Put in a 9x5 loaf pan, or make muffins. Bake one hour to one hour 15 minutes for loaf pan and about 30 to 40 minutes as muffins *depending on size of muffin pan used. I tented mine with foil to keep edges from browning too much and removed last 15 minutes or so to get it nice and brown. Inhale deeply.