My grandmother used to make amazing banana bread and this is a version of her recipe. She always mashed the bananas and left them out on the counter for a little while so they darkened up a bit, leaving lovely little brown streaks in the baked bread. She loved to bake and always brought several dozen cookies with her in coffee cans when she would come to visit.(Coffee cans were the container of choice before tupperware.)

My mother, who was a wise and kind woman, would then let us kids sit at the breakfast table with glasses of milk and eat as many cookies as we wanted. I suppose she let us get it our of our systems, which would cut down on begging for cookies later on. Thanks, Mom! Just one more way you were the best mother in the world.

One time when I was 16, Grandma asked me if I wanted cookies, and I said no, I’d better not – too much sugar and fat for me. She was stunned and said with complete sincerity, “Oh, no – cookies are good for you!”   Yes, Grandma they were.

1/4 cup oil
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3 bananas, very ripe, mashed with a fork
1 1/2 tbsp sour cream or plain yoghurt
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla

Mix very well in a big bowl.

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Blend in a small bowl and gently stir into banana mixture. Add 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans if you like.

Pour batter into 2 greased loaf pans, or one larger baking pan (shown above). Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. If the middle of the bread is still very liquidy bake a little longer.

My notes say, Ali loves this – he ate one whole loaf himself !- 2-16-01 (He was 13.)