daidoji_gisei | Of birds and banana bread (Reply)

Thus far, I have been unable to identify the eagle? I saw last week. I am somewhat frustrated by this--if it had been a plant, I'd have had it ID'd six ways from Sunday by now. But birds? I can distinguish a red-winged blackbird from a grackle, but all smallish brown birds are "sparrows", unless I'm in the mood to call them "wrens". But if you need someone who can tell you what is yellow sorrel and what is black nightshade, I am your woman. (Happily, the two look nothing alike because the first is edible and the second is very much not.)

And while on the topic of edible things, I am posting my Ancestral Banana Bread Recipe. This is another of my Grandmother's recipes via my mom, and like the Ancestral Pumpkin Pie it is really good. I find it less heavy than most of the other ones I've sampled at other people's houses.

ANCESTRAL BANANA BREAD

1/2 cup oleo#
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 c brown sugar*
--Cream these together, then add:
2 well-beaten eggs
--mix well.

--in a separate bowl, sift together:
2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

--in a second separate bowl, mix:
1 cup mashed bananas**
1/4 cup sour milk (=1/4 cup milk + 1 tsp vinegar)***

--stir in sifted dry ingredients alternately with banana mixture. Mix until smooth.
--add, if desired:
1/2 cup nuts

--bake in a greased 5"X9" loaf pan at 350 degrees F for one hour. Test for doneness. Let cool in pan for five minutes, then carefully remove the loaf from the pan and let it cool on a rack.
Mom writes:"Sometimes your Grandma would put choc. chips in instead of nuts!" As a matter of fact, I remember the chocolate chip version. Grandma's banana bread never lasted long in our house, but the chocolate chip version vanished at warp speeds.

# I almost forgot this. My mom means "margarine". I've used margarine, shortening and butter and they all work well. I prefer butter because, well, who wouldn't?
*I have used only 1 cup of sugar and it was fine. I've also (mistakenly) used white sugar, and though it worked I don't think it tasted as good.
**In case you have never made banana bread, you want to use really, really, ripe bananas for this. If they are black-spotted all over and soft they are perfect.
***For the sake of all that's bakable, DO NOT use spoiled milk from the back of your fridge for this. Spoiled milk /= sour milk. Use my mom's substitution, or if you have it, buttermilk. I usually use plain yogurt, and sour cream would probably work in a pinch. You might have to add an extra tablespoon of water to thin it out, though.

Enjoy.