Family Recipe

If I had to choose a woman who has influenced my life I would choose my great-grandmother, Po Po. From what my mom has told me she loved to bake, she had chickens and she was a beautiful seamstress. She passed this knowledge on to my mom who then passed it on to me.

Now that I have children of my own, I have given great thought to what I want to pass on to them. One of them is cooking. We eat at least three times a day and sometimes I think we are Hobbits. 

They enjoy at least seven meals a day, when they can get them – breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner and, later in the evening, supper. They like simple food such as bread, meat, potatoes, and cheese, …

We spend a lot of time enjoying food together in preparation and actual eating.  I’m still working on the clean-up part, but they never seem to tire of helping out in the sifting, stirring and tasting.

There is one recipe that my Po Po left behind when she passed away that is a favorite in our family. It is Po Po’s Banana Nut Bread. My mom makes it and gives it as birthday presents. I save up my tired bananas in the freezer just for this bread. I was cleaning out my freezer the other day and discovered that I was long overdue for a warm loaf of that tasty bread.

Once I had my ingredients and mixer set up, the littlest one around here noticed what I was up to and pushed a kitchen chair right up to the counter and helped me out. She gets paid in batter-covered beaters for her assistance.

Here is the recipe for you to try and it’s best served right out of the oven and don’t forget to add butter to your slice before enjoying!

Edit: I have created an illustrated version of this recipe here.

Po Po’s Banana Nut Bread

1-1/2 sticks butter

1-1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs, well beaten

1 tsp. baking soda

3 cups flour, sifted

5 bananas, mashed*

3/4 cup chopped nuts

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar until well blended. Add eggs, then sifted ingredients. Fold in bananas, nuts (if using) and vanilla. Grease and line pan with waxed paper (2 loaf pans or 1 pullman loaf pan). Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

*Overripe bananas work best, so save the last couple of bananas in the freezer that are just too ripe to eat!