Banana Bread

One of my most requested recipes is banana bread, so I just knew I had to add it to the family cookbook. My brother Scott was the one who taught me his secret: dust the pans with sugar. It really makes a difference! It is a favorite of many of my friends, especially Keely's best friend, Cacy Burtnett. Knowing that we were going to drive to Nashville to watch her play her last home basketball game, I decided to make her some a couple of weeks ago. That's the nice thing about this bread. It freezes beautifully.

We have been watching Cacy play basketball since she was in elementary school. She and Keely played on the same AAU basketball team, coached by Steve, and her love of the game was unmatched. Cacy is one of the few student-athletes I know who has successfully endured all four years of playing college basketball. We loved supporting her in her final home game last night at Belmont, and I loved giving her not one, but two of my loaves to show her in a very small way just how proud we are of her! 

Cacy's mom, Cindi, has tried to duplicate my banana bread in the past and swears that the recipe I gave her was deliberate sabotage. Then last night, at Belmont, Cacy's sister Sheelah told me she tried to make it, too, just last week and it failed. So, I don't know the root cause yet why the Burtnetts can't make banana bread (that's probably worthy of another post), but I promise you, this is exactly what I do:

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 1-2/3 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup shortening
• 2 eggs
• 4-5 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 2-1/2 cups flour 
• 1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon soda

Directions:
Cream together sugar, shortening, and eggs. Add bananas and nuts. Mix well. Slowly add buttermilk. Mix well. Sift remaining dry ingredients into mixture. Mix well. Pour into 2 bread pans that have been coated with shortening and dusted with sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.