Mocked by Bananas - Soused Banana Bread

Saturday April 25 - By now, all the advance food preparation has been done, because today, this very morning, Rob and I are outta here, headed to Port Canaveral where the best Carnival ships live and sail.  Let me tell you, it was a damn close call on the food.   To put it simply but succinctly, I was mocked by bananas. So I got them drunk and had my way with them.

The original recipe is pretty darn good.  I have to assume that the author's bananas were quite a bit better behaved than my three, as she was able to hold the line with vanilla extract.

Tuesday May 5 - Now that I've returned to this post, I realize that I have inadvertently discarded my notes of the changes I made to the recipe.  I hate when I do that, but I did do it and there is nothing I can do about it.  If memory serves me correctly, and I would not want to bet  on it, the only change I made was to add two tablespoons of banana liquor.  I believe I used the full cup of sugar, as the bananas were resistant to ripening, no matter how long I gave them to do so.  I like this recipe because it is incredibly easy and virtually impossible to screw up.  It's also delicious.

3 very ripe bananas, peeled

1/3 cup melted butter

1 cup of sugar (can use 3/4 cup)

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons banana liquor (optional)

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350°F, and coat the inside of a 4x8-inch loaf pan with no-stick spray.  In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until smooth. Stir the melted butter into the mashed bananas.

Mix in the baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, vanilla extract, and banana liquor. Mix in the flour.

Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes (check at 50 minutes) at 350°F, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Sign at one of our stops in Belize.  

I know you are going to be shocked, but I used an aluminum loaf pan.  It worked just fine.  

Depression is a funny thing, but nobody's laughing.  I know it takes time for a new medication to build up in one's system, and that it can take weeks to become fully effective.  Knowing all that does not make me feel better.  In the here and now the depression is wearing down my resistance and so I am overwhelmed by sadness and ennui.  Getting out of bed has been difficult.  Sleep continues to be elusive.  Paresthesia, that terrible, intense burning and itching of the skin,  is driving me past-the-point-of-no-return crazy. Brain fog is dulling my senses and preventing me from doing even simple tasks.  Preparing the onions for today's test of an onion soup recipe is going slow; I feel clumsy using the knife.  God willing, I won't cut off anything more serious than an acrylic fingernail.

Tropical fruit in Belize, at Carambola Gardens Tour