Banana Bread to Cure What Ails You

 Back when my husband was going through cancer treatments, we lived in North Carolina for a couple of months. One day our longtime pastor and his wife and another good friend decided to come visit us, and our pastor--who is an excellent baker--brought all sorts of baked goodies to share.  They were all delicious, but the banana bread spoke to me. I loved it so much that I ate a sliced, toasted and spread with almond butter, served with dark Yorkshire Gold tea, every afternoon until it was gone, and I'm not sure anyone else touched it. It was a wonderful comfort food during a very hard time. 

When a friend's family was going through a health crisis with their daughter a year and a half ago, I took them a loaf of this banana bread.  It seemed to make everyone feel better. We suspect it has healing properties!

At some point I also left some banana bread muffins with my Dad in Charleston.  He called me later to point out how good they were, and how good he felt.  So this is definitely a recipe to cure whatever ails you in life. :) 

The Best Banana Bread

(from the kitchen of a kindly Presbyterian pastor)

Mix at medium speed until well-blended:

*3-4 medium-sized very ripe bananas (I have used 2.5, to fine effect)

*2 eggs

*1/2 cup olive oil

*1/4 cup buttermilk

*1/4 cup orange juice (if you don't have orange juice, you can just use another 1/4 cup buttermilk--this is a flexible recipe)

Then add the following sifted ingredients:

*2 c. unbleached flour

*1.5 tsp baking powder

*1.5 tsp baking soda

*1 tsp salt

*one-half to one full cup of sugar (I use sucanat, and I use a scant half-cup)

Mix all this at medium speed until well-blended.  At this point you can add some nuts if you like--I don't!--or add a few very generous handfuls of dark chocolate chips (60% Ghiaradelli)--which I do. 

Pour into an oiled and parchment-lined loaf pan and bake 1 hour at 300 degrees or until a test toothpick comes out clean.  

Eat, and be comforted!