A Cup of New Year's Coffee

Everyone needs to have an Aunt Ann in their lives. My Aunt Ann has been a wonderful presence in my life. I’ve looked up to her all my life. She’s been a mentor, buffer, encourager, and teacher for me. Ann spent 36 years as a home economics teacher in a mid size town in Minnesota. She understood teenagers and my own parents were clueless (or so it seemed at the time). She was the person to go to with my parent troubles, joys and all around teenage angst. During my college years she taught me a lot about how to get along in life, how to cook, and how to be a generous and nice person.

On New Year’s Day we traveled the distance to visit with her and had a wonderful time. Her special gift is cooking and so even though she’s 80 some years old she cooked up a storm. We always come home with a load of “extra” food – it’s required to bring a cooler to her house. She loves coffee and always has the coffee pot on. We sat and drank coffee and visited and ate and visited and ate some more.

This time while I was there I brought my lap top and copied some of her recipes into it. We talked about how I should come up now that I’m retired and copy all of her favorite ones. She likes the idea of making a book of them. I think that’s a great idea too and I’m looking forward to doing it. So, in honor of my Aunt Ann here is one of her recipes. She often sends us home with a loaf. I think you’ll enjoy it.

Ann’s Banana Bread Recipe

½ c. (1 stick) butter or margarine

1 c. sugar

2 eggs

3 well ripened bananas, mashed

1 ¼ c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

Generously butter and flour a regular size loaf pan. Blend together butter and sugar. Add eggs and blend. Add bananas and mix until well blended. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in bowl. Add to banana mixture and blend well. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes or until done. Check with a toothpick. Cool on rack in pan. Remove and cool completely. Makes 1 loaf. Freezes well.