If a tree falls in the forest...

I think you're out there...yes? I'm back in Okeechobee FL, visiting with my parents.

If I could fix everything, I would...but I can't...so for now, I'm happy to just be here. Mom is fighting very hard to get healthy enough to have radiation for esophageal cancer. Dad is doing all he can to support her, including taking care of their dog Molly and things at the house.

But right now, you're here and I promised you a recipe. My "day" is not quite over so I think I'm still keeping to my one-recipe-per-day mantra. True to my nature, this one's a goody and its aroma while baking makes the whole house smell wonderful. Slightly adapted from simplyrecipes.com, this banana bread is dark, moist and delicious.

I keep overripe bananas in the freezer, either in their skins (that become unappealingly blackened but are still ok to use), or peeled and bagged--3 to 4 in a bag to defrost for use in this particular recipe. Don't be surprised if the peeled bananas get watery after defrosting--just mash it all together anyway!

Banana Nut Bread

✔ 3 to 4 ripe bananas, smashed
✔ 1/3 cup melted butter
✔ 3/4 cup sugar
✔ 1 egg, beaten
✔ 1 teaspoon vanilla
✔ 1 teaspoon baking soda
✔ pinch of sea salt
✔ 1-1/2 cups flour
✔ 1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional--but really, this is banana NUT bread!)

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, mix butter into the mashed bananas with a wooden spoon. Mix in sugar, egg and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the batter and mix. Mix in the flour, then fold in the walnuts. Pour into a buttered 4"x8" loaf pan and bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack; slice and serve with butter, cream cheese, or by itself. Leftover slices are nice toasted, too!

Buon appetito!