Nana's Bananas

   I remember as a kid begging my mom to make Nana's Banana Bread, because it was so delicious. It was soft but not mushy. A golden yellow color sprinkled with different shades of brown. It had the most sweet smell to it, of course bananas, but a light airy sugar smell, virtually indescribable.




     

   When I got into middle school, I had a Home EC. class. We learned many different things about cooking and how to read recipes, along with how to group the ingredients in the recipes. Of course when you learn things in school they teach you how to do it the right way. Recipes are supposed to have exact measurements and step by step instructions, those are the recipes we used in that class anyways. Well at the end of the quarter we were going to have a "bake off". It was a competition between the students to see who could cook the best recipe. I wasn't sure what to cook or where to even start, I really wanted to win because I have always been really competitive and hated losing anything, no matter the competition. I went home and my mom helped me to go through her recipes and we stumbled across my favorite recipe of all time, obviously I had completely forgotten about it. I was so excited. My mom and I ended up practicing how to make the Banana Bread, and she let me do most of it.
    Soon to be realized I had no idea where or what to do by the recipe that sat on the counter. It was different than the ones I had learned to read. There was almost nothing on the card, I was so confused. Therefor, my mom explained it to me step by step and helped me write down extra instructions on a separate piece of paper that I have long lost by now. When the finished product finally came out of the oven, it was exactly as I had remembered it. I took it to school and since we didn't have a long enough class block to finish my recipe I had the teacher help me start it before class. When it came to be class time and the competition was on I was really confident. I didn't end up winning but I sure did take 2nd place, and that was okay with me.
   My mom told me that this was supposed to be a "secret" recipe, but I have shared it with you anyways. This was passed down a few generations and we always make it for Christmas, it is a tradition, and one that I am proud of. In a way, I suppose it is still kind of a secret recipe because there are a few small tips and tricks that I was taught to make this recipe turn out the best. I will definitely pass this on to my children when the time comes and hopefully they will do the same.