Dear Professor...

Dear Professor,

Let me start this off by saying that I respect you. You seem like a cool person. You were super nice at the beginning of the semester. You cracked a few jokes here and there. But then, you totally lost me. You stood up on your soapbox, started lecturing and completely bamboozled me.

You actually bother me, quite a bit. Hey, I get it. You went to school a little longer, got a Ph.D. and now you're all "enlightened." Good for you. But these freakin' tangents that you go off on, not only confuse me, they royally piss me off. That blank look on my face? Yeah, that's code for, "What in the hell are you talking about?"

And this "final project?" I think it's kinda dumb, ok no, really dumb. Rather than standing up at the front of the class, reading a 14-page, crappy, research paper and arguing about some stupid point about some stupid piece of literature, I'd much rather make you this banana bread. And I'd much rather argue why this is the best banana bread in the entire world. My thesis is clear and my argument has strong points (and lots of literary devices.)

Please think about it and let me know. Hope you're having a fantastic Thanksgiving break.

Sincerely,
Allison


Have you had a fantabulous Thanksgiving?! I sure hope so. I hope you ate way too much food and watched way too much football. :) I rolled into my hometown Wednesday afternoon and the first thing I did was of course heat up the oven and bake something with Papa Blackwell.


I absolutely adore a fabulous banana nut bread and the recipe Papa B and I use is honestly the best. I'd be lying if I told you I haven't had a couple of slices of this for breakfast the last three days.


The recipe comes from one of those cookbooks that our little church puts out with little old ladies' recipes, so you know it's dang good.

Side story-poor Papa B went to check the "doneness" of the bread, burnt his finger and dropped the rack with the two loaves (which were baking up, oh so beautifully). The middle of each loaf, came oozing out and Papa B yelled a few choice words. It was semi-hilarious and I was trying not to laugh with Spilt Batter (no pun intended, ok maybe a wee bit) all over the floor. The bread still turned out delicious and Papa B's finger is healing nicely.

Banana Nut Bread
adapted from Margie (Sidlinger) Cook

1 c. butter or oil
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
4 eggs, beaten
6-7 bananas, mashed
2 1/2 c. sifted flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. chopped pecans or walnuts

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 large loaf pans or 5 small ones. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and beat well. Add the mashed bananas, stirring to blend. In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Fold the dry ingredients and nuts into the batter, mixing well. Pour the batter into the pans. Sprinkle tops of loaves with nuts. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. For muffins, fill 12 muffin cups, half full and bake for 35-45 minutes.