when life gives you old bananas, make bread

A busy, haphazardly planned week resulted in an entire bunch of nasty brown bananas. But I beat the fruit flies to them! It was an exciting day at our house...homemade banana bread is a surefire sign of the arrival of fall (if you haven't figured it out, that's my favorite time of year).

Before:

After:

And because nobody should be without this recipe, here it is:

banana bread
(adapted from Diane Matzdorf's recipe in the Saron Church Cookbook)
makes 1 standard-size loaf

ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 Tbl. sour milk
1 1/2 cups banana pulp (about 3 medium bananas)
1 tsp. vanilla (I use double-strength)

directions
1) Preheat oven to 350 F; give loaf pan a good shot of cooking spray.
2) In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar; fold in eggs. Sift dry ingredients into butter mixture and give it a quick stir.
3) In a medium bowl, combine milk, bananas, and vanilla. Add to batter and stir until well combined; pour mixture into the loaf pan.
4) Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
5) Remove from pan and allow to cool for 30 minutes before devouring.