Our Recipes: Susan's Banana Bread

Ingredients:
- 2 ripe medium bananas, mashed
- 2 eggs
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar (the original calls for 1 1/2)
- 1 cup chopped walnuts (sometimes we put crushed hazelnuts in instead)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup buttermilk (if you don't have it, you can use yogurt)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla, optional
- 1/2 tsp salt

Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C).
- Grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan. (Today, we used aluminum foil instead.)
- Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the sugar, salt and baking soda.
- Beat eggs with a fork and slowly add them to the bowl while stirring at the surface to avoid clumping.
- In the same fashion, add the buttermilk.
- Continuing like this, add the vegetable oil and then the vanilla.
- Add the mashed banana and stir everything together well.
- Finally, add the walnuts and stir.
- Transfer to the pan.
- Bake until the top is golden brown, split slightly, and a knife (or skewer) comes out cleanly. This is probably about 60-80 minutes.
- Let sit a few minutes before cutting, but serve warm!  

Makes 1 loaf.

This recipe is from John's mom. She made it all the time when he was growing up. I tried it for first time in Arizona at Thanksgiving and have been making it ever since. People in many countries have tried it and love it.