Grandma Ethel's Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 Tablespoons sour milk*

3 bananas, mashed

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

* To make sour milk: Add 1 Tablespoon lemon juice plus enough milk to make one cup.  Let stand 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour one large loaf pan

Cream butter and sugar together.  Add eggs and beat well. Add sour milk and beat well. Add mashed bananas.  Sift dry ingredients together and add to the batter. Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Makes one loaf.

Tim's Notes: This was one of my grandmother's favorite recipes. She used to have a couple of loaves of this bread in her freezer at all times and gave it away for holidays and birthdays. Is it sacrilege that I also like to add 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/2 cup chopped, toasted pecans? I think this makes it ever so much better! I think Grandma Ethel would be all for that.

To toast pecans, place in a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 3-5 minutes. Watch carefully! I bake about 3 minutes, shake and bake 2 minutes more if needed.  Let cool and chop if needed. I buy pecan pieces because they are cheaper and need less chopping.

Banana ripeness should be to taste.  My grandma liked them when the skins were black.  Indeed, many recipes suggest this.  The riper he banana, the better. I prefer the bananas when they have spots, and the spots are just beginning to touch.

At this time, I have not been successful in translating this recipe to gluten free. Please feel free to experiment! I will eventually figure it out but haven't spent a lot of time working on it at the moment.