#12 - Banana Tea Bread

(by Aunt Grace [Herman] Knouse)

Put these 4 ingredients together in a small bowl:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. Arm & Hammer baking soda
1 1/4 tsp. McCormick cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. salt

Put these ingredients in a small bowl. You'll need another small bowl next to the first one. Take a spoonful of ingredients at a time and sift into empty bowl. When finished, sift again back into the first bowl. When finished, sift a third time back into the other bowl.

Put these ingredients into a separate bowl:
1/3 cup Parkay margarine (1/3 of one stick)
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs beaten slightly
1 cup of mashed VERY ripe bananas

Rub margarine with the back of spoon against the bowl until it's a creamy consistency. Stir in sugar by hand and beat by hand with a tablespoon until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well by hand with tablespoon. Add bananas and stir. Add the sifted flour mixture and beat batter by hand until smooth.

Pour batter into greased and floured loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Test with a toothpick for doneness. If toothpick comes out clean, it's done. If not, bake a few more minutes and retest.

Hint: when you get over ripe bananas and you don't have time to use them, stick them in a Ziploc plastic bag and keep them in the freezer. When you're ready to bake, take them out and put them one banana at a time in the microwave on high for one minute. Do this for each banana that you need for your recipe. Remove skin and mash as normal.