It's the final countdown (banana bread)

No, no, don't get your hopes up. We're nowhere near ready to start renting. That's just the song that popped into my head yesterday when I was preheating the oven for baking.  The oven here does a preheating countdown, which I think is possibly the coolest thing ever.  Okay, maybe not ever but pretty cool nonetheless.  Preheating an oven always seems to take forever, but when you can look over and see that there are exactly 5 minutes and 36 seconds left, before you'll be at 350 degrees, well, it's pretty nice.

What do you do with banana's like this?

Make banana bread, duh. Side note: I don't really like bananas that much.  Eesh.  I swear I never thought I was a picky eater, until I met Dan.  And, no, that's not because Dan will eat everything in sight, but because Dan calls me out on all of the really normal things that I randomly don't like:  bananas, orange juice, eggs (for the most part, although I'm getting better), syrup, sausage.  WOW, and they're all breakfast foods, which I honestly didn't realize until just this moment. 

Also, just in case you didn't already know this, the easiest way to open a banana is on the bottom, not on the stem.  I swear; it's how monkeys do it and they probably know best when it comes to bananas. You just push on the end and it pops right open! That way, you're way less likely to mash it up.  

I don't know this dude, but he sure knows how to peel a banana.  Also, mine looks a little sloppy, but that's only because it's so over ripe.  Normally, I'm a way better banana peeler, especially given how often I eat/don't eat them.  Not to pat my own back or anything...

Yum.  This is a terrible picture, but I had to include it, because, as far as I'm concerned, it's the best part of any baking project.  Sugar and butter, or in this case margarine, mmm delicious.  Why waste your time eating bananas?  

This is where my flour comes from.  I like using canisters to store stuff, because trying to get flour out of that bag always ends up disastrous.  The problem is that, usually when you try to get the flour (or whatever) out of the canister the measuring cup doesn't fit in, so you try to pour.  And then, you end up with flour all over the place anyway.  At least I do.  But these canisters, that once belonged to my grandmother, come with nice little spoons that are perfect for putting that flour in a measuring cup/directly into the mixing bowl.  What a smart lady my grandmother was.

Banana bread before the oven:

Banana bread after the oven:

Mmm deliciousness.  And it all came from right here:

Now, for those of you who don't know, Moody's Diner is pretty much an institution in Maine.  It's located on Route 1 in Waldoboro, which is on your way to Camden if you're traveling north.  Every summer in high school, my friends and I would go up to Vinalhaven, an island off the coast of Rockland.  On our way back, we would always stop at Moody's for food and ice cream shakes. 

Best-Ever Banana Bread 

Taken from What's Cooking at Moody's Diner

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup margarine

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup bananas, mashed (this is approximately 2 bananas)

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Cream together margarine and sugar; add eggs and banana and mix well. Combine dry ingredients and add to batter, alternately with buttermilk.  Fold in nuts. (I think chocolate chips might work pretty well too?) Bake in loaf pan 1 hour at 350 degrees.