Banana Bread Day!

    "Mommy, it's Banana Bread Day!," Emily declares upon discovering three bananas that are starting to brown in our fruit bowl. That's the tradition here: any bananas that don't make it into a banana split or bowl of cereal are mashed and baked into banana bread.

     As Emily (4) & Kayla (2) put on aprons and washed their hands, I realize that Banana Bread baking has changed quite a bit with the help of my two baking partners.

    This is our "New Light Girls' Banana Bread Recipe" with the very important steps my girls have added to the process!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 3 mashed bananas
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. cooking oil
• 1 tsp. almond extract

Instructions:

• Smear soft margarine on a clean paper towel. Rub that greasy paper towel all over a loaf pan. Draw hearts in the butter with your finger. See if mom notices. If she doesn't, be sure to point them out.
• In a medium bowl mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon (AFTER sniffing it to make sure it smells "like Christmas"), and salt.
• Use another bowl to let Emily crack the egg till it starts to ooze. Hand egg to mom to finish. Make sure there are no shells in the bowl because, "That would be gross." Mix the egg, bananas (that Kayla has mashed with a fork), sugar, cooking oil, and almond extract (our secret ingredient, "Shhhh. Don't tell!").
• Add egg mixture to dry mixture adjusting the speed on the mixer from slow (Emily's preference) to fast (Kayla's preference) to medium (Mom's preference), until just mixed.
• Double check that you remembered every ingredient (sometimes things are forgotten with lots of little helpers). Read the ingredients one by one as the Jr. Bakers say, "Check" to every remembered ingredient and, "Oops!" if anything was forgotten. Note: Please don't tell my Jr. Chefs, but I tend to "forget" something until the end just to get their giggles at my forgetting the Super Important Ingredient. I don't forget the same thing twice because one of the Jr. Chefs is guaranteed to remind me at the beginning of the baking process, "Mommy don't forget the cinnamon like you did last time."
• Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Turn on the oven light so Jr. Chefs can look at the bread and watch it bake. Jr. Chefs stay far away from the oven when Mom opens the door so you don't burn fingers. Cool in pan on wire rack. Remove and store before serving, or slice and eat.
• How to eat banana bread: Top your slice with butter or cream cheese. To eat it like Kayla: Start eating the center first, saving the crust for last (if you bother with crust). If you get a little cream cheese on your nose, don't worry... that only makes you cuter. To eat it like Emily: Break it in half. It makes it easier to eat the center if you don't like crust, but don't worry banana bread crust is yummier than sandwich crust. To eat it like Mom: We don't know how mom eats it, because the Jr. Chefs like to gobble it all up while she cleans the kitchen!

So, how do you bake banana bread? Do you have Jr. Chefs with their own "cooking tips"?