Tina's Banana Nut Bread

Emiley Stubbs sent this one in, and it belongs to Tina. What started as finding an in-home sitter for their children turned into something more, and somewhere along the way she stopped feeling like the sitter and started feeling like family.

Every Christmas Tina makes them her banana nut bread. In Emiley's words: it may look like just a loaf of bread, but to us it means so much more. Some people enter your life because you need them for a season, and then somewhere along the way they become family.

Ten bananas. This is not a small loaf.

Ingredients

• 10 bananas, mashed
• 3 eggs
• 3 sticks soft margarine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2½ cups sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 1½ teaspoons baking soda
• 2 cups pecans

Instructions

1. Prepare the bananas. Mash the bananas thoroughly in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the wet ingredients. Add the eggs and vanilla to the mashed bananas and mix until well combined.
3. Incorporate the margarine. Gradually add the margarine, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Prepare the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and mix until evenly incorporated.
5. Combine. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture, stirring until well combined. Do not overmix.
6. Add the pecans. Gently fold in the chopped pecans.
7. Bake. Pour the batter into a prepared loaf pan. Bake at 325°F for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Cool. Allow the bread to cool before slicing and serving.