Banana Nut Bread

I just want to start off by saying that I love to bake. The very first thing I was taught to bake was banana nut bread by my grandma. I am not sure how long ago that was, but from that moment on I had a love of this comforting, warm, traditional bread.
I remember during the Christmas season my dad would "hire" me to bake bread for him to give to his co-workers for Christmas. He would buy ALL the ingredients and supplies and I will bake about 15 loaves of this delicious bread. The Christmas after my dad died I still bake a few loaves of bread for his co-workers, but when I delivered them it did not have the same feel. I don't think they understood what I was doing. Oh well.
In the past few weeks I have come across some slightly over ripe bananas that I would never eat by themselves so I decided to do the next best thing. Break out the old recipe and bake some banana nut bread. Every time I mash the bananas or measure out the vanilla I am overcome by the memories of both my grandma (who taught me to cook and gave me this family recipe) and my father (who thoroughly enjoyed eating the bread...warmed slightly with a smear of butter on it ((and sometimes a little peanut butter))).
It is these memories that makes me love being in the kitchen cooking and baking for loved ones. I am not going to lie to you this banana nut bread recipe is the best in the world, but I will take the recipe to the grave with me...sorry. You will just have to find your own family recipes and memories.
By the way, Jay loves this bread too...not heated, no butter, no hint of peanut butter, just plain and tonight...with a stick of string cheese. "To each his own." by Leonardo Sciascia (novelist)