The best of the best of bridge

You know what? Baking isn't all that hard. I'm not talking about homemade truffles or petits fours here, but in my pre-SAHM life, homemade baking seemed somewhat magical and spoke of things that never made it into my shopping cart: butter, flour, vanilla extract. But after a few wedding showers (a somewhat embarrassing seven), I am rather well equipped to whip up all sorts of sugar-laden goodies. (That and I got one of those fab KitchenAid mixers from a guilt-ridden HS soon after we moved here from Toronto. Alas, no matter how well a mixer can whip, stir or mix, it doesn't really make up for the isolation of moving to a new city. You can't bake away depression people!) In addition to the requisite cookware, I received a lot of cookbooks, including one of my mother's favourites, The Best of the Best and more!. This book is part of a series of cookbooks from The Best of the Best of Bridge, sort of the penultimate collection, spiral bound and 313 pages of recipes from my childhood that bring to mind cozy blankets, fluffy pillows, and hot chocolate: pure comfort. So after snagging a bag of overripe bananas for 99 cents, I decided to make the "Best-Ever Banana Bread" for HS's coworker who just had twins. And she already has a two-year-old. Basically, my nightmare -- what would happen if we decided to go for a second baby -- come to life. But, um, well, HS and I couldn't resist, and let's just say I'm going to the grocery store for more bananas to assuage my guilt. She has twins! And a toddler! And she had a c-section! How could we? Because it is the Best-Ever Banana Bread! And it wasn't hard! And Charlie could even "help" a bit until he tried to stick his hand in the mixer. So delicious with a melty pat of butter. And even better the next day! Such dense, sweet goodness! But really, if your recipe starts with a cup of butter with two cups of sugar, you know it's gonna be gooooooooooood.

Here's the recipe.