I figured that this weekend I would start the last round of lawn mowing as the grass stops growing for the year and before the ground becomes saturated with rainwater.  We have a fair bit that gets mowed, and all of it is simply native meadow grass that we’ve been cutting for years.  Unfortunately it is a typical island lawn, and is broken up with stands of berries & bushes, pathways, driveways, orchard trees, gardens, and so on, so it is unsuitable for a ride-on lawnmower.  It is all done using a push mower.

While I was working on my two-hour bit today, the lawnmower told me it was fed up with the whole thing, and broke a spring and a cable within minutes of each other.  I suppose that I was fed up, too.  I abandoned it (I have no skills in the fixing of machinery) and fled to my sanctuary, the kitchen.

Three bananas were sitting looking quite forlorn with their brown spots starting to become blotches.  I suppose we’ve been eating apples off the trees, and have been neglecting other fruits.

When things are going awry, cooking calms me.  So I took those three bananas and gave them the attention they deserved.  Later my husband came in having fixed one of the two problems; I would need to pick up a part on my next trip to town to fix the other.  Hurrah!  No lawn cutting for a few days!

Maybe I’ll just read, drink tea, and eat banana bread.  Maybe I’ll let him have some, too.

Click here for printable version.

Ingredients

1½ c flour

1 c sugar

1 t cinnamon

1 t baking soda

½ t salt

1 c mashed banana – will need 2 or 3

2 large eggs

½ c vegetable oil

¼ c honey

¼ c water

Topping:

2 T sugar

2 T golden sugar

1 t cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°

Lightly grease a 9” x 5” loaf pan.

Dust with flour, knocking out any extra.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of a mixer, beat the eggs.

Add in the oil, honey, and water.

Mix thoroughly.

Add in the mashed bananas – it’s okay if there’s a bit more than a cup.

Add in the dry ingredients; mix until well combined.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, scraping the bowl clean.

Mix the topping ingredients together with a fork, breaking apart any large lumps of sugar.

Scatter all of the sugar mixture over the batter.

Bake in the center of the oven for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean without any uncooked batter attached to it.

Let cool in the pan for ½ an hour.

Run a knife around the sides of the pan.

With a flexible spatula, ease the loaf out of the pan without inverting it.  Tip it to one side and slide it out.

Finish cooling on a rack.

To serve, slice into thick slices.

Store in a covered container for up to 3 days.