banana bread

maia nuñez | Spring 2022

You Will Need: 

● Two very overripe Bananas 

● Canola Oil, or Any Other Oil with a neutral demeanor 

● Flour 

● Two Eggs 

● Sugar 

● Baking Soda 

● Vanilla Extract, a siren’s song 

Optional, otherwise known as “,,,if you’re feeling up to it” 

○ Chocolate Chips 

○ Cinnamon, a synonym for comfort, for edible dirt (insane), for impenetrability ○ Walnuts, use with caution. Some are allergic. 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350°: Remember the week where you lost your Claddagh ring and proceeded to lose your mind? It probably wasn’t all that expensive, but you were so happy about your mom being happy to share this little relic with you. It came all the way from Ireland and now it reside somewhere in your dingy little corner of the Upper West Side. Perhaps what is most frustrating about this is the fact that it’s lost in a room you find yourself in. It just won’t show. It never did, though, when coiling sloppily around your right ring finger. You’re supposed to wear it there if you’d like to be courted (out), or if you’re being courted (in). You still haven’t found the ring. Assistance could be fruitful, at this point. Maybe if you only let someone 

2. Peel the overripe bananas and mash in a medium sized bowl with a fork: Crying seems like the only solution, because it’s the most destructive you’ll ever be. But you never leave your room, so (really) who would know? Bananas are very fickle, you know. I put little tin foil hats on mine to keep them from rotting. Ripening? Sensitivity should be discarded. But even the most fermented young hags deserve to be made whole, just 

3. Combine wet ingredients (oil, vanilla extract, eggs, sugar): Phone a friend. Phone more than one friend. Phone maybe three friends. You don’t like when your hands get greasy, or clammy, but they will if you keep clenching your fists like that. Besides, they’ll be happy to see you, hold you, and make you laugh. How did you convince yourself that sweetness was unhealthy? To bar yourself from happiness. You’re getting better. Though. You’re still apologetic when you crack up, hand masking mouth. That’s not a very funny yolk. 

4. Fold in dry ingredients (flour, baking soda) & additional (optional) accoutrements: This requires the most arm work, which is strange considering how gentle you’re supposed to be with something so heavy. One time when your mother asked you to walk on her back, you knocked the ceiling light cover down. Glass shattered with your ability to keep your hands raised. I cannot stress the importance of a leavening agent. You cannot rise if you do not exhale 

5. Add batter to greased loaf pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes: Waiting is easily the worst part. To have to potentially do this again is death itself, and yet 

6. Remove from oven. Let cool for thirty minutes: You naturally run cold, so winter isn’t your best time of year, but even the most frustrating squalls signify a kind of vitality. That your tempests,

however sporadic and unfamiliar, are a sign of life. To withhold is to die, and why would you want to burn the roof of someone else’s mouth? 

7. Enjoy. 

Baker’s Tips: 

● Banana bread is made to be shared! Don’t be stingy. 

● If transporting, add a plain slice of bread to the container your Banana bread is in. Moisture is paramount. 

● Do not forget to bring your container home. 

● Discard after a week.