Banana Nut Bread ~ One Slice at a Time

Cousin Kay Cox says "Jackie Orsag was my neighbor in Waco for 20 years, and she never failed to bring us a loaf of this banana bread every time she baked it. Take my word for it, it is the best you will ever put in your mouth!"

My family has chosen to place this recipe in our Family Cookbook, One Slice at a Time. We all love this Banana Nut Bread!

Banana Nut Bread

from my Daughter 
And Son-in-Law's Kitchen

in North Carolina

Christmas 2014

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/5 cups sugar
• 1/5 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/5 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/5 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1/5 cup chopped pecans

Mix all ingredients well. Pour into greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 1/5 hours or until toothpick comes out clean. This recipe will make 4 small loaves or 2 regular size loaves.

IMPORTANT:Take loaf out of pan. Place on a rack to cool. Take a stick of butter and rub over sides, top and bottom while still hot ~ keeps bread rich and moist.

   Banana Nut Bread

from my Son 
And Daughter-in-Law's Kitchen in Alabama
Christmas 2014

Photographs on this Post

Photographs taken by and belonging to Gail Shubert Blalock and David C. Shubert, December, 2014; digital format used.

Copyright 2015: Judith Richards Shubert

Sister Sue's Pecan Pie Bars

Sister Sue's Pecan Pie Bars

CRUST

2 cups plain flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1 stick cold butter

In a large mixing bowl sift together the dry ingredients. With a pastry cutter or two knives, cut cold butter into the flour mixture until it is crumbly.

Place into 13 x 9-inch glass pan such as a Pyrex dish sprayed with non-stick spray (I use Pam.) With hands, press crust out on the bottom and up onto sides of pan.

Cook in pre-heated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes until light golden.

While crust is baking, prepare the filling.

FILLING

2 eggs
3/4 cup white Karo syrup
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 1/4 chopped pecans

Have filling ready to pour over hot crust and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees until the edges are firm.

This is a delicious alternative to the traditional pecan pie. It is so easy to grab one and go, the kids will eat them when they might not slow down for a piece of pie! I also like to eat one when I'm having a cup of coffee or a glass of milk. Try them this holiday season and next holiday season you'll find yourself baking both pecan pies and pecan pie bars!

SOURCES:
Picture:
Photo digital format by Judith Richards Shubert using Raspberry Road Designs Secret Family Recipe Cluster Freebie

Pecan Pie

 

Sue's Pecan Pies

and Pecan Bars

 

Thanksgiving is normally when my family starts thinking of serving pecan pie, but any time is really a good time to serve pecan pie. My sister, Sue, began baking pecan bars several years ago, in additional to her traditional pecan pies and they were a hit. So easy to grab and run, crunchy and sweet, I have noticed them  more and more recently on cooking shows and recipe blogs.

 

My favorite is still her Pecan Pie. She told me our mother, Mildred, always used Granny Pruett's recipe. Mildred loved Granny Pruett's pie so much after tasting it years ago, she never went back to her own recipe. Now, after a couple of tweaks, Sue does the same thing. She uses Granny Pruett's basic Pecan Pie recipe.

 

I will miss being at her Thanksgiving table this year. I will have to use her recipe and North Carolina pecans instead of the Texas pecans she always uses! I can only cross my fingers that my oven cooks my pies to half the perfection that hers and Grandma Mildred's has always done.

 

Sister Sue's Pecan Pie

 

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups Karo syrup

6 eggs

1 1/2 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups chopped pecans

 

Mix all ingredients well and fill 2 unbaked pie shells. Bake at 300 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

 

The only difference in our brother-in-law, Gene's, mother, Granny Pruett's pie: 1 tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, bake at 350 degrees.

Enjoy!!

 

 

 



Mineral Wells Pecans

October and November is truly the time for pecan harvesting in the south, and that includes my beloved Texas. There are more memories tied up with my Aunt Irene and Uncle Raymond Stone's pecan trees than I can even bring to mind. Children from every generation played and worked under the beautiful branches of the pecan trees that they cared for over 50 years - from the early 1950s until the mid 2000s - they were a source of income as well as pride and joy!

 

Irene Checking the Pecan Trees

As little kids, we played games under the trees and then helped pick up the pecans when we could. Later it became a serious job. My sister even had to have a fella with whom she was having a first date take her to Irene and Raymond's as soon as they got through eating burgers, probably at the Dairy Queen, because she had to help shell pecans! I wonder who that date was, and IF he ever showed up again? Hmmm?

Every Easter there were colorful bonnets and dresses and dress shirts running around every which way looking for the eggs hidden by the Easter rabbit or the adults after the family got finished with the Easter Sunday meal. The pecan trees held many secret places where you might later find a pink or yellow egg that a grandchild had missed.

Raymond's knowledge of his pecans was enviable. He entered them in shows and competitions held around the county and the Texas Fair. I remember he had a large display of different types of pecans found in Texas and it was very impressive. It always hung in the hallway between the dining room and their bedroom.



Raymond Checking the Pecans Gathered

and Put Into Bed of His Pick-Up

 



He and Irene worked hard seeing that their pecan trees were healthy and produced a good crop each year. Some years were not as good as others, but that is just the way it is, isn't it? It is sad now when we drive by the old homeplace, the trees were taken by fire shortly after they had both died. The Texas heat and summer fires are unrelenting. We are all just glad they were not here to see the devastation. I believe they know and see from where they are, but it would be hard for us to see the hurt in their eyes.

Pecans in Caldwell

When I looked out the kitchen window this morning and saw Shubert on his hands and knees under the pecan tree, I wondered if he was picking up scattered broken limbs. I went back to my dishes and when he opened the storm door and asked me to hand him a bowl, I realized he had his shirt-tail full of pecans!

It has been a peculiar Fall here. There was so much rain this summer and early Fall, the growing season seems to have been affected. Pecans usually do not fall until most of the leaves are on the ground. But I followed him outside and realized if we didn't gather the pecans soon the squirrels would beat us to them. I called Brenda, telling her how many pecans were already down, and asked her if our granddaughters would like to help gather them up.

The largest pecan tree in August of this year.

Shelby and Paige quickly picked up pecans that have fallen from the two trees in their great-grandmother, Lois Blalock's, yard. They shared stories with me that they remembered about the past when Lois, "Maw Maw", was still alive. 

Paige remembered Maw Maw teaching her about pecans. She and Shelby were chattering along, competing with the squirrels! But they got the job done ~ before the squirrels could come back! Payton couldn't help today, but maybe next time she will be able to come, too.

"Maw Maw taught us how to pick up the pecans," one of the girls told me. "She told us to begin under the tree and go in a circle picking up the pecans as we went out toward the edges." Paige showed me how there were more directly under the tree by the trunk, so she said Maw Maw must have known what she was talking about.

Papa Shubert added a few more to the girls' box of pecans, but he had already worked enough for the morning, so quickly left the rest for them.

Shelby and Paige both said that this year is not like other years. The leaves are not covering the pecans. They remember having to hunt for the pecans. Shelby told me that she remembers when Maw Maw was alive and still able to pick up pecans, she loved to show them the ones hiding under the leaves. Paige said that when they pushed away the leaves, Maw Maw always made them put the leaves back because she loved how they looked on the ground. She loved how the ground looked like Fall.

Maw Maw would sit on the front porch after she got to the point where she was unable to pick up pecans and crack some of the ones the family picked up. All of the family helped. Shelby said she would pick up a bowl full and take them to her and she would crack those, watching the girls pick up more, calling out to them, telling them to make sure they looked carefully and not miss the ones hiding under the leaves! Paige and Shelby both agreed that it was sad when she was not strong enough to crack the pecans any longer.

They have both learned life-long lessons from their great-grandmother. It was heart-warming to listen to them talk about her, remembering her with such love and respect while working under the same trees that she had labored under for many years. I could imagine them all together in my mind's eye having such fun gathering up the pecans. I believe Mrs. Blalock is smiling tonight remembering those times, as well.

Sources:

Photos:
Taken by Judith Richards Shubert, Digital Format, October 28, 2013

First Pecan of Season ~ September 16, 2013

Westmoreland Milk Glass Hen on Nest

with Red Comb and Feathers Covered Dish

and my Southern Living Pedestal Centerpiece

given to me by my daughter-in-law.

Shubert was mowing this morning and as he made the circle around Mrs. Blalock's 75+ year-old pecan tree that I can see from my kitchen window something hit him in the head. It was this premature green pecan. He stopped and brought it in the house to me so I could see the prospects for this fall's pecan harvest from the three Blalock pecan trees. It would be wonderful if they are all this big and if they stay on the tree instead of falling on the ground. If my uncle Raymond Stone were still with us he would be able to identify the type of pecan we have here. Guess I will have to investigate a little ~ ask a few questions of the Blalocks and/or the neighbors. If I am not successful, I can always take it to the Orange County North Carolina Extension Agency.

The beginnings of a beautiful pecan!

Sources:

Photos:Judith Richards Shubert; taken by and belonging to JRS 9-16-2013; digital format.