When the world hands you black bananas, make banana bread...

Did you know you can freeze those black bananas that sometimes happen when you just can't eat the whole bunch in time? Well, you can, and it's a good thing, too; because once you get 6 or 7 of them stored up, you have enough to make banana bread. I don't mean just any banana bread, I mean the ultimate luau queen of banana bread: Hawaiian Banana Nut Bread. (oh, the Tiki gods tremble in anticipation!)

• But first I've got to tell you about defrosting the black bananas and what to do with them once you do.
• For starters all you need to do to defrost them is to lay them on a towel on your kitchen counter.
• When it is time to peel the bananas, don't even think about it.
• Instead, lay a piece of waxed paper on your kitchen counter to catch the extruded fruit.
• Snip the stem off one end and squeeze out the pudding-like banana filling as if it were toothpaste.
• It requires very little additional mashing.

Ooh and it's kinda fun and soooo un-messy.

Here's the recipe:
6-7 black bananas, mashed
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 C. chopped nuts (I like pecans)
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 C. mashed bananas
1 8 oz. can crushed pineapple (drained)
2 tsp. vanilla

Combine dry ingredients by sifting onto a sheet of waxed paper.
Combine beaten eggs and oil and vanilla. Stir in pineapple, Add dry mixture and banana mixture in two alternating amounts, stir to blend. Fold in nuts.
Turn batter out into greased and floured baking pans. This recipe makes either 2 large size loaf pans or 3 small loaf pans. Bake at 350' for 1 hour and 5 minutes for the 2 large loaves and 1 hour for 3 small loaves.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Wonderful served with cream cheese and sliced strawberries.....or just wonderful plain if you're sharing with a friend or a smiling husband!