Dad's Banana Bread

Here's a recipe for some banana bread that is really good. I occasionally find a piece or two of this in my lunch, and it makes my day every time. 

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas(3-5)
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2/3 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit. Cream butter. Add sugar and beat. Add eggs and beat. Add mashed bananas. Separately sift dry ingredients. Stir into wet indgredients. Add vanilla and nuts. Bake 90 minutes.

Enjoy!

Curry Almonds

Here is a recipe from my nut-loving dad who is always seen with a handful of peanuts. We decided to change it up a little bit and try almonds. I walked into the house from my first day of fifth grade and suddenly I was blasted with "curry wind". Though as soon as I tried a nut, I regretted my first comment to my dad being "Eew! What happened to the poor chicken that you left in the refrigerator?" and ate about twenty more, to my dad's dismay.

Ingredients

• 1 pound almonds, unsalted, preferably raw, instead of dry roasted
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp Tabasco or other red pepper sauce
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/4 tsp cumin

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a medium bowl, mix olive oil and pepper sauce. Stir in almonds, coating thoroughly with mixture. Spread almonds on a rimmed baking sheet. In a small bowl mix curry, salt, and cumin. Sprinkle spice mixture over almonds, stirring to coat evenly. Pop the almonds in the oven, and roast for 10-12 minutes, stirring once or twice. Allow almonds to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.