Banana Nut Bread

Adapted from The Green Thumb Harvest by Johanna and Patricia Halsey (Clarkson Potter, 1989)

Contributed by Marcy Olive, who said that her great-grandmother won first prize with it at the Wabash, Indiana, County Fair in 1889, and that all her great-grandchildren subsequently grew up on it.

Makes 2 loaves

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ cup milk
1 cup butter, softened
2½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs, beaten
3½ cups unsifted unbleached flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2½ cups mashed very ripe bananas
2 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter two 1-pound loaf pans.

Pour the lemon juice into the milk and stir until the milk is curdled. Set aside.

Put the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl, stir to combine, then sift.

Beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla until creamy in a large bowl. Add the eggs and mix thoroughly.

Add the dry ingredients and the milk mixture alternately to the creamed mixture. Stir in the bananas and walnuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Note: For over twelve generations, since the 1640s, the Halsey family has lived and worked the land on the east end of Long Island at their farm in Water Mill, New York. Today, they grow hundreds of varieties of produce with a commitment to cultivating the best food possible.