Freshmen college roommates can be interesting. You can often end up with a person with whom you would never have considered even being friends, only to find out that you are now to share a very small cinder block space.  My freshmen year of college I was put with someone who, on paper, could not have been more different from me.  Donna was tiny, dark haired, quiet, laid-back, unwilling to raise her voice, and would always choose jeans and a t-shirt over skirt and heels. I am the opposite. But for some reason, we clicked, and spent our first year a Hillsdale as the dynamic Donna-Hannah Duo. Donna did the laundry, I cleaned the room. Donna came home with me for holidays, I brought her soup during all nighters. And together, we baked.

Our dorm boasted a kitchen that was little more than a closet with an oven, but that didn’t stop us.  For some long forgotten reason, we started making baked goods for our brother Bible study every Wednesday night, and for three years this tradition held.  There were the staple seven layer bars, the disastrous éclair cake, and many dishes that could be made primarily from ingredients stolen removed from the cafeteria.  One such ingredient was brown bananas, in which no college cafeteria is ever lacking.  I would routinely snag piles of ripe bananas that Donna and I would then bake into rows of banana bread.Recently someone was ready to toss out a bag of over ripe bananas at school and I saw the chance for an evening of banana bread. I strongly believe that the best recipe (though certainly not the healthiest) for any baked good is often that of Betty Crocker, and banana bread is no exception.

Betty Crocker Banana Bread

1  cup  sugar

2  tablespoons   shortening

1   egg

3/4  cup milk

3 cups  flour, all-purpose

3 1/2  teaspoons   baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup bananas — mashed

3/4  cup chocolate chips (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Place in greased loaf pan

(9x5x3) Bake at 350F 60-70 minutes until golden brown. A toothpick inserted

will come out clean when the bread is done.

Optionally, the batter can be split between 2 smaller loaf pans. cooking

time will be reduced to approximately 45 minutes