With Pens and Needles: Oh, Boy, I B-lieve this is a B kind of day!

As I Busily went about the process of putting dinner together (we call the noon meal dinner Because that's how we grew up, and especially Because it is our main meal and so the evening meal is supper), I noticed a theme developing.

We're having Baked Barbecued country ribs and Baked potatoes,

a pan of speckled Brown Butter Beans is Bubbling away on the Back Burner, and the aroma of Beth's Banana Bread is making my mouth water as it Bakes up Beautifully.

The Bs just Begged to Be noticed.

So Before I lug my vacuum cleaner upstairs to tackle the post-holiday mess, I thought I'd share the recipe for Beth's Banana Bread with you, in case you happen to have any Black-looking Bananas lingering on your counter, as I did. In fact, if you have any non-Black Bananas, you might want to tuck them away in a cupboard somewhere and give them permission to turn Black, just so you can whip up a loaf of this Bonnie Bread. It's that good.

My sister-in-law, Beth, shared this recipe with me many years ago. It's probably no different from a thousand others, except for the manner in which it is Baked. S-l-o-w-l-y, very s-l-o-w-l-y. I'm not sure what that does to this wonderful Bread, but the results speak for themselves.

Beth is not only Beautiful, she is also a great cook; she majored in home economics but she also learned some tricks of the trade from her mom, another great cook. Beth and I rarely have a conversation without the subject of some new recipe she has tried coming up, and she's always eager to share. I love that -- some people are stingy with their favorites. Boo to them! Soups are one of Beth's specialties. She's generous with what she cooks, too, often carrying a casserole, salad and dessert to a new mother or to someone who's Been ill.

I want to Be more like that.

Another of our shared interests is good Books, and we talk about our latest favorties every time we chat. This week she shared that she'd just finished John Grisham's latest and that it was a good one, so I'll Be giving it a go.

I shared that I have two on order that sound very promising. One is Sue Monk Kidd's latest, The Invention of Wings. The two of us (along with some other friends) read Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees together a few years ago, and the day we got together to talk about it is a fond memory. I'm hoping we'll read this new one together, too.

My other Book on order is The Beekeeper's Apprentice, in which the protagonist meets up with Sherlock Holmes late in his life and they solve a mystery together. The premise sounds delightful -- I'll let Beth ... and you ... know how it turns out.

Beth and I also love GOOD movies, not ordinary, ho-hum ones. She told me that Saving Mrs. Banks is the Best thing she's seen in a LONG time, so now I can hardly wait till it comes to a theater near me.

So ... Baking Beth's Banana Bread, like good recipes often do, led me to fond thoughts of someone, good memories and a Bold B alliteration. I hope it didn't Bore you or drive you Batty but that it has inspired .... no, Beckoned ... you to Bake some for yourself. Here's the Breakdown:

1/2 cup Butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, Beaten
3 ripe Bananas, mashed
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Baking soda
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans

Combine sugar and Butter; cream until light and fluffy. Add eggs and Bananas, mixing well. Combine dry ingredients and stir into Banana mixture, just until all are mostened. Stir in pecans and vanilla. Bake in 9x5x3 loafpan at 250 degrees for at least 1 1/2 hours, maybe 1 3/4 hours.