Hosting Honeybees, Yeasty Banana Bread

Our garden is playing host to bees. And, considering what we know about the plight of the honeybee, I find this very reassuring. When I was a child, the mere sight of a bee anywhere near me was enough to send me flying toward the next county, screaming all the way. I knew that, beyond being painful, a sting would probably send me to the family doctor, or at least to the couch, very swollen appendage slathered in baking soda paste and wrapped in an ice pack.

But I'm grown now, and haven't been stung in years. And I understand that those winged ladies are just doing their job, and really not interested in bothering anyone so long as they aren't disturbed. In fact, I can't help but notice how many of them our flowering cucumber, cantaloupe and tomato vines attract, and sincerely
hope that the renewed national interest in vegetable gardening will help encourage them. I understand there is some mysterious ailment they are suffering, and that whole hives sometimes have to be wiped out because of it. But I still hope that, as more of us reclaim responsibility for the production of our own food, the bee population will grow. I feel comforted to know that, at our house at least, we're doing our part.

Been kind of bored with my favorite wheat-oatmeal bread, and the usual raisin- (or date-) nut variation. Reread the appropriate section of the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book (excellent book!!) for inspiration. Ended up adding a half-cup of chopped (scissored, actually -- how did I ever cook before I discovered kitchen shears?!) dried bananas & some walnuts. We both love banana bread, but I don't make it very often because it's a quick bread, and yeasted breads offer so much more -- both nutritionally and flavor-wise.

So I decided to adapt the wheat-oatmeal bread, using dried bananas which were still somewhat leathery. (I make it a habit to slice & dehydrate bananas when they're getting very ripe and in danger of going to waste. DH thought it was kind of silly -- 'what're you ever gonna use those for?!' -- but he may change his tune, if this experiment works out.) The recipe, designed for use in a bread machine, calls for 7-1/2 ounces water. An odd amount, and, as the bananas will absorb some of the liquid in the dough, I decided to add another half-ounce. (I mentally compared the bananas to raisins, which don't require extra liquid, but the bananas were a bit drier. The half-ounce (1 tbsp), should be enough to make up the difference, but not so much as to throw the moisture content off.) I'm planning to bake these in pint jars, which are already prepped and waiting on the counter. (If you make jar bread, remember to wipe the rims with vinegar to remove the shortening or other lubricant, which could prevent the lids from sealing.) Without the bananas & nuts, the recipe usually makes a generous 4 pints, so I prepped 5. I'm very interested to see how this will turn out!!

Ok. Bread out of the oven. Has a mild banana flavor. Not quite sweet enough, though. Next time, I'll try adding the bananas to a sweet bread recipe...