Too many too-ripe bananas so it was time for banana bread--my grandmother's recipe and my grandmother's cooling rack. Once it was in the oven, I realized I'd misread the recipe and put in twice as much banana as was called for. Oddly enough, it turned out just fine--and perhaps closer to the original that I remember. I always wondered why my banana bread wasn't quite as good as hers.
Then it was time to deal with the cucumbers. These are the pickling cukes, salted and resting under ice while I made an equally large bowl of cucumbers in sour cream using the long thin Oriental cukes.
I haven't made pickles in a while and I'd forgotten how satisfying the little dance of filling the hot jars is: lift from the hot water and empty the jar; set in in a bowl with a little hot water in the bottom; fill with hot pickles and juice; wipe rim; retrieve lid and ring from hot water and screw down on filled jar; return filled jar to large kettle; repeat. I first made bread and butter pickles over forty years ago, under the tutelage of my dear neighbor Louise Freeman. I still enjoy the pleasure of setting out the processed jars and listening for the tiny ping that says they've sealed.
