Overripe bananas can be a problem for some people. Once the skin turns brown, there are many who just toss them, since they don’t care to eat discolored bananas.

I’m one of those who doesn’t mind eating an overripe banana. In fact, I kind of like them. But if push came to shove, I’d rather use them in banana bread.

Timing can be a factor in making banana bread. People with busy schedules might not have an opportunity to use their overripe bananas before they go bad.

But here’s a tip: Stash bananas in the freezer once they start getting too ripe. Then you can make banana bread at my convenience.

The following banana bread recipe has become one of my favorites. I found it in the “Heavenly Recipes — Calvary 2000” cookbook put out several years ago by Calvary Lutheran Church in Grand Forks. (The recipe was credited to Holly Slominki.)

I was given the cookbook by a friend and former co-worker, Marilyn Hagerty, who helped edit it. In the forward, she describes it as “a heavily collection off 2,000 recipes and helps from members and friends of Calvary Lutheran Church.”

Some of the recipes — from the 1960s — were carried over from the original Calvary cookbook printed many years earlier. That was a time when casseroles and Jell-O salads were standard fare. Still others were ethic favorites of church members whose grandparents brought them from “Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Germany and many more lands.”

There are also recipes that reflected members’ interest in lighter, more healthful foods that are low in fat and sugar.

I’m not sure what sure which of the three categories the banana bread recipe falls into, but it’s probably not the latter, since it contains a half-cup of butter as well as 2 cups of sugar.

But I would describe it as  “heavenly.”

Holly’s Banana Bread
6 ripe bananas
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3 cups flour
½ cup melted butter
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup nuts (optional)
Mix with mixer bananas, sugar and eggs. Add flour, butter, baking soda, salt and nuts. Mix all together and put in two loaf pans. Bake 60 minutes at 325 degrees.