Jan's Gone Bananas Bread

Even Alice can't ruin something so simple as banana bread. Mix mashed bananas (although she didn't say to use over-ripe ones, I knew better), flour, eggs, sugar, vanilla. Pour into a loaf pan and bake. I also employed a little trick Martha (Stewart) taught me - I lined the pan with parchment paper for an easy exit.  I used to make it all the time during the great banana bread craze of 1985. Or maybe that was just when I was crazy. Anyway, a pleasant Sunday morning treat.

Episode Note: "Will the Real Jan Brady Please Stand Up" Now this is why I love doing this. By far the best crazy Jan extravaganza ever. Jan is like a car accident, you know you shouldn't look, but you just can't help yourself. This time, Jan goes off the cliff when she gets an invitation to Lucy Winter's party that was inadvertently addressed to Marcia. Jan is feels as though she has no individual identity as the middle child and likens her position to being invisible. Upon hearing this, Carol immediately dismisses her concerns, ignoring the very loud cry for help. After seeing an ad in a magazine for hair color, Jan decides she needs to change her outward appearance in order to stand out and be noticed. Her solution: purchase a crazy black wig (sold to her by the great Marcia Wallace) and become the "New Jan Brady." The family has a field day when they see Jan in her wig, Marcia telling her she looks like kook, but Jan is not to be dismayed. Even when Mike and Carol tell her it's what's on the inside that counts (which is precisely the problem), they agree to let her wear it to Lucy's party. Okay, I need to stop right here and say, these parents should have been arrested. I have but one word: THERAPY! Who in their right mind would let their daughter humiliate herself like that in front of other children?! Did I mention that this should been seen as a cry, no a bloody murder scream for help?! Left unchecked, this is exactly how a girl ends up as Dawn:Portrait of a Teenage Runaway. Anyway, it is heartbreaking how confident Jan is on her way to the party that she and her new look will be a smash. But of course, Lucy and friends laugh their asses off and Jan runs home crushed. Lucy apologizes, telling Jan she thought it must be a joke since her real hair is so pretty. The old Jan Brady is back and she is wiggedy wack.