My mom was never much of a baker.

My sister and I were the ones who loved baking, trying recipes, and generally making a mess in the kitchen.

But banana bread was different.

Banana bread was her thing.

It was the one thing she always baked for us, the thing we always asked for, and somehow it was always better when she made it.

Fast forward to this summer.

I was home, pulled out the old recipe, and noticed something horrifying.

She had started changing it.

Ingredients were crossed out. New measurements were written in. There were substitutions.

I felt betrayed.

You cannot just casually rewrite one of the recipes from my childhood and expect me not to notice.

Maybe her new version is wonderful. Maybe it’s even better.

I don’t care.

Some recipes earn the right to stay exactly the way you remember them.

So I won’t betray you the way my mother betrayed me.

Here is the original banana bread recipe. Cross-outs not included.