Banana Bread

Read this one with the card open. Something on it is illegible, missing or ambiguous. It is transcribed exactly as written — nothing has been guessed or filled in — and every uncertainty is marked below.

Summary

A two-loaf banana bread finished under the broiler with a cooked brown-sugar-and-nut streusel topping — the kind of card worth reaching for when a topping recipe is wanted along with the bread itself, not just the loaf.

Ingredients

Bread: - 1 cup butter, softened - 1-1/2 cups white sugar - 2 eggs, beaten - 4 ripe mashed bananas - 1 teaspoon vanilla - 4 Tbsp buttermilk (1/4 cup) - 2 cups flour - 1-1/2 tsp baking soda - 1 tsp salt

Topping: - 6 Tbsp butter - 10 Tbsp brown sugar, packed (1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp) - 5 Tbsp milk - 1 cup chopped nuts (the word before "Nuts" is partly obscured by an ink blot; read as "chopped" from context — see open question)

Method

Bread: 1. Cream butter and white sugar. 2. Add eggs, mix. 3. Add bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla; stir. 4. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. 5. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix well. 6. Place in 2 greased pans. 7. Bake 45-50 min at 325°F (glass pan) or 350°F (tin pan); cool.

Topping: 1. Melt butter in a saucepan; add sugar and milk. 2. Cook, stirring, until thick at a boil. 3. Take off heat, add nuts, pour over loaves. 4. Stick under broiler until it bubbles, then take out.

Notes on the artifact

Handwritten on blank Hallmark Cards, Inc. recipe card stock ("© Hallmark Cards, Inc." printed at the bottom of page 2), decorative blue/purple ribbon border. Two-sided: front carries the bread ingredients and time/serves fields, back carries the topping and directions. "From ," "Can be made ahead ," and "Can be frozen ___" are all left blank/unchecked. Card shows age staining/spotting and the ink blot noted above.