Lonefrontranger's banana bread

Recipe 1: Banana Bread.
This one's mine and a riff on my grandma's recipe. I
added the spices and nuts in, cos I'm a spicy nut.

Ingredients:

Preheat oven to 350*F
3 black bananas (yes, black. they must be just short
of moldy)
1 egg + 1 egg white (the extra eggwhite was added for
the altitude in Denver, so if you're not @ altitude
you should try without)
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons *melted* butter
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt (really, it helps it rise)
Optional:
1/2 cup finely chopped dates
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Mash the bananas in a large-ish bowl with the back of
a silver spoon. Once they've been mashed to a paste,
beat in the egg and melted butter until smooth. The
riper the bananas are, the easier this process is.
Bringing the egg to room temp first also helps.

Sift / stir the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking
soda, salt and spices together until well mixed in a
separate bowl.

Fold the dry ingredients into the moist and stir
briefly until well integrated. DO NOT over-mix, that
causes the flour to become tough. Add nuts/dates (if
using) and turn the mixture into a nonstick loaf pan
or one lined with parchment paper.

Bake @ 350*F for 45-50 minutes