OK, my not so scientific test is complete...finally! I made the four sweetener variations -- Splenda, agave, sugar and honey. I tested for both taste and blood sugars. Taste results from best to least tasty (your taste might be different): Sugar, agave, honey, Splenda Blood sugar results from lowest to highest: Splenda, agave, honey, sugar Unfortunately, the one that had no effect on my blood sugars also was the least tasty...Splenda. Although they tasted very good, the honey and sugar cookies upped my blood sugars more than I'd like. The agave cookies, as its low GI value would indicate, raised my blood sugars but not as much or as quickly as honey and sugar, but over a longer period of time. And the taste was quite close to ones made with sugar. This is a keeper. Thanks everyone for your help! Marsha

This recipe is moist AND a little healthier than the usual Banana Bread recipe: 1/4 cup light margarine 1/2 cup sugar 1-1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 medium) 2 eggs, lightly beaten (I used Egg Beaters; fine!) 1 egg white, lightly beaten 1/2 cup buttermilk (I used reconstituted from powder) 1 tsp vanilla extract 1-3/4 cups unbl or all-p flour 1-1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (optional; I opted for NONE) 1. Preheat oven to 350F. Coat a 9"x5" pan with non-stick spray. 2. In a large bowl, combine margarine and sugar. Add the bananas, eggs and egg white. Mix until well blended. Add the buttermilk and vanilla. Stir until well blended. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the banana mixture. Stir just until the flour mixture is moistened. That's where you add the nuts, if using. 3. Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Bake for 50 to 55 min, or till a toothpick in the center of the bread comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Set the bread on the rack and allow to cool completely before cutting. Makes 16 servings. Nutritionals, per serving: 132 calories, 4 g fat, 34 mg cholesterol, 233 mg sodium, 22 g carbs, 3 g protein. (Nothing on the fiber, but with bananas, I'd think there would be at least a gram of fiber in each serving.) From Jeanne Jones' Homestyle Cooking Made Healthy (Love this cookbook - found it at the library and liked it, then found it at the Friends of the Library bookstore for $3 almost brand new. I haven't found a recipe yet that we haven't liked!) DonnaR/CA

1. When the recipe calls for butter, do you use butter, a reduced amount, a substitute, just leave it out or not use the recipe at all? A-I use butter where it's called for. 2. Do you have certain recipes where you absolutely, positively would never leave the butter out such as pies, alfredo sauce or whatever? A-Not really. I use butter when it's called for. 3. If you're using butter, what is your favorite brand? Do you use salted or unsalted? A-I buy the store brand butter...or whichever is cheaper/on sale. Unsalted only. 4. If you're using a substitute, what do you use? A-I don't use substitutes in general. Unnsalted butter is what I buy and use 99% of the time. I will use margarine for some cookie recipes...only if I want to keep the cookie softer. That's the only thing I'll use margarine for. 5. Add any comments you like regarding your use of butter in cooking. A- Not really. See #4 for my exception. Otherwise, it's unsalted butter.

Sheila — I would love to grow Spanish Beauty/Mme Gregoire Staechlin but not sure how it would do here in Brooklyn/7b. My mother had a number of her climbing along the fence/trellis in the back of the one of her borders. W/Perle d’Azur clematis climbing SP and blooming after she finished. All in part shade. Wish I had a photo to share — it was stunning. As were the hips later. She was in south central PA, zone 6b/7a - think w/fairly acid clay, if that helps. About how big Sombeuil gets — the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s (7b) is 10? 12? feet, I think. That’s still quite a bit south of 5b - but gives some comparison with it’s size in 9/10 CA. I wish I had enough sun to grow Mel’s Heritage. But unless something strikes down the invasive Norway Maples in our neighbor’s yards….not sure if even then. No idea what would be a good sub — including get that big. Oursteelers did your Baltimore Belle arrive? What color is the foliage of yours - light/mid/dark green?