Elizabeth, I always say, if you have a recipe you love — great! Still, it's always fun to try something new. We actually weren't going for profundity here, but rather for versatility; we wanted to make sure we had a recipe that could easily be tweaked to use different flours, different types and amounts of sugar and fat, would take well to being baked in different shapes, and used basic enough ingredients that no one would have to search for anything unusual partway through the list of ingredients. (Lemon peel's a good idea, though — the tang would add a nice, subtle note.) Plus we wanted to make sure it was an easy, stir-together, one-bowl recipe. We'll see what people think as the year goes on. Banana bread — any kind of banana bread — is sure to provoke a response! PJH@KAF

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