Kristin Hillery Photography

What’s a photographer and her lovely assistant to do when they arrive at a wedding an hour and a half early?

Obviously, they take a fancy self-portrait in the fancy gallery.

I have a problem. I buy bananas and don’t eat them, usually because by the time I want to eat them, they’re already so brown and gross that they’ve developed that nasty old banana flavor. Throwing them away makes me feel like a wasteful jerk.

But you know what? While that nasty old banana flavor is pretty nasty alone, by a miracle of science it is wonderful in muffins and bread, and even cookies. If you ever find yourself with some over-ripe bananas, I highly recommend you try out my recipe.

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups over-ripe bananas (about 3-4 bananas)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup of dark chocolate chips
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tablespoons dark chocolate sugar or cinnamon sugar (make your own: 50/50 mix of cinnamon and sugar)

Stir the flour and baking powder together in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together all other ingredients except for chocolate chips until they’re smooth. (You can keep a few small chunks of bananas if you prefer. I do!) Fold in the flour/baking powder mixture until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir only enough to distribute them somewhat evenly.

Spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray and fill each cup 3/4 of the way full — you don’t need to use liners if you use the spray. Sprinkle some dark chocolate sugar on each one. Alternatively, you can sprinkle on cinnamon sugar. Or… do nothing at all. Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20-30 minutes.

These are great for a quick breakfast, but you can also have ‘em for dessert: Serve warm with a scoop of chocolate or cinnamon ice cream on top.

Since middle school, I’ve held on to just about every note ever passed to me and every letter written to me — and now I’m scanning all of them so the Internet can share in the hilarity (and my embarrassment).

Check it out: Letters to Kristin.

Something really weird happened the other day when Lily and I went to my favorite cupcake shop in Austin, Hey Cupcake.

She actually wanted to take photos. And she did poses!

She even said things like, “Ohh, this will be perfect for my Valentines!”

She is so awesome.

(And so were those cupcakes.)