Banana Bread Baked in a Jar

2/3 cup shortening
2 2/3 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 cups mashed bananas
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2/3 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease 7 wide-mouth pint jars.

Cream shortening and sugar. Beat in eggs, bananas and water. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves. Add to banana mixture. Stir in nuts. Pour mixture into prepared jars, filling one-half full of batter. Do not put lids on jars for baking. Be careful to keep the rims clean, wiping off any batter that gets on the rims. Bake for about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, sterilize the lids and rings in boiling water. As soon as cake is done, remove from oven one at a time, wipe rims of jars and put on lid and ring. Jars will seal as cakes cool. Place the jars on the counter and listen for them to ?ping? as they seal. If you miss the ?ping,? wait until they are completely cool and press on the top of the lid. If it does not move at all, it is sealed. Unsealed jars should be eaten or kept in the refrigerator for up to a week. Sealed jars can be stored for up to a year.