Bananas

I don’t know what it is about the last two or three bananas of the bunch, but in our house more often than not they just sit there getting spottier, darkening and eventually shrivelling and drying up until they look like some weird Mexican pepper. I realize that this is wholly our problem and the bananas shouldn’t be held accountable at all. They shouldn’t be blamed, but I should have been born wealthy, intelligent and good looking, sometimes the world can be cruel.

 

Bananas have always been around in my life, and I can’t think of a time when I haven’t had a couple of bananas going bad sitting on the counter. To be fair, there are a lot of times when all of the bananas get used up and even when they are past their prime they are good to make muffins or a loaf of some kind. They are high in potassium and from what I understand; potassium is something that will give you enough energy to make it through the day.

There was a time when bananas couldn’t be had in Canada as they are delicate little fruits. Until a reliable method of refrigeration was developed bananas stayed in the tropics. Now, they are harvested before they ripen so they can be cooled and shipped to countries all over the world. My grandmother was twelve before she had a banana and she developed a lifelong love affair with them. Gram would have two bowls of porridge every morning, one with brown sugar and one with molasses, followed by a bowl of mashed bananas with a little sugar and milk. She had an amazing amount of energy well into her nineties. I like to think that bananas had at least something to do with that.

I keep buying bananas with the intention of having the same large and healthy breakfast that Gram did. I rarely do. I try, but it is difficult for me to eat that much unless it is deep fried and has absolutely no nutritional value. They do deep fry bananas don’t they?

 

I made a banana loaf today from three bananas that had passed their best before date. I think I baked it a little long, as it called for an hour and I let it go for 65 minutes. Thankfully, there was a loud crash on the TV which startled me wide awake and sent me bolting into the kitchen. I didn’t set the timer because how could I not remember to take the loaf out at 10:32? I suppose this is how houses burn down while some old geezer is sleeping in front of the TV at 10:00AM. It turned out okay, the house is still intact and the loaf’s crust is just a little crustier than it is meant to be.

 

The next time I have some half rotten bananas hanging around, I will set the timer and make sure that Louise is around. Just in case…