Flickr photo by bocavermelha-l.b.
Do you go ape over bananas? Or do they just not have any a-peel to you?
Sorry. I've been cleaning like crazy and the fumes are getting to me.
(Fear not. Aliens have not stolen my soul, turning me into a neatnik. I clean only to distract myself from the foolishness that's been going on in my sweet South Carolina lately.)
Back to bananas...
I've been thinking about bananas ever since this obnoxious banana won this race with a peach and a broccoli spear at the Greenville Drive baseball game last week.
Don't let that hopeful smile fool you. He's a very obnoxious fruit.
But I LOVE most bananas. Except the squishy brownish kind. They make me want to gag.
These, however, look delicious! Let's tally them, shall we?
Flickr photo by rizalgeo
Give a hand to rizalgeo for that gorgeous banana photo, won't you? Bravo rizalgeo!
Speaking of hands, did you know that those tiers of bananas are also called hands? And the individual fruits are called fingers! Don't you love that? I'm going to call them fingers for the rest of my life. Or at least until I forget to anymore.
Whether you like bananas or loathe them, you must admit that the plant is AMAZING!
Yes, the banana is the world's largest herbaceous flowering plant. But that's not what I'm talking about.
First look at the flower, the male part of the plant.
No need to blush. Pretend we're botanists.
Flickr photo by Sandra Whiteway
Strange, huh? It's also called the banana heart, and each plant has just one. It's eaten as a vegetable in southeast Asia.
But that's not even what I find so wacky wacky weird.
It's the whole plant.
See?
Flickr photo by ban roseyhadlow (Wimbledon w...)
I KNOW! That thing is so bizarre that it just makes you want to call someone!
Flickr photo by alphalim
The leaf is pretty interesting too.
Flickr photo by Daniel Schwabe
I bet the folks at Project Runway could make dresses out of those.
Or at least a skirt.
Flickr photo by blakta2
But of course the best thing about bananas, at least for me, is banana pudding!
What else would you eat for dessert after a pork barbecue dinner?
Or after meatloaf, which we had last night.
Yum.
Are you familiar with the ecstasy that is banana pudding?
It may not look like much, but it will make you glad to be alive.
I'm too lazy to write out the recipe, but I found it for you here. It's the first banana pudding recipe listed, the uncooked one. (Don't ask me why I had to find it on German yahoo.)
It's best very cold! Let it chill at least 3 hours. Plus it builds up the suspense.
I hope you enjoy it! Unfortunately I won't. I'm trying to watch my figure and banana pudding is like a drug to me. If I eat one spoonful, I'll attack the entire 9x13 pan!
So I'll enjoy bananas in my breakfast smoothie.
Flickr photo by flyingplanes
Yum! It's easy. Add to a blender: one banana, 1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt, 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1 T sugar, 2 T juice or milk. Blend until smooth. It makes 2 servings or one biggy.
So what do you think? Do you like yours ripe and mushy, green, or somewhere in between?
Baked in bread or au naturel?
Have a wonder-full Friday and watch out for peels, friends!
Love, Becky
15 comments:
I do not like bananas, but I love banana flavors (pudding). Baby girl loves bananas. I especially love the banana plant - we have tons of those plants down here and the leaves are gorgeous. You've made me hungry!
Bananas are one of my favorite fruits. I have a "half a nanner" almost every morning in my protein drink. Love the way you take a concept and run with it...great blog!
Mary
Love this post (I've got lemons today BTW)!
Didn't know about the hands and fingers thing. Cool. I don't like my bananas overripe either. I eat one every day and like it in bread, but don't like it as a flavoring.
Is it true the plant dies after bearing fruit?
Now I want banana pudding
Oooh...banana bread!
I usually have a supply of overripe bananas in the freezer to throw in smoothies.
Yummy post!
I like bananas, but they don't like me. I used to infuriate my little brother by chanting "monkeys eat bananas" whenever he ate one. Funny what things we remember.
No mushy ones for me, yuck. The Chicita Lady was used to teach Americans how to care for their bananas.
Hi Rebecca,
Love bananas! I eat one everyday!
I also use them in my smoothies.
You have a great weekend,
Rosemary
Hi Rebecca! Is that your Fiesta bowl of banana pudding? You know I'm fond of Fiesta! Have you ever done the South Carolina Writers Workshop in Myrtle Beach? Wanna come up and go to the Indiana one in July?
We had banana trees growing in our backyard when I lived in Hawaii. They would ripen ALL at once and we'd be eating bananas for days. I think back on the time and remember Bubba Blue from Forrest Gump, only substitute bananas for the shrimp.
I like mine on peanut butter sandwiches. Add a slice of vidalia onion and you got a meal, sister!
This reminds me of Andrew when he was about 5 when we were stationed in Hawaii. He and his little backyard buddies stole a whole stalk of green bananas off of a neighbor lady's tree. They said, "We're gonna sell 'em!" That lady came marching toward my back door and I knew we were in serious trouble.
I love that movie! I love everything she was in... and I love him, too. Nothing comes even close to them today!
Here's my darkest secret: I hate bananas.
Banana bread, banana pudding, even banana liqueur in frou-frou drinks.
It's lonely out there when you hate bananas. It's America's favorite fruit!
I love bananas in ice cream, pie and bread…
My daughter lived on Guam for two years and harvest them out of the jungle.
I remember the day she called home to tell me she just picked some bananas, it was 10 degrees below zero here I was not amused…she is in the jungle and I am freezing my rear off.
Louise
Fun! And I'm reminded of a skit from some show I watched as a kid:
1st guy: "Sir, there's a banana in your ear."
2nd guy: "What?
1st guy: "Sir, there's a banana in your ear."
2nd guy: "I can't hear you there's a banana in my ear."
Yeah, it's funny if you're 8.
:)
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