Bananas, ripeness and big trouble – Food Rant

There’s big trouble at our house — big with a capital B — and that stands for Banana. Oh, you’d think a bowl full of ripe bananas would be a good thing (and we’ll get to that), but lately, there’s some cause for concern — in the center of our kitchen island is a huge wire bowl, full of ripe bananas, at any given time. What’s the deal with all those ripe bananas?

First of all, the four-year-old who would hoarf a banana every night before bed has gone on a banana strike. It seems that bananas have brown spots and strings and that is simply unappealing. When did that kid get so picky? And why do I still buy enough bananas for him to eat one every night?

Here in New England, it’s winter, baby, and that means that bananas don’t ripen as quickly and last longer. So you can buy as many as you want and they’ll keep. Right? Yeah, don’t bet on it. I’ve got a bowl full of ripe bananas to prove it. A big, big bowl. We’re talking ten bananas for two adults and one small child.

So I switch gears and think I’m getting banana savvy; I start buying a small bunch of ripe bananas and a small bunch of green bananas, thinking that we’ll always have just the right amount of ripe bananas in the house. Wrong again, caballero. Apparently, when you put them all in the same bowl, they ripen at the same time. Did I mention we have ten ripe bananas right now?

Beyond shock therapy when I pick up a bunch of bananas to put them in my cart at the grocery store, what can I do? Guess it’s time to get cooking — and blending, and freezing…

• You can pop ripe bananas into the freezer and use them later for baking and smoothies. I peel them and cut them into quarters.
• Chocolate chip banana bread doesn’t last nearly as long in my house as a bunch of bananas do.
• It’s a good thing we have banana chocolate chip pancakes every weekend.
• We’re making Ming Tsai’s Braised Chicken Curry with Yams this weekend; the recipe calls for one banana.
• Maybe I’ll try baking some sugar-free banana oatmeal cookies.

Anything else I can do with my ripe bananas?

Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Jan 22, 2009 @ 23:29 EST5EDT