(If you must have politics, please scroll down)
I'll never again complain about the price of bananas!
Since his stroke of September 15, 2009, Mr. AOW is required by the doctor to eat at least one banana a day. Here's why:
Unfortunately, I cannot eat bananas. They make me vomit; apparently, I lack the enzyme required for digesting a banana. My maternal grandmother had this same problem. But if you can eat bananas, you should.
VERY INTERESTING! I guess that this reinforces why I try to have one a day.
ReplyDeleteThis is fascinating! That is the NEATEST banana plantation I've ever seen. (When I suggested a Filipino friend grow bananas in her backyard her face wrinkled up into a look of disgust as she vigorously shook her head NO and said TOO MESSY.)
ReplyDeleteAnd 13 weeks from flower to harvest - I'm blown over. There's the difference between growing them where they belong, and growing them in my front yard in So Calif. It's more like 13 months! I don't like bananas either, but I can digest them. I just never eat commercial ones because the heavenly perfume from my home grown has totally spoiled me. Even my grandkids notice the difference!
I hope Mr. AOW likes avocados too - you get potassium and all that healthy fat. And when you have too much you can gorge on a chocolate-avocado milkshake or avocado lime pie with virtually no sugar. :)
Baysider,
DeleteI have no doubt that your yard-grown bananas are different -- and better.
Both Mr. AOW and I love avocados. I certainly have no problem digesting avocados.
And when you have too much you can gorge on a chocolate-avocado milkshake or avocado lime pie with virtually no sugar.
I've never heard of those two variations.
My original banana flower was a gift from my UPS driver. He imported it from El Salvador on a visit 'home.'
DeleteRECIPE ALERT - Avocado Lime Pie
Crust:
Handful of chopped brazil nuts
1/4 C. sunflower seeds
1/2 c. or almond meal
1/4 C. or so grated coconut
1 T. arrowroot powder (probably don’t need)
2 large dates, chopped
2 T. coconut oil
1 T. chia seed pwdr
1 T. xylitol
filling:
2 large or 3 smaller avocados, dead ripe
1/4 C. lime juice
1-2 T. lime zest
2 T. melted coconut oil
2 t. vanilla
1 T. maple syrup or less xylitol
Process nuts and seeds in processor. Add rest of crust ingredients and thoroughly blend. Press in individual serving ramekins and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Blend filling in processor until smooth. Spoon into ramekins.
Baysider,
DeleteWow! Sounds so yummy!
Baysider! That recipe looks FANTASTIC. You've made me hungry.
Delete};^)>
I'm sure it's very healthy –– and delicious ––, but isn't it an awful lot of work? I mean how does one grate a coconut? I've found even trying to OPEN one a challenge. Probably because I don't own a machete.
And what is Xylitol? A sugar substitute maybe?
Anyway, I was glad to see you don't have to bake it, but only chill it.
I sure would like to try it. Do you think canned shredded coconut (used for making coconut layer cake and macaroons) could be used instead of grated fresh coconut?
FT - you buy dried, unsweetened grated coconut. I'm fortunate here because my local co-op has so much in bulk, so I can buy what I need. There are several "tols" that are natural sugar subs with less glycemic hit. Canned coconuts I think have so much sugar added. If that's what you have, cut out other sweetening.
DeleteI thought for sure I'd be seeing some banana spiders.
ReplyDeleteKid,
DeleteBanana spiders? I had to peek at Wikipedia for the urban legend.
I'd always heard that TARANTULAS loved to live in banana plants.
DeleteI hope it's not true –– for the sake of the harvesters. Man! Those folk really WORK for a living, don't they?
AOW, You're probably right but just for effect :)
ReplyDeleteKid,
DeleteEwwwww! I may have a relapse of my arachnophobia.
That recipe does sound wonderful. In reply, I offer:
ReplyDeleteFinely grate peeled cucumber onto a paper towel and mix with plain Greek yogurt. Allow extra moisture from the cucumber according to preference. I prefer thin cucumber sauce. Chill.
Slice zucchini at a 45 degree angle, thin.
Bread zucchini and fry in oil.
Cool zucchini on paper towel.
Serve as appetizer with chilled cucumber sauce and salt according to taste personal awesomeness.
Recipe 2: Bolognese that will make you want to hunt me down and give me money.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/pasta-bolognese-recipe-1939315
Don't add nearly as much salt as she uses. Yes, the cooking time is the key.
Kid, you've shown us a different side of yourself I never suspected was there.
DeleteThe Cucumber Chips and Dip sound awesome.
I'll look up your Bolognese sauce, and try it, even though I don't do much cooking anymore. I used to make a dynamite lasagne made with spinach noodles. The layers used cream sauce with grated parmesan and minced chicken, mushrooms, spinach and ricotta on the bottom, then Bolognese sauce with mozzarella, ricotta, and parmesan, then back to the cream sauce, etc. Alternate the sauces and the fillings between the noddles until you've filled the baking dish. Bake for an hour, serve with a green salad, and some good crusty bread, and you're eating in Heaven. ;-)
An easier thing, but equally good, is a treasured recipe for
Garbage Soup.
Save leftover salad soaked in dressing (it doesn't matter which kind, thugh I prefer homemade French dressing with crumbled Gorgonzola). Swirl it in the blender either with buttermilk or plain yogurt till it reaches yur idea of a perfect consistency for cold soup. Chill at least fiur hours. Serve with a garnish of chopped fresh parsley or some fine grated carrot. It may sound awful, but it tastes so good, I've never hesitated to serve it to company.
Kid,
DeleteA homemade dip without dill weed? Wonderful!
I'm highly allergic to dill weed and have been "ambushed" many times by homemade dips. I love the taste, but my digestive tract, tongue to anus, becomes severely inflamed.
AOW, No dill.
DeleteFT, That lasagne sounds really good.
FT, Just in case.... It is zucchini slices not cucumber,but now I wonder if one could deep fry breaded cuke slices and what they'd taste like.
DeleteI have many more sides too :)
Kid,
DeleteI'm not sure that one could deep fry breaded cuke slices. They contain so much water!
AOW, yea water and hot oil don't ix well.
DeleteDedicated to the men and women who work so hard to grow and process our endless supply of beautiful bananas:
ReplyDelete________ PRIMARY SOURCES ________
Look well upon the men who dig in mines,
And work machines in mills and factories grim.
Be aware that those who tend the vines
Or till the soil give much for wages slim.
Reaping sowing, weeding, hoeing make
Full the nation’s store of nutriment.
Overland the burly truckers take
Rich provisions and accoutrement
Coast to coast. The teamsters load and haul
Enormous hordes of stuff that we’ve empowered,
Shipped in freighters, stored in silos tall,
Delivered, well-displayed, and then devoured.
Awards are due the goods and who supplies them,
Yet the wise despise the guys who advertise them.
~ FreeThinke - The Sandpiper, For Labor Day, Summer, 1996
And again to honor and show gratitude to the army of men and women who toil at demanding jobs in order to keep the wheels of Civilization turning.
ReplyDelete______ TO THOSE WHO HELP ______
May God bless the practical women and men,
Who rise from the hay every day, and then
Produce what we need
Without rancor or greed,
Make things run,
Get things done,
Keep things clean,
So they're fit to be seen,
And continuously smooth the way
So that we may live comfortably every day.
~ FreeThinke
I don't see them very often where I live now, but in New York City most of the little neighborhood storefront food markets carried RED bananas, and PLANTAINS as well as the sweet yellow kind we know best.
ReplyDeleteAs a little, boy those red bananas fascinated me. They tend to be shorter, stubbier, and fatter than the usual kind. They taste pretty much the same though. Maybe a trained banana connoisseur could tell the dfference if blindfolded, but I doubt I could.
The PLANTAINS are another matter. They are a good deal larger than regular bananas, less sweet, and fried by many Hispanic people who use them as a VEGETABLE with rice, beans to accompany roast shoulder of pork, or chicken. I can tell you from personal experience that dinners lke this are absolutely DELICIOUS!
Has anybdy here ever tried Bananas Foster?
ReplyDeleteIt's a dessert made from bananas and vanilla ice cream, with a sauce made from butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, dark rum, and banana liqueur.
The butter, sugar and bananas are cooked, and then alcohol is added and ignited.
Created by: Paul Blangé ane Ella Brennan; Brennan's Restaurant, 1951
Region or state: New Orleans, LA
~ WIKI
Where it got the name FOSTER, if it was creeated by Blange and Brennan I can't imagine.
There are at least six different recipes on Google, and a more extensive article on WIKI, if you want to know more. I've eaten Bananas Foster, and it's very good, but frankly a little too sweet for my taste. I prefer tart-sweet desserts and bttersweet chocolate.