Good old banana days.

I quite like this new facebook thing. You go "wow, was that a whole year ago!" and in this case "wow, those were golden days for bananas".

How to buy a banana.

In these days of hardship and banana famine, the bendy fruit is a special treat. My frugality normally makes me stop buying things when I don't like the price, but I have bought 3 bananas since they went past $10/kg. I reason that they are one of the few fruits I can easily eat with braces, so I deserve to have one sometimes.

I have paid between $1.60 and $2.60 for a single banana. The trick, I've realised now, is to get a sense of the thickness of the skin. A fibrous, thick-skinned banana is poor value, because you are paying for the weight of the skin. Also, consider the length of the stalk. It is only a minute difference, but it all ads up. But definitely choose a banana that feels thin-skinned.

Why different bananas?

There are bananas, there are lady finger bananas, there are sugar bananas. I'm not sure why we have 3 sorts of bananas, or why the smaller ones cost more. I know there are differences in apples, but I would never pay more for lady fingers, they even look less bendy and bananary. I would pay less. I resent their existence.

I just went to use the 'banana' tag, but we don't have one yet. What an oversight! There is one now. I'm going to go back and tag all our banana posts. It's hard to think of a bigger topic on this blog than bananas.

Pick a fruit winner.

Grapes won. Raspberries lost —a bit of a surprise. Strawberries and pears did better than I expected. Apple   4 (21%)	4 (21%)
Banana (spotty and soft)	2 (10%)
Banana (medium)	4 (21%)
Banana (still green)	1 (5%)
Pear soft	7 (36%)
Pear hard	1 (5%)
Grapes (crisp and seedless)	12 (63%)
Kiwi	1 (5%)
Manderine	5 (26%)
Orange	4 (21%)
Mango	8 (42%)
Pineapple	4 (21%)
Nectarine	4 (21%)
Peach	7 (36%)
Plum	5 (26%)
Strawberries	6 (31%)
Mulberries	2 (10%)
Blueberries	3 (15%)
Raspberries	0 (0%)

Really disappointing banana.

The best bit of the banana is the first bite off the top, the unbroken natural pointy part. All the rest of the bites are less good, because you are just rebiting your way down the middle. The bottom of the banana is the least good, because you're tired of the banana and sometimes it gets a bit dark near the base. By the way, I don't eat the nib at the base, I leave that in the skin so that the banana has an inny not an outy at the bottom. I don't know why, it's just how I am.

Anyway, all of this is to say that nothing is as disappointing in my banana eating routine as a banana which is bruised at the top. My first bite, ruined.

Banana Guards, do-doo do-do-dooh!

I had planned to post the epic story of how the crow flew into my head, but this afternoon Karen delivered my order of Banana Guards!!!


This is one of the best pieces of design ever! They make me laugh, AND they protect my bananas from being squashed in my bag!

Check Your Theory theory.

I was telling Emma about my banana bread this morning. She voiced her desperation about being unable to find a recipe for really thick, moist, cafe-style banana bread, and I sympathised because mine had turned out too light and fluffy, and also I overbaked it because I forgot to turn on the timer.

Also I mentioned that my baking powder was out of date, so I had doubled the amount to compensate for a decrease in effectiveness. Emma informed me that No, you don't have to. Baking powder is one of those things that is like salt, and doesn't really expire or lose it's magic power.

I remember forming the idea that expired baking powder lost it's magic power two years ago, when I baked something and it failed. It made sense to blame the expired ingredient. And yeast expires, so it was logical that other raising agents must also expire. I've repeated the explanation to people. But apparently it's not true.

So it was a reminder to me that not every clever theory is true. Just like when you're a kid and you figure out how TV works, but it's not how it really works, but your little brothers and sisters believe you.

Fruit/Smoothie Theory.

On Saturday I had a most enlightening conversation with Jess K. She observed that banana smoothies taste nicer than mango smoothies. I think this is mostly true. Conversely, it is a truth almost* universally acknowledged that mangos taste nicer than bananas.

So I conclude that smoothies make bananas better, but ruin mangos.

* There is a type of person who doesn't like mango, and while I despise their taste, I wish there were more of them so that there would be less competition for the mangos.