Ode to Bananas

Since this is supposed to be a running blog and since Christmas is only a few days away, I thought I'd talk about bananas.  This post has been brewing in my head for quite a while and it's time it got out.

Bananas.  I genuinely appreciate them.  And after much thought, I have deemed them My Favorite Fruit.  Really? .... you say.  How boring is that?! 

The criteria for this honor goes beyond taste.  I fully agree that one can be momentarily distracted by a sweet June strawberry or ..... (be still my heart) ... pineapple..... (reverent pause) ....  or a fresh peach .... oh, and need I mention ..... apricots?  LOVE.THEM.ALL.

But bananas offer more than that.  They are reliable.

How many times have you perused the produce section, hovering around the apples and wondering .... which type will be good THIS week?

Fujis?  Braeburns?  Jonagolds used to be my choice .... but that was years ago and they just don't seem the same anymore.  How about Granny Smiths?  Too tart.  I did eat a delicious Gala recently.  And those Honey Crisps are amazing .... but the price!  My old Fall Back is the Golden Delicious.  I can usually count on it, emphasizing the word usually.  GDs, in my humble opinion, are the safest to use in pies and dumplings, and their mild flavor works well in my favorite Waldorf salad.

Then there's the citrus season, which some mistakenly think is Christmas.  Oh no.  Too soon.  Wait a month or two and they'll be sweeter ..... that is, if we're all talking about oranges.  But you never really KNOW, until that first bite.  However, grapefruit is usually fine from the get-go but that may have something to do with the sugar I dump on them.  (Don't even TRY to talk me out of my sugar.)

Grapes are another God-sourced gift to humanity ..... but which color is best THIS week?  Green?  Red?  Can I, with a clear conscience, sample one at the store?  Or would that be stealing?  And I refuse to buy them at over a dollar a pound.

And in the Pacific Northwest, we have Blackberry Season.  I recently asked a 19 year old transplant from Arizona what he thought about them.  His hushed response:  "Duuuude".   There's nothing like Nature's generous road-side snack during a run.  But only in August.  Then it's gone and the bushes return to being noxious and invasive weeds.

Hence, the banana.  It's always there.  The price is generally consistent.  And you always know,  by the color, how it'll taste.  Green, yellow or black-ish .....  You never bite into one and think ... too sour, or pithy, or too dry ....  you know, with confidence, that if it's yellow and firm, it'll be good.  It'll be as a banana is meant to be.  You don't have to tap on it like a watermelon .... (does that really work?)  You don't have to squeeze or sort.  You never have to guess.  You just know.  There aren't a million varieties to muddle the choice and they are NEVER wormy.

I might also mention that they are a great source of potassium .... a personal necessity, because my legs love to torment me with cramps and restlessness.

As I am typing this, there is a banana peel next to my laptop.  As there often is, each morning.  If I wake in the night hungry, I always head for a banana.  I keep a supply frozen and ready for smoothies.  Although I'm not terribly keen on banana bread, my homemade-from-scratch banana cream pies are legendary.  And the thought of a fresh banana milkshake has been known to pull me across several lanes of traffic, directly to a Dairy Queen drive-through window.

I like predictability.  I like being able to count on things.  Unlike the volatility of the weather, or the economy, or my bathroom scales, I like the security of knowing a banana will always taste like a .... banana.

However, it's important to note:  Bananas don't store well left in a backpack, weeks after the hike.  Just ask Husband who tends to leave them there ..... or ask ME, who tends to find them.