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…
Anything else I can do with my ripe bananas?
It always surprises me how fast bananas ripen. I recently learned – as you mentioned – that bananas kept together as a bunch ripen faster that separated bananas. But a bunch of bananas hanging on a banana tree looks so lovely – not to mention space conserving.
I’m a bit weird about my bananas – I prefer them firm and slightly green, NOT fully ripened – so I always buy them as green as I can. If we don’t get them consumed by fully ripened time, I always go to my Banana Hazelnut Bread recipe. And if I don’t get to the bread recipe by the time they’re completely black, shriveled and unrecognizable, they go into my compost heap. C’est la vie. I’m not Martha Stewart