My Banana Dilemma

My husband has a banana fetish. That is not to say he enjoys prancing around the house in spiked heels and lipstick with a musa acuminata down his lace stockings. Or that he likes me doing that.

Nathan loves buying bananas. Lots of them; more than we ever manage to consume before they invariably turn into a horrible, black rotting pile in our fruit bowl. It used to drive ME bananas.

As we all know, every supermarket trip begins with fruit and veg. Apparently, the bright colours and freshness puts the shopper in a good mood and encourages purchasing. So the Hedley shopping trip begins as we ignore the mandarins, dally over some apples, prod the kiwis, all the while with the bright yellow bananas in the corner of our eye.

"WHY do we have to buy the entire bunch? You'll only have 1 before they all go bad."

"I'll finish them this time, I promise! I've started going to the gym, remember?"

So goes the banana conversation. Once again, I'm defeated by Nathan's determined grin. How do you deny the one you love, when all he desires is a bunch of bananas?

Well, if you can't beat them, make Banana Bread. Fortunately, they keep a lot longer than the bananas, and keep well frozen for a month. I've also discovered that my husband loves banana bread more than bananas, so they're usually all gone within a few days!

Banana Bread Recipe

Serves 8

380gm mashed over ripe bananas

165 gm all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder or 1 tsp baking soda

1 gm salt

70 gm brown sugar

60 gm softened butter

1 large egg

1 tsp cinnamon powder

Cream sifted sugar and butter, then mix in egg and bananas. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder/soda, cinnamon powder and salt. Add to banana mixture and mix well. Pour into greased loaf tin and bake in a preheated oven at 175 degrees for approx 35 min or until a skewer inserted into the centre of loaf comes out clean.