I haven't been posting many photos threads lately, so I thought I'd try to compensate with an extremely personal and interesting question.

WITH PEANUT BUTTER!!! MMMMMM ...

Fried!

With milk.

99 proof! LOL

They are much much cheaper when they are brown.

I eat a banana every day...yummo.

Chiquita!

250 E. 5th st.

yellow & firm, sliced, on cornflakes with milk

 

or

 

blended with Edy's Grand vanilla ice cream and a couple shots of Bacardi Gold.

Ripe ones that didn't get eaten we freeze and then thrown into a smoothie.....with protein powder of course!

Ripe ones that didn't get eaten we freeze and then thrown into a smoothie.....with protein powder of course!

 

You take protein shakes? Trying to bulk up or something? I thought only guys did that. Or are you a vegetarian?

Chiquita!

 

Carl Lindner put hits out on people and funds terrorism but you didn't hear that from me. Chiquita is corrupt. Don't eat their bananas.

Shaken, not stirred

Ripe ones that didn't get eaten we freeze and then thrown into a smoothie.....with protein powder of course!

 

You take protein shakes? Trying to bulk up or something? I thought only guys did that. Or are you a vegetarian?

 

I do lift weights and I drink them maybe twice a week.  They are geared towards women which mean they don't have a lot of calories.  I think mine has 25 grams of protein in it.  Plus protein helps muscles repair after a long run.  Don't get me started on my training regimen!  :)  BTW, I am not a vegetarian.  I have nothing against them but I can't give up sausage. 

I have nothing against vegetarians who do it for health reasons but I think most of the 'animal advocate' vegetarians really don't like the taste of meat anyway. Anyway, that's a whole other story. I used to get smoothies from Smoothie King all the time. They have a Banana protein shake thats really good although I don't think it has real bananas in it.

I like mine mashed up and fed to me on a spoon, while someone makes airplane noises and asks me how big am I...

 

<answer: SO Big!>

Frozen and covered with chocolate.

It has taken me 38 years to develop an affinity for bananas. It's good to finally be in from the cold.

Discuss:

 

I miss bananas, but not all that much.  In my desire to try to eat locally as much as possible, I completely quit buying them some time ago. 

I also like mine with a hint of Calypso

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AjovHGK-TA

I have nothing against them but I can't give up sausage.

 

That's what she said.

I have nothing against them but I can't give up sausage.

 

That's what she said.

 

Funny....That really did make me laugh out loud.  Have I mentioned I am blonde?  Half the stuff I say I really don't mean! :)  I am going to have to get a moderator involved and get UncleRando back on the topic.

 

Bananas are good because

 

1. You can eat them in foreign countries where the water is questionable because they have a peel. (I go to India tomorrow)

 

2.  They are $0.39/ pound

Here's the nutritional data for bananas:

 

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1846/2

Interestingly, the bananas we now eat are not the same from a few generations ago, which were wiped out by disease. I recall hearing that there is a new threat to banana crops which might have the same effect.

 

Edited to add: It's Panama disease.

 

http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/php/management/bananapanama/

 

Interestingly, the bananas we now eat are not the same from a few generations ago, which were wiped out by disease. I recall hearing that there is a new threat to banana crops which might have the same effect.

 

in the states.  When we go to visit my uncles family, we just go out and pick our own...the danger..banana spiders!

I miss bananas, but not all that much. In my desire to try to eat locally as much as possible, I completely quit buying them some time ago.

 

You could always use pawpaws instead; they're native to much of the northeastern US. Their nicknames include "poor man's banana" and "Hoosier banana."

 

We have a partly marshy woods where they grow wild; Dad thought he had eradicated them, although I don't know why he thought he had to. After a few years, though, they started to come back. The last time I was back there, there were several fair-sized groves.

 

They ripen in fall and have a flavor and texture similar to bananas but IMO somewhat softer and sweeter. If I were to try to gather some, I'd have to get there before the deer and raccoons do, because they love them.

I like bananas. The yellow ones.

I miss bananas, but not all that much. In my desire to try to eat locally as much as possible, I completely quit buying them some time ago.

 

You could always use pawpaws instead; they're native to much of the northeastern US. Their nicknames include "poor man's banana" and "Hoosier banana."

 

We have a partly marshy woods where they grow wild; Dad thought he had eradicated them, although I don't know why he thought he had to. After a few years, though, they started to come back. The last time I was back there, there were several fair-sized groves.

 

They ripen in fall and have a flavor and texture similar to bananas but IMO somewhat softer and sweeter. If I were to try to gather some, I'd have to get there before the deer and raccoons do, because they love them.

 

I've never seen those.  I wonder where you can get them.  Thx for the tip!

I've never seen those.  I wonder where you can get them.  Thx for the tip!

 

I've never seen them in a regular grocery, but you might find them at small-town farmers' markets in the fall, or at a specialty grocer. A good place to start looking might be to ask around the food co-ops and natural foods shops. You might be able to find a farmer who has them growing wild and will let you harvest your own.

 

I'll bet that if you ask some of the DNR park rangers and naturalists in the state parks and game preserves, they'll know where they're growing. You might even be able to score some persimmons, too. I've never tasted those, but I've heard they're pretty good after the frost. Before the frost, just don't.

I've never seen those.  I wonder where you can get them.  Thx for the tip!

 

I've never seen them in a regular grocery, but you might find them at small-town farmers' markets in the fall, or at a specialty grocer. A good place to start looking might be to ask around the food co-ops and natural foods shops. You might be able to find a farmer who has them growing wild and will let you harvest your own.

 

I'll bet that if you ask some of the DNR park rangers and naturalists in the state parks and game preserves, they'll know where they're growing. You might even be able to score some persimmons, too. I've never tasted those, but I've heard they're pretty good after the frost. Before the frost, just don't.

 

Thanks.  I almost exclusively shop at farmer's markets and specialty grocers but maybe I would find them at an ethnic grocer I haven't yet visited.  As to the parks, I can tell you from my mushroom hunting experiences that they frown VERY HARD at anyone picking anything out of the woods at a state park, it's against the law.  :)

I'm aware of the rules about taking anything out of the woods in a state park; that's the same in every state and national park I know of. The naturalists and the DNR conservation officers know all kinds of stuff about local habitat, though, both inside and outside the parks, and they might be able to steer you to a landowner who has pawpaws growing on his property.

 

They're winter-tolerant, of course, and you could grow them in large pots or a garden.

I'm a bit neurotic with bananas - they have to be yellow with a minimal amount of browning. Then I peel them completely, pull off the end opposite the "handle", and I absolutely have to peel the strings off. Otherwise I'd yak.

I'm aware of the rules about taking anything out of the woods in a state park; that's the same in every state and national park I know of. The naturalists and the DNR conservation officers know all kinds of stuff about local habitat, though, both inside and outside the parks, and they might be able to steer you to a landowner who has pawpaws growing on his property.

 

They're winter-tolerant, of course, and you could grow them in large pots or a garden.

 

Well, I suck at growing anything.  We don't get hardly any light in our apartment and every winter whatever plants we've bought die a slow death.  The only thing I've been able to keep alive for any length of time is a bamboo plant in my office.

I've seen a few houses in University Heights that have banana trees! I want to get one but as much as people steal chairs and stuff off my front porch I'd be out of bananas in no time. I wonder if they survive the winter or if they bring them inside or something.

Discuss:

 

 

HAHA, yeah and the sun rises every day too...which proves God made it.  You know, my pencil makes marks when I write on paper with it too.  And OMG the river near my house always seems to be flowing DOWNHILL!!!  How can anyone refute the that all this is proof God made the world in 7 days. 

 

Oh yeah, I like my bananas to be firm and slightly curved.  I have a preference for chocolate ones too.

some days i like maduros, some days tostones.

Interestingly, the bananas we now eat are not the same from a few generations ago, which were wiped out by disease. I recall hearing that there is a new threat to banana crops which might have the same effect.

 

Edited to add: It's Panama disease.

 

http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/php/management/bananapanama/

 

 

There's a whole book on the topic -- Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World. Here's a link

 

http://www.bananabook.org/

 

I wonder if they survive the winter or if they bring them inside or something.

 

Banana plants are tropical plants. They would have to be taken inside in the fall/winter.

I miss bananas, but not all that much.  In my desire to try to eat locally as much as possible, I completely quit buying them some time ago. 

 

You could always use pawpaws instead; they're native to much of the northeastern US. Their nicknames include "poor man's banana" and "Hoosier banana."

 

We have a partly marshy woods where they grow wild; Dad thought he had eradicated them, although I don't know why he thought he had to. After a few years, though, they started to come back. The last time I was back there, there were several fair-sized groves.

 

They ripen in fall and have a flavor and texture similar to bananas but IMO somewhat softer and sweeter. If I were to try to gather some, I'd have to get there before the deer and raccoons do, because they love them.

 

The Ohio Paw Paw Growers Association wants the paw paw to be named the official state fruit of Ohio. The annual Paw Paw Festival is in Athens County. I am not making this up.

^I just like saying "Paw Paw."

 

Discuss:

 

 

HAHA, yeah and the sun rises every day too...which proves God made it.  You know, my pencil makes marks when I write on paper with it too.  And OMG the river near my house always seems to be flowing DOWNHILL!!!  How can anyone refute the that all this is proof God made the world in 7 days. 

 

Oh yeah, I like my bananas to be firm and slightly curved.  I have a preference for chocolate ones too.

 

This video proves the exact opposite of what it intends to prove. The typical Chiquita banana you buy at Kroger's is the result of thousands of years of domestication. The wrapper, tab and everything else we like about bananas is the direct result of selective breeding and intensive genetic modification...by man.

 

The banana God handed to Adam looked more like this:

 

banana chips

Used to love them.  They were a staple of my diet.  Now I am a little tired of them.  I've recently been turned onto the wonders of figs and dates.  They have to be good though.  Don't bother with the packaged ones at that grocery store.  Go to the local farmers market or Middle Eastern/Mediterranean import store.

 

 

Who knew fruit could be so ugly. Kiwis look just as primitive though.

I like my bananas in a milkshake.

 

 

Who knew fruit could be so ugly. Kiwis look just as primitive though.

 

Kiwis, as we know them, are a fairly recent invention. The fleshy fruity Hayward Kiwi has only been around since the 1920s and available commercially only since the 1940s.

Alright now you're scaring me

The ladybird beetle is a gardener's friend.

 

But seriously, if you want primitive fruit, look around for one of these babies:

 

 

The Osage Orange. No living animal will eat these. They were, however, the preferred snack of the North American Giant Land Sloth that we helped wipe out overnight about 10,000 years ago.

[...]

The Osage Orange. No living animal will eat these...

 

AKA hedge apples.

 

Something eats them; I used to find them on the ground at Ouabache State Park near Bluffton (IN), and sometimes they were half-eaten. Either some native fauna likes them, or there's a heretofore undiscovered population of Giant Land Sloths lurking in the forest at the park.

 

The last time I looked for some, DNR had cut down the Osage Orange grove that I knew about, near the base of the fire tower.

 

Oops! A moderator took this thread off-topic and I followed blindly. I blame his charismatic leadership. :-D