ICED BANANA & YOUR KID

Who doesn't like banana? I don't know of anybody. When I was a kid, we used to steal bananas from other people's farms. My friends and I would dig a hole on the ground, 2-5 ft in depth and 1.5 -2 ft in diameter (depending on how many bananas we stole) and bury our loot. After a few days, we'd come back and dig up the now bright yellow fruits. We eat some but we usually bring most of it to the farthest (in case somebody comes looking for his/her stolen banana) sari-sari store in the village and sell them, from 10 centavos-25 centavos a piece.

There's not much one can do with bananas: Aside from eating them as is, we also have banana Q, chips, split, boiled (1 or varieties only), bread, as an ingredient to a nilagang baka, ginataan, etc. That's about all the usual way that bananas are done but here's two other ways.

Four months ago or so, we had a young German visitor in the house. One lunch, my husband grilled a whole yellow fin tuna and while we were eating, this young man took bananas from my kitchen and started slitting them with his pocket knife. He then took chocolate bars from his pocket and started sticking pieces of it into the slits that he made. Afterwards, he brought the bananas to the grill and resumed his eating. When the chocolate melted, he took the bananas from the fire and gave one to each of us. Yummy, yummy... try it yourself, but if you are a caloric-intake watcher, you'll probably find this uggghhh! Anyway, that's one way to eat banana. It's good when you're eating out..... I mean outside your house, under a tree in your back/front yard.

Yesterday, one of my uncles got married to a foreigner. H, his bride's sister came a few days before the wedding and for two days, she spent a few hours in my house during the day. One time, I opened my freezer and saw three pieces of peeled bananas on a plate. I was surprised. I was gonna run to my mother's to ask my 7-year old nephew if he has been experimenting again. But then I saw H took out one and started eating it. She said, "I put some bananas in your fridge. You must be thinking it's strange and wondering who did it." I said indeed I was! She said I should try it, and so after a few hours, I did. And hmmmmmmmmmm, to my surprise, it's good! It has this ice creamy texture with it.

So if you are a health conscious parent, you might want to start freezing ripe bananas and the next time your kid asks for an ice cream, give him an ICED BANANA.

Thanks Hannah Banana! (hehehe)