Sometimes I think those types of punishments were way more effective than our "time-outs" of today. Obviously, re: bananas anyway, lol!

Yikes...it makes me ill just reading about it! :-O

Back in the early 60's, my oldest brother got caught puffing on a large cigar that he found in the glove compartment of my father's car. My dad made him smoke the whole damn thing. He was green for days.

I have an aunt who is only 9 years older than I. When we went to visit my grandparents, Daddy would give my aunt enough money to buy ONE twin pop. The idea is we would walk to the corner grocery, she would buy the popsicle, and we would split it. She *always* bought a banana flavored twin pop. I wanted “red.” To this day, I cannot abide anything banana flavored.

I feel sorry for anyone who needs to steal food. That's a horrible punishment and it far exceeds the crime.

well, in a family of seven kids, he probably wanted to make sure he got one because of the 'pecking order'. He was not on the top of the 'food chain.' Second from the bottom ...

Yeah, that seems abusive to me. Maybe he was hungry. The other day, I was listening to a woman from a large Catholic family with many children and little money who said she was always hungry as a kid, and super skinny, but was made to feel too ashamed to ask for more food.

I thought this was going to be about some new ideas for using up extra bananas. which I have right now. I'm going to dehydrate them, I think...

Criminal.

Carol, for your bananas, I'm pretty sure this is identical to the recipe I use that came with my microwave. I love this stuff -- Microwave Banana Nut Coffee Cake. I skip the nuts in the batter and use lots of sliced almonds in the topping. Yes it's fabulous even when cooked in the microwave -- it's quick to make and it doesn't heat up the kitchen. :O) eta: not sure my recipe has cinnamon in it, but either way I don't add it.

Thanks, that looks good, but no microwave here. I did use several overripe bananas to make banana bread muffins, and the other ones are dehydrating as I write this. I like to keep them kind of soft and chewy - nothing like those tasteless ones sold in stores. These turn out like banana fudge.

I finally got a dehydrator but haven't tried it yet -- are you just slicing and dehydrating or do you treat/coat them somehow?

Our large grocery store, Stop & Shop, has a display right inside the doors near the produce section with free bananas, apples & oranges for children when they're shopping with their parents.

I've seen that at a number of stores - nice idea, but kind of sketchy these days, I think.

And I slice the bananas diagonally to make long slices about 3/8" - 1/4" thick and dry on low heat. I spray the racks with oil first, or the bananas stick very badly. When I dry other fruits they don't need anything to keep them from sticking, but apples need some lemon or lime juice so they don't get too brown.

I took the story to mean that the bunch of bananas was in their home, so he wasn't stealing. The idea of kids being made to eat food that makes them sick is really horrible to me. He would have been a little boy during the Depression, and that's probably why his parents were so harsh.

@Lars, let us know how your bananas do! I used to have banana plants, mainly because I needed some large greenery in a side yard. They would make bananas but so late in the season, they never ripened.

I can remember going to New Orleans with my parents as a very small child. We went to the docks to watch them unload bananas. At that time, they were not shipped in boxes but rather were large stalks carried over the stevedores shoulders. For a little kid, it was really exciting!

It looks like it is putting out many more bananas, and so I'm not sure how many of them will be able to ripen on the tree. It is possible that it will make small bananas, but I'm okay with that, since it is making so many.

I'll have to replant the pups after the bananas are done.

Lars, you’ve got a lovely bunch of bananas!

Have you made any plans for the blossoms?

In Cuba, people use everything, from the leaves to the fruit—including the highly-nutritious banana flowers (or hearts). Either raw or cooked.

I never tried either, because I didn’t learn to appreciate the fruit until much later in life.

Back then, my favorites were guanábanas, mamey, mamoncillos, and a myriad others, except bananas. But I’d give (most) anything to grow tropical fruit trees here in the mitten.

Sol

I do have some plants for the banana flowers, but I'm not sure when to cut them off. I didn't know they could be eaten raw, however. I also have some plans for the stalk, after I cut down the tree when it has finished fruiting.

My favorites are also guanábanas and mamey, but I have not grown those there successfully, although I do have cherimoya, which I like as much as guanábana.

Here's how the flower looks now: