Saturday, November 10, 2012

MONKEY BUSINESS



I’m just monkeying around here:

The election is over -- though Florida may still be counting ballots -- but the monkey business continues ad infinitum.  

This thought transitions me to a bit of new information I’ve been dying to share with you since I first learned it only within the past year. 

When I consider..... 

the number of years I’ve lived -- at least three-quarters of a century

the practical cooking experience I’ve had at my mother’s knee, plus exposure to cuisine experts lessons 

the academic training I’ve received in what was once referred to in high school as home economics and subsequent higher education in other studies 

I never knew this.... 

there’s more than one way to peel a banana. 


                                                                   



This would have been important knowledge in my household since one of my children preferred what I think of as green unripe bananas – to each his or her own.  







21 comments:

  1. Good to know! I usually cut the top off with a knife and then peel it, but your way will be good when there is no knife around.

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  2. Only if I have trouble "starting" the peeling process at the stem end do I resort to the blossom end. The blossom-end-approach is a bit messier, to me. But, yes...it is well to know more than one way of skinning the cat!
    Cop Car

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    1. Thank heavens I don't have to skin cats! (Sorry, I couldn't resist smarting off.);-)

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  3. This reminds me of my favorite banana story of all time. When I was in the convent, we had to eat our bananas with a knife and fork: we sliced the banana horizontally into two halves, and then ate the fruit bite by bite with a fork. But that's not the story!

    While we were having bananas one night in the refectory, one of the sisters told us that after WWII was over, her mother had gone to the local grocery store and found bananas on sale! There had been none in their store in Minneapolis since the war began, which meant that almost all of the children had never eaten a banana!

    Well, the mother rushed in with a grocery sack that she deposited on the kitchen table. "Just wait till you see what I got!" she cried, eyes alight, and she went to take off her coat. Just then, the phone rang, and she went to answer it.

    When she came back into the kitchen, the bananas had disappeared. She looked at her little family: "Where are the bananas?" she asked. "We ate them," said the oldest. "Well, how were they?" "We didn't like them," said another. The mother was nonplussed. "You didn't LIKE them???" "No," they all chorused.

    "Well," she started putting the rest of the groceries away and looked around. "What did you do with the peels?" The children looked at each other..."The peels?" The oldest said, "We ate it all, every bit."

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    1. Suppose eating the banana as you describe was so you wouldn't "soil" your fingers -- probably "proper" in some social circles, too. Funny WWII food story!

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    2. At one time you could find this in Emily Post? Those nuns LOVED rules of all kinds.

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  4. Dear Joared, so much to learn in a long life and the joy is to continue learning. Peace.

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  5. I knew the old saying "there's more than one way to peel a banana" had to come from somewhere.
    I am so happy with the outcome of the election and just posted about it today. I was so tempted to berate the "other side" for their arrogance and downright hatred but I left it alone ... I decided to rise above the fray, a totally unknown concept to many of them.

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  6. Day-um! I've been doing it wrong all these years!
    Wish I could send you some of my home-grown bananas from Hawaii.

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  7. Mr. Obama sounded conciliatory at his press conference today...a hopeful sign. Now if he walks the walk that will be good. I like that the Dems are looking at some of Romney's ideas such as caps on deductions. I also don't have a problem with raising taxes on the upper 2% either. Many other ideas are good but I will spare you my bloviating. Dianne

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    1. Yes, we'll hope this Administration and Legislators can figure out together how to move this nation forward in all the ways we need to go despite what may occur in Europe. China and other nations are not without their problems that could affect us, too.

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  8. PS Did you know the banana can be divided into three equal parts? Catholic missionaries are said to have used the banana to teach the natives about the trinity = 3 persons in one God. Dianne

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    1. No, not sure what you mean -- lengthwise? Hadn't heard about the banana as such a teaching tool.

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  9. Hm, I prefer my bananas a little riper but if ever I need to peel a green one, now I know how.

    Hurrah, it’s Obama!

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    1. I definitely am with you, preferring a riper banana -- skin with little brown sprinkles indicates eating readiness to me.
      I purposely selected this video of a green banana since this method may work best for them.

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  10. Don't believe I could have lived another day without the advantage of having this "banana wisdom." I'm going to try the nuns' method for a new adventure!

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    1. Just think of all the "wisdom" out there on other topics about which we have not yet been enlightened!

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  11. Occurred to me as watching your video: there really are people who need step-by-step visuals on how to do this? Oh, we really are in trouble in America--bring back Home Economics!

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  12. That is a neat trick – I did not know it. I also found one to take the leaves off strawberries – you place a drinking straw at its opposite end then go through the strawberry with the straw and the leaves fall off around the strawberry top.

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    1. Thanks for the strawberry capping tip - hadn't heard of that.

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