The Banana Conundrum

When I buy bananas for a specific recipe, without fail, before I even get a chance to make the recipe, they’re gone, gulped down by The Husband and Nicholas. Yet when I buy bananas just for them to eat, they sit until they are beyond ripe and I’m forced to go hunting down a new recipe to use them in. Boys!

I made a new cookie recipe tonight which managed to use half of the overripe bananas I had, so tomorrow, rest assured, there’ll be yet another banana recipe. Tonight’s recipe is one of my own, Loaded Banana Cookies. Unfortunately, they aren’t very photogenic, so you’ll have to use your imagination. The outside is a nice golden color, and inside, they’re soft, moist and dare I say it, healthy. These will travel well, so if you’re thinking of holiday gift packages already (I know I am!), you might want to give these a try.

Ran out to Costco at lunch and while there, I took a quick peek at their cookbook section to see if there were any new “must haves.” Boy was that a mistake! I got Best of the Best from the Mid-Atlantic Cookbook, a cookbook that culls recipes from Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and Washington DC. I am not a big fan of cookbooks without pictures (and this one has none), but there aren’t too many cookbooks that highlight NJ recipes, so I picked it up. I’m not really sure what would actually constitute a “New Jersey recipe” – might have to take some research. I mean, I can come up with a list of ingredients that might say “Jersey,” for example, Jersey Tomatoes, but actual recipes? I don’t know about that. Anyone?

I also picked up Today’s Kitchen, a cookbook which pulls together the “favorite recipes from America’s No. 1 Morning Show” from the likes of Ina Garten, Mario Batali, Steven Raichlen, Sara and Mary Corpening, Todd English, Daniel Boulud, Jacques Pepin and more. This looks like a good one and two bonuses …. it’s chock-full of pictures and sales of the cookbook benefit the T.J. Martell Foundation.

And last but not least, I got Gourmet Meals in Minutes, the newest cookbook from The Culinary Institute of America. Nearly 400 pages, this is a big one with over 200 recipes and 125 color pictures. Recipes include everytihng from the simple to the more complicated ones, but all designed to be tabled quickly, a concept I can definitely get behind.

OK folks, all for tonight… until tomorrow…

Sweetnicks’ Loaded Banana Cookies
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
pinch of ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
1-3/4 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup dried cherries

Preheat oven to 400F. Mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Add the shortening and sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add egg, banana, oatmeal and cherries. Mix well. Drop by tablespoon on greased cookie sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes or until edges turn lightly brown. Cool on wire rack. Yields approximately 36 cookies.

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