10 « October « 2013 « cookiecrumbstoliveby

Day-o, day-o
Daylight come and me wan’ go home
Day, me say day, me say day, me say day
Me say day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan’ go home

Work all night on a drink a rum
Daylight come and me wan’ go home
Stack banana till the mornin’ come
Daylight come and me wan’ go home

Come, Mister tally man, tally me banana
Daylight come and me wan’ go home
Come, Mister tally man, tally me banana
Daylight come and me wan’ go home

Lift six foot, seven foot, eight foot bunch
Daylight come and me wan’ go home
Six foot, seven foot, eight foot bunch
Daylight come and me wan’ go home

Day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan’ go home

Day, me say day, me say day, me say day, me say day, me say day
(Daylight come and me wan’ go home)

A beautiful bunch, a ripe banana
(Daylight come and me wan’ go home)
Highly the deadly, black tarantula
(Daylight come and me wan’ go home)

Lift six foot, seven foot, eight foot bunch
Daylight come and me wan’ go home
Six foot, seven foot, eight foot bunch
Daylight come and me wan’ go home

Day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan’ go home

Day, me say day, me say day, me say day, me say day, me say day
(Daylight come and me wan’ go home)

Come, Mister tally man, tally me banana
Daylight come and me wan’ go home
Come, Mister tally man, tally me banana
Daylight come and me wan’ go home

Day-o, day-o,
Daylight come and me wan’ go home,

Day, me say day, me say day, me say day, me say day, me say day-o

Daylight come and me wan’ go home

Every time I hear Mr. Harry Belafonte belting out that most classic Jamaican ballad, I can’t help but think of one my favorite weird movies of all time…that most bizarre 1980’s Tim Burton classic flick, Beetlejuice. Maybe it was just so quirky. Maybe it was right up Salvador Dali’s ally. Maybe I can’t look at a banana any longer without hearing that tune echoing through my head…..

And so it was yesterday morning when I noticed the three remaining bananas sitting in the bowl of fruit looking forlorn and forgotten…and mostly spotted……Day-o, day-o…

You must know that I am not a banana fan. Yes I realize that the banana has been in the running for Mother Nature’s best food—-it’s compact, travels relatively well, that is if you don’t mind the bruising, it’s healthy and very good for you—why do you think that muscle cramping athletes are force fed bananas…

If I eat bananas it must be when they are just barely ripe with a bit of a green tinge still remaining at the stem. If there is a single dark spot, out it goes. I do not like overtly ripe bananas as they are simply too mushy with both taste and smell exceedingly, well, bananaish.

So imagine my shigrin when I read about a recent study conducted on bananas by a Japanese University regarding the cancer fighting properties of overtly ripe bananas.
According to the latest Japanese Scientific Research, a full ripe banana with dark patches on the yellow skin produces a substance catted TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor) which has the ability to combat abnormal cells. The more darker patches on a banana’s skin, the higher its immunity enhancement quality– Hence, the riper the banana the better the anti-cancer quality. A yellow skin banana, with dark spots on it, is 8x more effective in enhancing the property of white blood cells than a green skin version.

Now if we are prone to believe everything we see out there on the internet then I suppose this banana business has some merit. And yet this supposed study may be just a bit fishy…did Chiquita fund that little study, ehh? Either way, I do realize that there are indeed health benefits to eating not only bananas but a variety of fruits and vegetables.

So when I find that my barely ripe bananas have waited on me a day or two too long and have suddenly turned against me with their dark brown spots, overtly yellow soft skin and overpowering banana fragrance that’s when it’s time to make banana bread. But I’m not talking just any run of the mill banana bread—this recipe is special. It calls for dark brown sugar, oats, spices such a cinnamon, cardamon, nutmeg—this is some good stuff.

Cookie’s Spiced Banana Bread
You will need:
2-3 ripe bananas (those of the spotted variety)
1 cup uncooked oats (good ol Quaker)
1/2 milk (guess what, I use coconut milk–cup for cup it is the same)
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (the real deal stuff–softened to room temp)
splash of vanilla (Cookie’s homemade vanilla— for the more exact minded–1 teaspoon–or more if you like that sort of thing)
2 eggs (room temp)
2 cups all purpose flour (I use King Arthur unbleached)
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon salt (I just shake once)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (I like to fresh grate my nutmeg)
1/2 teaspoon cardamon (optional)
1/2 teaspoon allspice (optional)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger powder (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350ᵒ
–Spray a 9 x 3 loaf pan (or two smaller sized pans) with Bakers Joy
–In a small bowl mash the bananas
–In a med bowl mix the 2 cups of flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices together.
–In a small bowl mix the oats with the 1/2 milk (remember the coconut milk, think healthy)
–In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and eggs with vanilla till smooth
–Beat bananas and remaining ingredients into the creamy mixture (I alternate between the oats and flour, ending with flour mixture)
–Pour into the pan
I then sprinkle the top with a bit more brown sugar and dried oats
–Pop into the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour.
test it at the hour’s end with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean–if not, allow 5 to 7 additional minutes.
allow to cool in pan for about 5 minutes and then carefully invert on a cooling rack.
I like to slice a piece while it’s still warm and spread with a little butter.

This is a healthy banana! Day-o, Day-o, day light come and me wan’ go home…..

Here we are, fresh out of the oven….