 BECOMING BANANA BREAD Posted by Jo Robertson Feb 19 2012, 8:39 am Every morning I eat a banana. Not because I really like bananas at all; I’d much prefer a juicy peach or ripe pear, grapes or strawberries. But I eat the banana instead.
My husband and I have completely different ways of buying bananas. I prefer them yellow with no bruised spots, but even if they turn a bit brown, they’re still very edible to me. My husband buys them green and calculates exactly how many he needs to buy at a time to eat his daily banana portion and leave me the stub. I figure a banana should never be thrown away. Why? You guessed it. Banana Bread.
In fact, when I frequent my local 7-11 store, I’m often delighted to see there are only bruised and slightly brown bananas. I see a banana bread loaf or banana pudding (another favorite of mine) looming in my future. Sometimes when you start out wanting one thing, you just end up with something else. And often, in my experience, that something else is quite unexpectedly delicious and delightful. I don’t know about other writers, but my writing “well” is a lot like that. What I had envisioned as a simple piece of fruit ends up as a dessert, with all its varied ingredients – walnuts, sugar, vanilla, eggs – and all its varied layers – vanilla wafers, pudding, sliced bananas and whipped cream. At least that’s what I hope happens. My ideas start small. I don’t think there’s a large idea in my head (okay, maybe a lot of tiny marbles rolling around like Buckyballs, those tiny magnetic balls that were all the rage at Christmas). Check it out here http://www.getbuckyballs.com. But, like those magnetic beads, I hope I can twist and shape and create something quite beautiful out of those small kernels of imagination. My characters also are like that. I’ll see a feisty, ambitious, perhaps obsessively-driven woman. Lots of energy (of course, because you can’t have the other traits if you’re chronically tired) to deal with what drives her. I probably don’t even know what drives her, but I suspect it borders on the edge of mania. She can’t rest, can’t relax, can’t love – until she solves the dilemma. At this point I’m not sure what the dilemma is, but I know the hero will be her Selexa. The one who helps her ground herself, center her soul so that she can accomplish her mission (should she choose to accept it and – of course! she will – this is a romance story at heart). I know the hero’s a pretty solid, stand-up guy although he carries a bit of baggage from his past; however, he doesn’t let that past define his future. He’s an optimist and he sees in my slightly pessimistic heroine the woman who will complement him, although at the get-go he’s sure she’s completely insane. Or trouble with a capital T. What begins as something pea-sized in my head can flourish in my imagination into something quite large. And it always astounds me! It’s the same with my cooking. I often begin with onion, pepper, and garlic in olive oil. But what I add next is a mystery to me – a little meat, some beans, veggies, spices (who knows which ones) until the “smell” is just right. Yeah, I cook by odor. Then I taste. I think I write a lot like that.
Readers, have ever embarked on what you thought was a small sojourn that ended up being a wild, wacky journey? Started one project that ended up being something else? Walked down one road to find yourself somewhere entirely different from what you’d imagined?
What about you, writers? Do you find that a tiny kernel of an idea is the starting point for your story? Or do your stories come in full-blown Technicolor? TweetComments69 thoughts on “BECOMING BANANA BREAD” |
  
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Good morning! I love banana bread, and am now officially hungry. It’s a staple in this house.
All of my stories have started with one “full-blown technicolor” scene that come to me, and then I have to figure out where in the story that scene is–it’s often the middle or end, and who the devil the characters are bouncing about. Wish I started with a “high-concept” tagline and went from there.
Hey Gillian! COngrats on catching the rooster for the day. Might want to keep him away from the banana bread if you want it to STAY a staple in the house. That bird can eat his weight in banana bread and then some.
Do you like it with nuts, or without? Pecans (my fav) or walnuts?
Oh, and I get the full-blown technicolor too. :>
My girls are “no nuts” gals, so it’s plain…with a sugar coating crust. Just sprinkle the bread with fine sugar before baking. Easier and yummier than frosting.
I love Suzanne’s recipe!
Feel free to steel it, Gillian! I got it from a coworker about 8 years ago. It disappears around here or at work!
I make mine with walnuts.
Congrats on the GR, Gillian!
My stories also tend to start with a scene, and sometimes the location of that scene in the plot shifts a bit. I do sometimes start with a kernel of “what if,” but real progress doesn’t occur until that scene does.
I love those technicolor revelations, Gillian! A scene that’s so vivid it gives you chills even if you have no idea where or when or EVEN why it will go in a certain place.
Congrats on getting the rooster. Ply him with some banana bread!
Oh Jo!
I’ve got two bananas on my table begging to be created into something else!
Here’s something new for you:
BANANA CAKE
1 ¾ cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 ½ cup sugar
½ tsp salt
2 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup + 1TBS buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 ripe bananas
1. In large bowl stir flour, soda, sugar and salt together.
2. In second bowl mix eggs, oil, buttermilk, vanilla together and add mashed bananas.
3. Add wet mixture to dry ingredients.
4. Pour into greased and floured Bundt® pan.
5. Bake @ 325º F oven for 1 hour.
6. Cool on wire rack for 1 hour before loosening sides with thin knife and inverting on plate to release cake from pan.
Oooh, Suz, that sounds fabulous! *eyes the not-quite-ripe bananas on the counter* May have to try that.
Also, be sure to put THAT one in the Members Only section! I’m betting we want to refer to that one agian…
Sounds yummy, Suz! I second Duchesse’s comment about the MO section.
Yum, Suz, this recipe sounds great! Maybe a little bit of fudge topping on each piece, too, huh?
Deb, I love bananas and chocolate! I used to go to Baskin-Robins, back when their “hot fudge” really eas that, not chocolate sauce and get a hot fudge sundae made with banana ice cream.
That’s “was,” NOT “eas.” *sigh*
Nancy, my aunt and uncle owned a Tastee-Freeze when we were kids. My parents would buy the commercial size containers of hot fudge from them so we could make our own sundaes at home. Pure chocolate decadence!
We used to go to a Tastee-Freez a lot, when I was growing up, and they had a truck that came around in the late afternoon and early evening. We used to get dio-top cones and wedge them upright in the freezer (a bottom half, pull-out model) until after supper.
That’s diP top, not diO top. *sigh*
Yummy, Suz. I love your recipes and I’ll bet that little bit of buttermilk adds mositness and some tang to the banana bread.
Congrats on the GR Gillian, put him to work in the kitchen.
I have started out on many roads and ended up somewhere different. When my mother was living I often had help getting there….LOL A typical conversation……
Me: I am going to decorate for Halloween, getting out my boxes of decorations and looking at the huge picture windows (two of them)
Mother: Oh that will be nice, let me see the boxes. (Dianna carries the boxes to Mother’s chair and procedes to open them all)
Mother: You only have one of those? How many of these do you have? Can you still find these in the store? A pile of goodies are being stacked in the floor.
Me: Uh, mommy, I got that like 6 years ago and I don’t think they carry them anymore. Well, yes, I think I can still find that or at least something close. Mom, I was only going to do the two windows, that is a lot of stuff…….
Mother: But would it look nice if you put some of this on the porch supports? You could twine it around like a vine…. OH and wouldn’t it be cool if you could get David to get some corn stalks…….
Me: Mom, I was going to try and just get it done this evening, that will take days…..
Mother: Let me think on this and we can start it Saturday bright and early.
Me: Alrighty then, let me just go get the windows cleaned, the porch scrubbed, the yard raked in preparation for Saturday……….
Oh yes, I have started small and ended larger than life many times, usually with a little help from my Momma….LOL
Heehee, Dianna. I love that. It just gets bigger…. My DH is this way. I say, “I’m going to shift that dresser to the other side of the room”
“Well, what if we move it to Q’s room, and his in here. It actually is a better size for our room. And I’ve been thinking about moving it for a while.”
“Why didn’t you do it?”
“Dunno, but this seems like a good time”
Yes, but I wanted to move one thing and be done with it….hahaha!!
So, Dianna, do you like Banana Bread? Hahhah!
I love banana nut bread but bananas don’t last that long arou nd here, they never make it to that stage of maturity.
ROTFL, Jeanne, your family stories are so entertaining!
Dianna, I had to laugh at this. Sometimes “help” really is not.
This made me laugh! My parents are like this with house projects–changing a faucet turns into gutting a bathroom…:)
Hilarious story, Dianna, and what great memories you have of your mother.
The fun part would be when she sat and thought goodies up and I would get the memo when I came home from work. We are going to clean the carpet Saturday. We are? With what? How do we get the furniture out? Where am I supposed to put it? She would plan, I would execute, team work don’t you know….
Ah, you gotta love your mommies, right?
Jo, I love banana bread. Is this recipe in the MO section?
I do sometimes get a kernel of an idea, as I said to. gillian, a bit of “what if,” but the story doesn’t start to move until I get a scene idea. And sometimes, not then. Some ideas are easier to develop than others.
I’ll be sure to put it in the Recipe Section, Nancy, and Suz, be sure to put yours there too. I’m eager to try it.
Congrats on the GR Gillian. He won’t help with the cooking, but he has Olympic potential in the eating department!
Now I want some of my Mom’s banana bread! Yum! Sending her the Banana Cake recipe too.
Most of my stories start out with a flash of a scene or an idea. My first manuscript grew out of a writing exercise someone suggested when I got stuck on the book I was working on. Never finished the original book (need to do that one day) but the writing exercise ended up being my first book – Lost in Love.
That’s amaing, Lousia. I really like how you started with something entirely different, abandoned it, and produced a new work. That truly inspires me. I think artists’ minds work in amazingly mysterious ways!
Jo, you now have me wanting to run to the store and find some brown bananas to make banana bread. And I just can’t do that right now. Must write. Must write.
I do find it’s just a kernel that will get me started on a story or a series. In my current series, it was a quick statement on a History channel show about witches. I really love when that happens.
Ooooh, that gives me chills, Christie. I often find my ideas on the History Channel or in classes I take.
My historical thriller coming out next month is inspired by a true murder trial that took place in Auburn, CA, in 1909. I had lots of fun plundering the Archives.
I am like your husband, Jo, in that I like bananas that are a tad bit green. Sometimes, when the bananas are really ripe and I don’t have time to make bread, I throw them in the freezer until I do have time. My daughter discovered a recipe in her Kids Cook cookbook for Monkey Tails and she likes those. (Dip a banana in melted chocolate, roll in peanuts, and refrigerate or freeze.)
I’ve started projects that have ended up going other directions. When I have a big task to accomplish (I’m a procrastinator, BTW), my husband always says, “One thing at a time,” because I tend to try doing several things at once.
We love the frozen chocolate dipped bananas! It’s been a favorite treat that we make since first discovering them many years ago at Disney World.
Now THAT sounds like a great combo, PJ, and one I’ve never tasted.
Great idea with freezing the bananas, Deb. I never thought of that. Bananas are high in potassium so I tell myself I’m warding off leg cramps when I eat my daily “stub.”
I find myself easily distracted when I start a big job, too. I agree with your husband. One step at a time is better for me.
As a reader, I thought motherhood was going to be like you see it in the tv commercials everybody al happy enjoying meals with smiles on faces,game nights with laughter ringing through the house and it was for a minute or two until the kids became teenagers. As someone who write stories for fun,I find plotting the story most difficult.
Oh, my, Gail! That’s an urban legend LOL. Actually, don’t you think they’re easier — much easier IMO — when they’re younger. Their needs are so simple and they love you so unequivocally.
Then they turn 12 and become — what? Some alien species. A friend of mine once said (quite seriously) that children should be institutionalied at age 13 and returned to their parents at 19 because, well, they really ARE a tad bit crazy during those years.
Hi Jo!
Absolutely this is the way almost all my stories work.
And it’s the way work on any old house like oursworks…and we knew that going in, but still, any time the work has to go another direction we breathe a little sigh of frustration. And, okay, sometimes we cuss a lot too, cuz it gets expensive.
And you know what? I like bananas like your husband does…if they’re really yellow, they’re too ripe for me. I need the “dulled-down” flavor of banana that you get when it’s just a tad bit green. Not too green though.
To be honest, bananas last me only two days. There are only two days of a banana
s life when I can eat it. Steve, on the other hand..he finishes all the bananas I don’t eat, because he can eat them even with the peel brown. Yuck.
Cussing is good. I like cussing.
I hope the house is coming along nicely, in spite of or because of the cussing LOL.
Mushy bananas are for banana bread. Tell Steve I said so.
Well done Gillian have fun with him
Jo
I prefer bananas a bit ripe rather than greenish they are fairly cheap here in Oz at the moment after them being so expensive there for a while after a cyclone wiped out the major banana crop. But I too don’t like to waste anything either and often make banana cake or apple cake what is getting too ripe to eat LOL. And with my cooking I start out with a few basic things and then end up with something yummy to eat the only thing is I never get it the same again LOL.
I normally stay on the same path I start off on but of course lots of things along the way can change tha
Have Fun
Helen
Hey, Helen, cooking is so much like that for me. The kids are funny b/c the smell of onions, garlic, and pepper saute-ing is such a lovely odor that brings everyone into the kitchen to ask, “What’s for dinner.”
I just shrug and say I haven’t decided yet.
Oooh, I’d love your recipe for Apple Cake.
I usually buy a mix; yellow bananas that I can eat right away and green ones that will last until my next grocery trip. I have a banana in my cereal or a banana smoothie most mornings.
It’s raining here today, I feel like baking and there are ripe bananas on the counter. Thanks for the inspiration, Jo!
Yummmy, PJ, let us know how your banana bread turns out. Warm banana bread and a glass of cold milk — not much better than that.
Jo, I just had an odd thought. Does your dh eat the top stub of the banana? If so, I wonder what the rationale is for leaving the bottom, and arguably identical, one.
LOL, Nancy, no Boyd leaves the top half for me; he eats the bottom, larger part, I presume because it’s easier to cut off.
Actually, sometimes I have to go hunting among the banana bunch to find my little stub.
So he doesn’t detach the banana from the bunch? Interesting. And possibly a unique approach.
Nope, Nancy, he keeps that little sucker attached to the entire bunch. Weird, huh?
Okay, I love peanut butter and bananas, too. Anyone ever have a sandwich or toast spread with peanut butter and topped with sliced bananas with drizzled honey on top? It’s quite good!
YES!! Deb, that’s exactly what Boyd sometimes does with his part of the banana.
I like PB and banana on fresh bread, but not toast, not sure why.
Jo, this post makes me hungry!!!!!
Me, too, Anna! I may have to whip up a batch of cookies or brownies!
Hi, everyone. Sorry I’m getting a late start today. Had a bit of a mixup this morning! We’re having that wonderful winter weather that I love — crisp, clear, sunny and mildly cold — here in northern California.
Hope everyone’s enjoying her day!
Now you all have me craving banana bread and I don’t even have any bananas
I have an old newspaper recipe for chocolate chip banana bread that is a favorite around here. Sometimes I think everybody leaves the last banana on purpose so it will get brown and I’ll make banana bread out of it.
Most of my best stories start with two characters talking in my head. If they’re real enough to have their own conversations, they’re real enough to fill in a whole book. However, the last one I wrote was like stone soup – started with nothing more than a few character traits random-rolled from an old D&D character generator. I just needed a break from my then WIP which was giving me fits and way too angsty for me to deal with at the time. I needed something upbeat, so as an experiment I rolled up some random characters and threw them into a situation. Before I knew it they all had complete backstories, lots of conflict, and an entire novel. So it’s true, sometimes when you start you don’t know what you’re going to end up with by the time you’re finished.
Wow, EC, that’s a great experience. I love when the characters come out so consistently and persistently.
I’m with you on your family’s banana bread trick! Sounds smart to me.
My one daughter hated bananas so I never made banana bread. I would always eat the overripe bananas in our house because no one else would lol. I can’t make a small pot of soup or stew – I keep adding until my pot overflows lol. I kind of cook like that all the time – a litte of this and a little of that.
Hi, Catslady! Stew is one of those dishes that keeps growing as you make it, doesn’t it?
But soooo yummy with a loaf of hot bread!
Cleaning my house is like this. I think, “Oh, I’ll just unload the dishwasher.” Which becomes cleaning then sink then reorganizing the cupboards so all the bowls fit then throwing out the stuff that’s somehow stashed in the back that nobody ever uses but maybe goodwill could use…
I find it’s safer just to not clean.
ROTFLOL, Susan. I find it infinitely better not to go anywhere near anything that resembles cleaning.
Jo, my stories often start with a small idea – the trilogy I have coming out this summer started with the idea of three sisters discovering the truth about what happened to their mother who disappeared 18 years ago. It grew from there and is still growing as I’m working on the final book *g*
We love banana bread but this week I’m making banana bars for my husband to take to work. They’re dense and moist and have this wonderful cream cheese frosting. Yum!
Your banana bars sound yummy, Beth.
I love the concept of an ages-old mystery to be solved. Your new series sounds great!
What about you, writers? Do you find that a tiny kernel of an idea is the starting point for your story? Or do your stories come in full-blown Technicolor?
I had one story start out as a kernel and it exploded. I was stuck for a new idea and really wanted to take my writing into a different direction…. so I thought to try out a new character. I drew up a dosier for him (yes, I knew it was a man immediately, just didn’t know his name) and started tossing names around.
I knew where I wanted him to be(Brisbane 30 years from now), what I wanted him to be (Bounty Hunter who doesn’t know anything about himself beyond 5 years ago) and who he works for (the spy industry called ‘The Company’) but his name was something else… it had to be easy to remember and you wouldn’t believe where I got his name. You’re gonna laugh… two Matt Groening cartoons… ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘Futurama’… one name from each and they sound just fine together: Fry Nelson. And seeing there’s no legalities on names or titles, I have no problems; plus it’s fictional.
I don’t mind Lady Finger bananas, but can’t stand banana bread or anything that bananas are made into…. blech.
What a great way to find your character’s name, Mozette, and the story sounds very promising.
Uh, I confess not to know what Banana Lady Fingers are!
Lady Finger bananas are a breed of banana here in Australia that are small and sweet and full of sugar. They are delicious!
Yummy, Mozette! They sound delicious!
Hello Mrs. Robertson, I’m from Costa Rica, and I just finished reading The Traitor. I loved it! But I was wondering where you get the spanish phrases, because some of them don’t make sense. I read somwhere that you publish your books through amazon, so maybe someone can help with that?
Sorry, but I thought u should know. And i really loved the book.
Greetings from costa rica
Hi, Natalia, thanks for stopping by. I always wonder when I use the Latin (as in the second book “The Avenger” or the Spanish in “The Traitor”) how accurate these phrases are.
Mainly I used my memory of my Latin and Spanish courses, but also rely heavily on my son who lived several years in Guatemala. Some of the phrases are probably more “street language.”
I’m sorry for any inaccuracies; they are all mine. And I appreciate your bringing them to my attention.
I’m glad you enjoyed “The Traitor.” If you send me your email address at jo.lewisrobertson@yahoo.com, I’d love to send you a free download of “The Watcher,” the first book in the series, which has no foreign language in it LOL, to compensate for my bad Spanish.
I’m pretty much stick to the main road kind of person. If I find myself taking a side track or veering off course I tend to re-evaluate & get back to the main.
Sounds like you have a good idea of where you’re going from the get-go, Mary. Good for you!