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Thursday, February 11, 2010

Mariposa's Going Bananas

I've been most of my time at home baking banana cakes the past days. So if you visit you will see bananas all over the kitchen!


So for Thursday 13, let me share with you some facts about bananas -
  1. It is believed by many experts that bananas were the first fruit cultivated by humans.
  2. The banana "tree" is not really a tree, but a giant herb. The banana is the fruit of this herb.
  3. The strings that go up and down the length of bananas are called Phloem Bundles. They help distribute nutrients to every part of the growing bananas.
  4. The cluster of bananas sold in supermarkets is a "hand" of bananas, while the individual bananas on the hand are called fingers.
  5. The yellow bananas that are most often sold in supermarkets are sometimes called "dessert bananas" because they are soft and sweet. And this is the type I made into banana cakes such as this --
  6. Plantains are a type of banana that are not as sweet and are usually cooked. While not as commonly eaten in North America, plantains are a dietary staple in many tropical regions like here in the Philippines!
  7. Worldwide, bananas are the fourth largest fruit crop.
  8. The banana peel is edible, though perhaps not very palatable unless cooked. Acckkk! LOL
  9. The banana split was invented in 1904 by 23-year-old David Evans Strickler, an employee at the Tassel Pharmacy soda fountain in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
  10. The song "Yes, We Have No Bananas" was released in 1923 and became a huge hit. It refers to the banana shortage at the time
  11. In 2001, Britain recorded 300 incidents of injuries related to bananas. The majority of these involved people slipping on banana peels. Please be careful of those peels!
  12. Alexander the Great first came across bananas in India in 327 B.C.
  13. The pejorative term "banana republic" was coined by American writer O. Henry. He used it in reference to Honduras, but the term became widely used in reference to any Latin American, Caribbean, or African country that was politically unstable, relied heavily on basic agriculture, and was not technologically advanced.
So there you go...happy Thursday to all!

7 comments:

Americanising Desi said...

you are giving me a craving :(

Wife Resume

Hootin Anni said...

I didn't know that about the 'herb'....but it makes a whole lotta sense!!

I like my bananas without BROWN....they hafta be just right...with most yellow, yet, just a tinge of green on the peel.

Come join me if you can...Mine is Thirteen CAT EXPRESSIONS...not photos, word expressions. Find it HERE. Have a wonderful day ahead.

Anonymous said...

make some nanner puddin!!

I am Harriet said...

Yum. Now I'm craving a banana.

Happy Thursday!
http://iamharriet.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-would-like-to-re-assure-my-friends.html

jillconyers said...

The tree is actually an herb? Who knew!? Banana Republic is one of my favorite places to shop :)

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Will said...

Interesting facts about the banana tree... I mean herb! I have recently cooked a bit with plantains and in certain dishes they are wonderful.