Multiple Choice

Yes, there will be a quiz.
Here’s a hint.

Is this going to be
a) post in which Annie extolls the virtues and many uses of bacon grease?
b) a post in which Annie introduces a way to make ice cream with ONE ingredient?
c) a post in which Annie shows you a great way to get 2 servings of fruit while enjoying a delightful treat?
d) a post in which Annie proudly shows off her first successful hummus attempt?
e) Annie’s attempt to have the most colorless food on her blog in the span of a week. First the peanut butter cookies and then this…sheesh.

Answer: b and c.

And, I must state for the record that I adore bacon grease, just so you know. I just wouldn’t eat it with a spoon. I’m really going to conquer hummus, too. Don’t you like how I say that I’m going to conquer what is pretty much universally described as the easiest thing to make, ever? I like to set my bar low, sometimes. Anyway….

So, last Friday, 3 of my 4 boys were home from school because of snow. Things were humming along and somewhere in the early afternoon, my youngest took a break from guarding his egg (pronounced A-EE-g) and told me that birds of his species, the Ka Ka Ka-Coo-Coo bird, really liked banana ice cream. I think that Ka Ka Ka-Coo-Coo birds occasionally get tired of guarding their golden eggs (eggs are only laid by males, by the way) and that they occasionally also tire of doing screeches that somehow manage to hit two notes at once while successfully peeling paint off the walls….

What was I saying here? Oh yes. Banana ice cream.

Yes. It is possible to make luscious, delicious ice cream from just using a banana. I had read about it earlier here on this post from Kitchn which is the branch of Apartment Therapy that deals with cooking and kitchen remodeling and stuff like that. When I read the post, I wasn’t much of a believer, truly, even though I have a father who has repeatedly praised the banana as being the perfect fruit. I’m a banana fan, myself, I just didn’t see how it was possible.

So, since there was no preparation except to cut a banana and freeze it for a few hours and then give it a whirl in the Cuisinart, we decided to give it a go. And, really, we had nothing to lose.

This is truly yummy ice cream. I’m so glad that my Ka Ka Ka-Coo-Coo bird requested some. Turns out, he didn’t really like the final product but that wasn’t a problem since Mama Ka Ka Ka-Coo-Coo Bird thought that it was fabulous and was already envisioning using the ice cream as a dessert either plain or topped with toasted coconut and chocolate syrup or maybe with caramel syrup and roasted peanuts or possibly a butterscotch topping or, yum, hot fudge and a cherry….

And, let’s not forget that banana is one of the best things for under-the-weather folks to eat. Bananas are easy on the digestive tract, etc. The thing is that sometimes (okay, pretty much all the time) creamy ice cream is just a lot more palatable than eating a plain banana, you know? Ice cream will make a sore throat feel momentarily much better, too.

Not to mention that this is, of course, lactose-free ice cream. So that’s a good option for those of us that have family members or friends who can’t tolerate lactose.

Finally, you know the bananas that you frugally pitch in your freezer because they are super ripe? You have plans to make many loaves of banana bread, right? So this is just another option. I’m planning to still pitch those bananas in my freezer. But, I’m going to chop them up first now so that I can have the option of using them for ice cream or banana bread.

It turns out that Papa Joe was right, of course. Bananas really are the perfect fruit.