Bananas and Soup

Debbie called before coming over for a play date the other day and asked if she could bring her over-ripe bananas to make banana bread for the morning crunch. I had already planned to make She Crab Soup but didn’t mind a bit! As she walked in the door with at least a dozen bananas and a bag full of stuff, I reminded her that she need not ask permission to cook with me — ever! The answer is always yes. Within minutes, every inch of my counters was covered with flour, sugar, eggs, bananas, spoons and bowls.

As she started loading the ingredients into my Kitchen Aid to make four batches of banana bread, I began chopping celery, onions and garlic for She Crab Soup. While the breads baked, we tasted and seasoned the soup, our “Amuse Bouche” so to speak. And when the breads were done, we sliced off a piece and smeared it with Three Berry Jam, our dessert. It wasn’t long before her son Alex, who is crazy about anything that lives in the sea, smelled his way to the crab soup. I ladled some for him, and my eldest son, who slurped it down and begged for more.

Debbie packed up her breads before leaving, dividing them equally — 6 for her family and 6 for mine. It was an even exchange — breakfast for my family and dinner for hers. Had Debbie stayed home, her bananas would have continued to over-ripen instead of being transformed into a wonderfully sweet breakfast bread.