Tags
banana flower recipe, banana nut bread, Bananas, Chifles, Cooking with bananas, cooking with plantains, Costa Rica Cuisine, Ecuador cuisine, Galivantas Recipes, hummingbird cake, Laylitas Recipes, Panama Cuisine, patacone recipe, Super Sweet Blogger Award
Papelito’s Corner Plantains – Jama, Ecuador. After four years, he recently informed me that his real name is Walter!
I try to keep bananas on hand to use in place of sugar when blending a natural drink. My present favorite drink contains papaya, red hibiscus blossoms, fresh mint, maracuya (passion fruit) and the optional banana. Since red and green make brown, the mint makes the concoction a bit ugly – but hey! – dim the lights and enjoy the flavor while your body drinks in nutrients! I often forget to strain the drinks before serving my friends, and they stare at me with this, “You really don’t expect me to drink this….. do you?” kind of look!
Bahia Ecuador Bananas
Bahia Banana Lady
Have you ever wondered what bananas look like when you find them in the wild? Enjoy a trek with Kris and Joel in Panama’s northern region and see some bananas that don’t quite look like the ones you buy at the supermarket!Read it HERE: Let’s Go Hunt For Bananas!
John and Mary McDonald in San Clemente, Ecuador showered me with an ‘all you can eat’ bananafest (as well as an amazing Sunday feast!) Read how they happened upon a surplus of bananas HERE: Yes, We Have Bananas!
Bananas at my doorstop!
Whoa! May I take a photo?
Shucks! I was leaving for the week! He kept riding in search of a customer.
Posts about bananas keep crossing my reading field, and when there is a surplus of bananas, one searches for creative ways to use them! Scroll through this recipe for Hummingbird Cake on Blue Jelly Beans website, and you’ll be assembling ingredients as quickly as possible! Indulging in all of those calories negates the banana hibiscus tea choice, yet drinking the tea also helps balance the guilt! Go ahead and indulge! Hummingbird Cake
Green bananas can be cooked and used as a potato substitude!
Green bananas find their way into soups and salads as a potato substitute. Paper thin slices of green bananas or plantains often replace potato chips as a fried side dish. Most of my friends prefer chifles over patacones, which are thicker wedges of plantains that are partially cooked, smashed slightly then fried again.
Find out all there is to know about cooking chifles on Laylita’s site: Chifles or Fried Green Banana Chips.
Laylita shares a secret about making perfect patacones that stay crispy. Find it here Patacones or Tostones Recipe
Laylita’s appetizer sampler might prompt you to book that airfare for an Ecuadorian food fest! Ecuadorian Appetizers and Snacks
Once I made banana flower salad. After working for hours for stained fingers and a handful of banana flower stamens, I declared that one could not pay me enough money to create that dish again!!! If you’re curious, spices and aroma has a great pictorial to go with this recipe. Banana Flower Stir Fry
I purchase banana bread from one of the local bakers in town, and the moistness and flavor takes me back to my childhood! Mother always made a great banana bread crammed with pecans that fell from our trees each autumn.
Jama Bakers – Happy To Serve!
From New Zealand comes Gallivanta’s post which features a banana bread recipe from an old weathered South Seas Island Recipes book. (She also shares a clever hint for polishing shoes!) Enjoy her post here South Sea Island Delight, and she’ll also enjoy receiving this pingback!
Cruzita Banana Man (Ecuador)
The magpie jays often claimed a large share of the bananas where I lived in Costa Rica. I enjoyed working from life on the following painting, although precise detail came from reference photos of the birds.
Acrylic Study of Magpie Jays- Costa Rica
Super Sweet! Super Sweet!
This was also a test of pingbacks for the blogs that I mentioned. My friends will surely agree that it’s nice to have a pingback from someone who enjoys our posts and shares it with others! I would also like to pass along the Super Sweet Blogger to them as well!
I’ll leave you with a photo of Papelito- oops, Walter, and you’ll understand why his place is my last stop before leaving town! He always greets me with a warm smile!
Still Smiling!
With all of this talk about bananas, I think I’ll go whirl a banana, maracuya and hibiscus drink in the blender! If you stop in, I’ll remember to strain it!
Adios! See you again soon!
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
You’re the Banana Lady! Enjoyed the primer on this classic fruit.
i replied right after you commented, though the reply must be racing ’round the world.
thanks so much; i really enjoyed your post on the italian village of civita.
OMG I LOVE WALTER!!!!! I think you have an exotic drink you mix there with Hibiscus flowers!!! What a wonderful BEAUTIFUL post for such a wintery day!!! Thanks!
Oh yes, each morning I go outside and pick hibiscus and mint while the water is simmering. I brew enough to last most of the day. I realize that I am quite lucky to have access to healthy choices year round.
Happy holidays!
Z
And yes, Walter is precious, isn’t he?! I’ll have to take the computer and show him that he’s now world famous!
You are but you also have EXCELLENT TASTE! I must confess I drink Mint tea ALL DAY!!! I confess I have never had Hibiscus Flower Tea… I can’t imagine what it tastes like. I know it’s red right?
You are getting a nice supply of red hibiscus when you drink red zinger tea. what’s great about hibiscus tea is that it’s a deep purple color until you squeeze lemon or another acidic fruit into the tea, then it turns a bright kool-aid red! madee from fresh flowers, the tea will slightly thicken, and it’s comforting on a cool morning.
I AM GOING TO THE STORE!!!
RED ZINGER TEA!!!!
Thanks! I am excited to try it!!! It is VERY cold here in Wisconsin!!
You are such a delightful person! Have fun w/the red zinger! It has rose hips in there too! Z
OH I love some good hips!!! I’m very excited I have wanted to try Hibiscus so I’m VERY close!!!
here’s more than you’ll ever want to know! The Lovely Hibiscus will probably be the one you enjoy most.
https://playamart.wordpress.com//?s=hibiscus&search=Go
OH well thank you!! And thanks for sharing your post!!! HEY if you are in the mood for a good giggle:
http://jasminekylesings.wordpress.com/2012/12/18/good-advise/
https://playamart.wordpress.com/2012/11/26/tiene-sed-are-you-thirsty/
Oh links are my only vice 😉
Hey Z, I had a banana for breakfast, although not in a drink. The drink sounds better. Love the paintings.
thanks! i’m lucky to have access to a wide-variety of fruits at a very low cost.
i’m glad you liked the hurracas. they’re such loud and raucous birds, though i love them! z
Fantastic post! I’ll enjoy further…
thank you, amiga. happy holidays! z
Reminds me of Haiti, where bananas were everywhere. We even had several trees growing at our house.
Happy holidays to you, Z!
Hugs,
Kathy
thanks! banana trees add a soothing touch to a corner area of the garden. i use the leaves to wrap presents!
happy holidays to you as well!
z
What a great post – I love the pictures of Walter and the man on the horse with bananas. We’ve made a delicious banana bread with sour cream & chocolate chips in it, and I used to fry slices of banana with mustard seeds & a few other Indian spices, then add that to eggs. It’s true, there are million things you can do with bananas (and the plants are so cool!).
the banana bread sounds wonderful! the banana/mustard seeds/eggs sounds interesting (!) –
Walter will be so pleased that he’s a star!
Thanks!
Z-
Bananas and more bananas. I love green bananas roasted, and bananas cooked in coconut milk (as a dessert). And, then, have you cooked food in banana leaf parcels? How versatile is the banana! Yummy. As for hibiscus; my favourite hibiscus drink is Karkady which I tasted in Egypt. Then, strangely enough, just before I read this post, I was taking photos of my mint arrangements in hibiscus red vases. Now, if I put a bit of tea in the water, what would happen? Tea-infused mint?
how great that you were photographing the mint! i’ll bet the images are lovely! i use banana leaves to wrap presents! they’re so pretty, especially whe garnished with a heliconia blossom or an all-day pretty out of the water hibiscus!
i picked a lot of mint today and transplanted a lot. it is very forgiving here and thrives on neglect!
tea=infused mint sounds great!
z
Banana leaves to wrap presents. Brilliant. And, yes, mint is very forgiving.
The images of my mint are pleasant but I haven’t really captured the gorgeous glow of the red glass. Never mind.
And I love the banana leaves in your Sunday Picnic.
thank you!
z
Love the bananas! I am definitely craving banana bread now 🙂
you would make a great one for sure!
z
Thanks for all the great recipes and I’m sure I would love your natural drink. I am forever making smoothies with all kinds of ingredients. It is a great way to get more veggies into your diet. 🙂
thank you as well! i’m pleased to have access to so many healthy fruits and vegetables, so staying healthy is pretty easy – unless of course a cough from my past comes back and lands me in bed for a month like it did in september!
i think lots of people are waking up and are taking a more active part in being healthy instead of taking a pill when things go wrong.
i’m sure your smoothies are wonderful! i have friends who make a comforting carrot soup that’s blended with potatoes,,, yum yum yum…
z
I just made a butternut squash and ginger soup today. There is so much we can do to maintain good health without the aid of pills.
that sounds so delicious!
soups are part of the ecuadorian culture. it’s very common to have a soup as the first course at lunch. one is all but full by the time the (modest) main course arrives!
z
You can’t go wrong with bananas. I’ve recently become addicted to to banana chips. A great snack with a handful of almonds.
(Walter looks so happy and friendly. Cute.)
walter IS a great guy!
they call the banana or plantano chips ‘chifles’ here in ecuador , and that’s what i usually buy when on the run. bananas, oil and salt.. nothing artificial. the ripe ones are my favorites – yum yum yum, and they hold me over until i have time to eat!
z
I could have a drink like that! 🙂
yes, it’s great when warm and great when cool.
hope it’s a great holiday for you!
z
Thanks for the mention, the link, the award, and the pingback! I’m really excited 🙂
And, this is a great post with many more links I must explore.
con mucho gusto! Have fun with new recipes! z
I’m going bananas with all the rico recipes you posted. Thank you..thank you! We had two stalks of bananas ready to harvest last month. Our neighbor warned us to cut them immediately because they were too close to the road and wandering banana thieves were waiting with their machetes ready. Unfortunately, we didn’t listen to her, and sure enough..the next morning one of the banana stalks was GONE! We harvested the other one..but they all ripened at once and we were giving them away to anyone walking by our house. Now, we have another stalk almost ready. We’re taking our neighbor’s advice and harvesting them soon. Now I have lots of recipes thanks to you!
i will never forget when someone stripped one of our peach trees (in mississippi)..i was dumbfounded and angry.. they didn’t leave one peach!
you must feel the same way – at least they could have taken a dozen and left some for you!
i’m sorry the locals keep opening those painful ‘i’ve been used’ wounds. thankfully you have tarpon adventures to remind you why you love it there!
z
And who can forget Bananas Foster? Well, I’m a little closer to New Orleans and Brennans’, so that’s the first thing that came to mind. But we have banana trees all around my complex, and two years ago some of them actually flowered. The fruits were very small and too high to reach, but they’re possible here, depending on the weather.
My favorite snack in Liberia was plantain chips with guacamole. We had wonderful avocados – called butter pear. What we did for tomatoes, I’m not sure. I just can’t remember. But those plantain chips were wonderful!
yes, i often make a quick spinoff on bananas foster when there’s impromptu company and dining and a need for a little lagniappe before everyone leaves.
plantain chips and guacamole! oh yes! and those buttery avocados – butter pear sounds like an amazing one! i can eat my weight in good avocados!
z
Love Walter’s smile! Beautiful paintings, Z!
I bought bananas from him yesterday. He had a sleepy young lad in his lap – such a sweet moment!
Hey Sis!! I loved Mama’s Banana Nut Bread too. It was always my MOST FAVORITE bread ! Mama’s was always soooo delicious, especially when eaten hot & with butter! Wish I could make it taste as good as she did! Glad to see all is still great with you. We haven’t gotten to head West yet, but are still wanting to leave soon, but having to work on vehicles. If we don’t make it by Christmas, we’ll for sure be there before New Year’s!
hey
i’ve been wondering if you’ve moved and figured you’d write then you got settled. i hoe the weather is kind, and you start the new year – and your birthday – with a great new start!
Good gracious I had no idea a banana was so versatile.
When I come visit you, and sit on your verandah at sunset I’d like to try the drink unstrained. OK?
Guess what’s my favorite fruit? Yep, bananas. Healthy, delicious, practical and also cheaper than a lot of the fruits in the groceries.
What an interesting journey. I love bananas. Now I’m ready to make that delicious sounding natural drink you mentioned in the first paragraph. Thanks.
Thanks! I’m grateful to have access to so many options for food and drink! z
Thank you zee for the great post and the award that you passed to us.