not too old to learn a new trick

Bananas... that deliciously-sweet-but-not-too-sweet fruit that comes prepackaged in a bright yellow wrapper, ready to eat and is available throughout the year.  But the frosting on the cake is that bananas are nutrient-dense meaning they are packed full of things that are good for you like vitamin B6, manganese, vitamin C (yep!), potassium, fiber, copper and biotin.

While I didn't know how good bananas are for you when I was a child, I did know I liked them. I had them in a sack lunch at school, as an after-school snack, and of course, cut up on my cereal for breakfast. I have no idea exactly how many bananas I've peeled over the decades but I am sure it is in the hundreds. Maybe even thousands.

And I've been doing it all wrong.

We were traveling with friends a few weeks ago and while enjoying breakfast at the hotel buffet, my sweet hubby cut the stem area of his banana and began peeling it, just the way I do. My friend laughingly mentioned that another friend of hers would say that he was peeling his banana incorrectly. Her friend pinches the opposite end (non-stem end) of the banana, and then peels it.

Hmmmmm.

So the next morning, he peeled his banana the "correct" way. And it was much easier to peel! And required no cutting utensil. And the stringy things (called phloem) peel down with the skin. And, you have a "handle" to hold the banana with - the stem.

That got me wondering if there really is a "correct" way to peel a banana. A quick internet search revealed that there is, indeed, a correct way to peel a banana and it's the way monkeys peel them - from the non-stem end. Cutting or pulling the stem-end bruises the fruit and makes it mushy.

You are never too old to learn a new trick!