To thwart thee, foul fruit fly

I bought a bunch of bananas earlier in the week (last week?) with the optimistic thought that I'd eat more fruit, instead of just stuffing myself with cream cheese, burritos, and booze. I did have a few, but they quickly turned an unappetizing brown, so I put them in the fridge hoping that might preserve them (and thwart any potential fruit flies!), but instead they rapidly (shrunk?) turned completely brown.

"You gonna make banana bread?" Howard asked me the day before yesterday as we were getting into bed.

"What? Why?"

"I just thought...because of those ripe bananas in the fridge."

"Oh, yeah. Right, yeah, I'm going to make banana bread," I decided.

Tonight after dinner Howard looked up and asked again: "You gonna make banana bread?"

"Yes," I said, carrying our bowls to the kitchen and pulling down Good Housekeeping. Since we don't have loaf pans, I greased and floured a medium casserole dish. In a large glass bowl, I mixed the flour, brown sugar, shortening, and baking powder and soda. I added cinnamon and nutmeg because my recipe didn't call for any spices (or walnuts or raisins).

The bananas were surprising ok-looking under their grotesque skin. I've learned over cursory online "research" that there is an enzyme (?) that breaks down (?) when the bananas are stored in cold temperatures because they are tropical fruits, but though the skin will darken it won't affect the quality of the insides.

The dough was irritatingly sticky, and took a few utensils and fingers to get it spread across the pan, leaving spoons and globs of dough sprawled across the dusting of spilled flour on the counter top. That Crisco, man, it never gets off your hands.

I can't use the stuff without thinking of working at Tulip. We had a lube that was basically Crisco, just more expensive. Which makes me want to add that I wonder when I'll have a job where I'm not wiping up people's spit and leftovers, spurted lube samples, or cat piss. If that sentence doesn't make me want to go to grad school, I don't know what it will require to push me.

Back to the banana bread. It's delicious. Its taste is warm and rich, and the outside is satisfyingly crusty while the inside remains bouncy and soft.