For the Price of a Banana: Use Your Words

 

 

 

 

Today’s post is a monthly writing challenge. If you’re new here, this is how it works: participating bloggers picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases for someone else to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once. All of the posts will be unique as each writer has received their own set of words. That’s the challenge, here’s a fun twist; no one who’s  participating knows who got their words and in what direction the recipient will take them. Until now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of this post you’ll find links to the other blogs featuring this challenge. Check them all out, see what words they got and how they used them.

I'm using: quilt ~ books ~ bananas ~ car
They were submitted by Rena of The Diary of an Alzheimer's Caregiver.

                          
A car is no place for bananas. Not in the winter, but most certainly not in the warmer weather. Now a quilt, fine, I can see that. Even books (well, a Kindle anyway), both can come in handy if you're waiting for someone in a parking lot or the airport. But bananas? Hell no. Not unless they're in transit to their new home in the fruit bowl in the kitchen. 

 

Because in the warm weather, fruit that "fell out of the grocery bag" and took residence in the trunk is a situation that can end badly. At first, it could actually be pleasant. You know, the car can take on the hint of a banana bread scent, have you wondering if that's a new air freshener Hubs was using. But that quickly gives way to the smell of rot. Definitely not a popular car scent. Pretty much not an anywhere scent, if you can avoid it. And now that I'm actually giving it some thought, even if they made a banana scent, Hubs wouldn't use it. He hates bananas.

 

Ummm, present company excepted, of course:

 

 

Well, him and my Eggnog and Espresso Chip Banana Bread? Hubs loves it, certainly eats his share. My Giant Banana Toffee Cookies? Same. But bananas in their natural form, a bit on the green side (me), or fully yellow (PurDude)? Hubs won't touch them, claims to hate them. No question you can taste them in the bread and the flavor of the cookies is actually banana forward. But he insists he hates bananas. Don't ask me, I gave up trying to figure that guy out many (many, many) moons ago.

 

Truth is, I'm both extremely organized and very observant, but I didn't even miss those bananas. I'd bought 2, and was considering using them in a new cookie recipe that had begun to form in my head. But then I noticed the malted milk bars in the pantry, right next to the peanut butter and a whole new idea, fully formed, distracted me. I went in a completely different direction and didn't give another thought to the bananas.

 

Peanut Butter Malted Milk Cookies

 

Until, of course, the aforementioned rotting smell. And I won't even mention the flies when I finally went to investigate and opened the trunk. 

Was it an unfortunate accident? Did the bananas fall out of the grocery bag and end up blocked from view by the quilt? Or did the resident banana hater, who happened to be the one bringing the groceries into the house, purposely leave them? Subconsciously maybe, like some kind of subliminal self-defense mechanism? Or more nefariously, perhaps plotting to come back and discreetly throw them out, but then forgot? Ah, the old leave-the-offending-bananas-in-the-car trick (did you read that in a Maxwell Smart voice?). Hard to say.

 

What I do know is that Hubs is spending this afternoon in the driveway, in the not so pleasant company of my previously non odiferous car. And dinner will not be served until it has undergone a front to back, squeaky clean, completely detailed, looks like new, (odorless, stainless, flyless) exorcism transformation.

All in all, not a bad trade. Only cost me a couple of bananas.

Here are links to all the other Use Your Words posts:

On the Border 

The Diary of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver 

Climaxed

Part-time Working Hockey Mom 

What TF Sarah

 

 

Peanut Butter Malted Milk Cookies

                                               ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

2  TBSP butter, softened

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour

1/2 cup chocolate covered malted milk balls, chopped

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover baking sheets with parchment paper.

*Beat the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Slowly beat in the flour. Mix in the malted milk ball pieces.

*Using your hands, squeeze the dough into 24 balls. Press down slightly with the heel of your hand then, holding onto the sides, press the tines of a fork just into the top, turn the fork and press in the other side, making a crisscross indentation.

*Place on the baking sheets and bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until the edges are browned. Remove from the oven and cool completely.